Title: What Not to Wear to a Graveyard
Author: Debra Sennefelder
Series: Resale Boutique Mysteries #2.5
Publisher: Lyrical Press
Release Date: September 15, 2020
Pages: 100
Book Source: Netgalley
hefty reward. But between renovating the consignment shop, planning her costume for a 1970s themed Halloween party, and scouting a location for a fashion shoot, Kelly doesn’t have time to search. Yet a visit to the local colonial-era cemetery—ideal for the moody atmosphere she’s after—soon turns up the precious pooch. Kelly’s looking forward to collecting the check—until she makes a gruesome discovery in an abandoned farmhouse: The dog’s owner, stabbed through the heart.
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Kelly can’t help wondering why Constance Lane was traipsing around the farmhouse in stilettos. But as Kelly gets decked out in a vintage disco caftan, that isn’t the only fashion misstatement spooking her. Hidden in the dead woman’s past is a secret that could be the motive for the murder. And as the Halloween party gets started, even a menacing clown and a threatening bearded lady can’t keep Kelly from trick or treating for the truth—even if it means her last dance …” – Amazon
Kim’s Review
What Not to Wear to a Graveyard is a novella and the third book in the Resale Boutique Mysteries by Debra Sennefelder. I greatly enjoyed the other two in the series, Murder Wears a Little Black Dress and Silenced in Sequins, so I was happy to see book three coming out… and even more excited because it’s a Halloween cozy, and I love me some Halloween.
I enjoyed the cozy in novella form. While I love reading cozy mysteries my two complaints are love triangles that keep going on and when the sleuth keeps repeating the clues over and over. But with a novella there’s no time for the repetition of clues and the author has to get straight to the point.
On the other hand there wasn’t as much time to get in depth into the characters, but if you’ve read the previous books you already know them pretty well. So while this is book three in the series, I think of it more as book 2.5.
Even if you didn’t read the previous books, Sennefelder did a good job with her descriptions of the characters and you won’t be lost. I did notice her descriptions of the outfits weren’t as numerous or as vibrant as past books, which is one of the reasons why I enjoy the series so much. But I did love the nods to Sennefelder’s own pets in the story and that made this book even sweeter.
There were also some inconsistencies in the story regarding it being daylight and then suddenly dusk or mentioning that summer was only a little ways away when it’s October… what happened to Winter and Spring?!? 😉 But since this was an ARC, the editor may catch some of these things before it gets published.
All in all, another great story in the Resale Boutique Mysteries and I’m looking forward to more of Kelly and friend’s adventures.
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