How To Party With A Killer Vampire - Penny Warner

How To Party With A Killer Vampire

A Party Planning Mystery
Penny Warner
Obsidian

Mystery

As usual, Presley Parker is in the middle of planning another party.  As owner of Killer Parties, it’s pretty much her life.  This time, the party is to celebrate the wrap of a vampire parody movie.  Presley’s client, producer Lucas Cruz, is a local celebrity and the party is talk of the entertainment media.  The party will, of course, have a vampire theme and will be held in an old cemetery.

There are a few people who aren’t so pleased about the party.  The first is a group of kids who were extras in the movie.  Apparently, they’re upset that they weren’t invited to the big bash.  The night before the party, one of the kids is found in the cemetery, dead.  There’s almost no time for Presley to get involved in that, though, since she’s up at dawn to complete the set-up.  The party is invitation-only, and there’s a photographer turned away at the door.  He’s none too happy about it.  Later that night, he’s found, dead, in an open grave.  Not quite the kind of event Presley wanted.

Suspects abound, from Lucas Cruz, to an entertainment reporter who was adamant about covering the event exclusively, to a disturbed man who claims the cemetery is ‘his’ and threatens anyone who ‘trespasses’ in it.  Presley is sure the two deaths are connected, and she can’t believe that Lucas would be the guilty party, no matter how the circumstantial evidence looks at the moment. 

This is another solid entry in a fun series that includes HOW TO HOST A KILLER PARTY, HOW TO CRASH A KILLER BASH, and HOW TO SURVIVE A KILLER SÉANCE.  New readers will have no problems jumping in at this point.  In this one, the supporting cast is really on the outskirts of the story.  This includes Presley’s mom, who was once the party doyenne of San Francisco. (Memo to Ms. Warner: a book about Presley’s mom throwing parties for the Who’s Who of the city would be a treat.)  Not too gory, not too sweet, this series should entertain fans of all types of mysteries.  The story is nicely twisty and ends with a bang.

Rating: 7
October 2011
ISBN# 978-0-451-23501-5 (paperback)