Review: How to Party with a Killer Vampire

Summary: Party planner Presley Parker's new gig is the star-studded wrap party for a horror film. The location is a graveyard-conveniently, because the night of the bash, a tabloid journalist is murdered. -- Obsidian Mystery

I have quite a few mysteries stashed in my basement, but I decided to pick up HOW TO PARTY WITH A KILLER VAMPIRE by Penny Warner. Not only was I intrigued by the title and the description, but I thought it would be an ideal mystery book to feature one week before Halloween! I'm not always the biggest fan of Halloween and the scary things that come with it, but I thought a cute cozy might help get me in the mood.

And HOW TO PARTY WITH A KILLER VAMPIRE was very cute although I hesitate to use the word cute when describing a book about a murder (or two!) This novel is part of the Party Planning Mystery series and I admit the Martha Stewart side of my personality was curious about a cozy with a party planner for an amateur sleuth. Plus the book promised party planning tips, and that really appealed to me!

In HOW TO PARTY WITH A KILLER VAMPIRE, party planner Presley (love that name!) is putting together a huge wrap party for a locally filmed horror movie... in a cemetery. I'm sure you can begin to imagine all of the creative party ideas that are offered throughout the pages of this book since the party is vampire-themed. Prior to the party a young man is found dead, apparently from a particularly nasty fall when he hit his head on a tombstone. No one really thinks too much about it until an annoying member of the paparazzi  is found murdered on the night of the party. Presley begins to suspect something is awry with two dead bodies, and she uses her investigative skills to try to solve the murder(s)!

I enjoyed HOW TO PARTY WITH A KILLER VAMPIRE and it was definitely a fun read for this time of year. I thought the mystery was compelling (as far as cozies go) and I really liked Presley. I don't know about you but I really have to like the main character to fully appreciate these stories. I not only like Presley's personality, but I also liked her smarts as well as her dedication to her mom who was suffering from Alzheimer's. In addition, Presley's chemistry with her love interest/crime scene cleaner also made this book fun. He was an ex-policeman who was extremely knowledgeable about everything, and he also seemed pretty hot!

Another thing that made HOW TO PARTY WITH A KILLER VAMPIRE special were the party planning tidbits at the beginning of the chapters. They offered some great ideas (my mind was churning for my son's upcoming Halloween party at school) and the last section of the book -- How to Host a Killer Vampire Party -- was very informative too. The author, Penny Warner, definitely knows a thing or two about throwing parties based on her creative (and easy) ideas. In fact, I would say that this Party Planning Mystery was a winner and I wouldn't hesitate to pick up more books in this series (If I counted correctly, this is the fourth book in the series.)

If you are looking for a cute read that's perfect for this time of year, then I recommend HOW TO PARTY WITH A VAMPIRE KILLER.

Thanks to the publisher for sending a copy of this novel.

Mystery Mondays is a regular feature where I review all types of mystery books -- traditional mysteries, suspense/thrillers, and even cozies! Please feel free to share your thoughts on any recent mystery books that you've read.