How to Crash a Killer Bash (Party Planning, #2) by Penny Warner

How to Crash a Killer Bash (Party Planning, #2) Reviews

• 
  Stacey

  3.5 The second book in the Party Planning series was better than the first. A couple of glaring things that really bugged me in #1 was the ridiculous amount of times it was mentioned that the main character, Presley Parker, had ADHD and OCD and her friend’s name Delicia. The name bothered me because I don’t know how to pronounce it, so my reading pace was slowed down, if that makes sense. In How to Crash a Killer Bash the ADHD/OCD references were minimum and half the time Delicia was referred to as Dee. Those changes were a huge improvement.
  
  Presley’s big event took place in San Francisco’s De Young museum. A fund raiser for the museum and front and center is the curator, Mary Lee Miller. Presley, Mary Lee, and a few others will act out a murder and the guests will guess who did it. However, at the rehearsal Mary Lee is stabbed to death and Delicia is arrested for the murder. Quite shocking since they were acting, and the weapon was a replica of a dagger at the museum and made of Styrofoam. A list of suspects takes us on an adventure, secrets are revealed, and more bodies are piling up. A light romance is starting to form to keep me interested. This was a fun cozy and I will continue the series.
  
• 
  P. Kirby

  An interesting study in how some peoples' "interesting, fun" character can be someone else's "annoying twit."
  
  Presley Parker is a party planner...excuse me, "event planner." Her latest gig is a fund raiser for San Francisco's de Young art museum. The event is a murder mystery party. Presley, her best friend Delicia, museum bigwig Mary Lee Miller, Mary Lee's son Jason, along with several others, play the part of sleuths in a game where party guests are recruited to help solve a made-up murder mystery. Abrasive, obnoxious, but terribly rich Mary Lee plays the role of victim. Mary Lee portrays the part to a tee, ending up as a stone cold corpse, killed by a knife to the back.
  
  Delicia is dating Mary Lee's son, Corban, and Mary Lee was none-too-happy about the matter. Just a half hour before the Mary Lee's death, she and Delicia argued and Delicia jokingly threatened to kill Mary Lee. SFPD's finest pounce on this bit of circumstantial evidence and immediately throws Delicia in jail. It's up to Presley to clear Delicia's name and not get herself killed in the process.
  
  How to Crash a Killer Bash is a cute, fluffy, and easy-to-read mystery. The sort that one might take on holiday for a bit of very light--read "feather light"--beach reading. It traverses the well-tread path of slightly ditzy heroine whose pursuits always seem to land her smack dab in the middle of a murder.
  
  In general the characters are two-dimensional. Presley's scenes with her mother, however, are infused with an odd poignancy, as her mother has early stage Alzheimer's. (The inclusion of the Alzheimer's story line almost seems too heavy for the series's chirpy tone.)
  
  Presley, I imagine, is supposed to be cute, vivacious, and impulsive. I found her dimwitted and often annoying.
  
  At the beginning of the story, Presley is scoping out the museum, when she is interrupted by a guard name Sam Woo. Sam proceeds to yammer about the market in counterfeit and stolen artifacts, which is a huge info dump, pointless and rather dull. (Seriously. This is where the author's agent or editor should have said, "Yo, your character just took a steaming info-dump in chapter one. Clean it up." But I digress.)
  
  The problem is that Presley is shocked and amazed by this information. Like it never occurred to her that someone might decide to profit from selling priceless artifacts.
  
  Presley, btw, has degree in Abnormal Psychology and once held a teaching position at the local college. Despite being a degreed professional, she doesn't seem to know anything about anything. Except abnormal psychology. Which she tells us, ad nauseam.
  
  Brad, the hunky crime-scene-cleaner, is the love interest. Presley is amazed when he removes the glass pane from an old window to help her break into a house. A-mazed. She is also amazed by his knowledge of car repair, and the technical aspects of his job. All his expertise, she thinks, means he must have some deep, dark mysterious past.
  
  Really?
  
  Because I know that old windows are held in place with glazing. And that they are easy to remove, especially if the house hasn't had any regular maintenance. I know how brakes work. I can do a lot with duct tape. I know a lots of stuff, some useful, some not so much. Because...I'm a adult who's...lived. Nothing about Brad's knowledge or skills would indicate that he was some Man of Mystery. There's nothing to suggest that he's very extraordinary at all. Unless you're twelve, maybe.
  
  Then there's her "affliction." She has ADHD and OCD. At one point, she claims it's a handicap and compares it to Asperger Syndrome. Again--Really? Worse yet, none of her traits--ADHD, her education--really ever come into play in the story. Sure, she's impulsive. So are most protagonists. Her "ability" to analyze people based on their footwear doesn't even make it to cute schtick. Because it adds nothing to the narrative.
  
  The neat thing about protagonists in cozy mysteries is that they are often interesting people that one might like to know in real life. It's what makes cozy mysteries fun. Presley, with the intellectual depth of a thimble and obsessive need to whine about her ADHD, would be a smashing bore.
  
  I may try some of Warner's other books, but I won't be returning to this series.
  
• 
  Gaby

  Posted at:
  http://oh-my-books.blogspot.com/2010/...
  
  How to Crash a Killer Bash is the sequel to
  How to Host a Killer Party. The protagonist, Presley, is still organizing parties, and this time, she's hosting a Murder Mystery party. Everything is going great, until Mary Lee Miller, the hostess, is found dead, and Delicia, Presley's best friend, is a suspect.
  
  Of course she knows she didn't do it....but who? Nobody seems to like Mary Lee Miller at all...
  
  Presley is still the same funny girl. What I most like about her is that she's independent, and doesn't get scared easily. But her main problem is that she is compulsive, and sometimes doesn't know when to stop.
  
  I still enjoyed reading about her, but I wished sometimes wasn't so repetitive about her disorders. She tends to use them as an excuse for her actions.
  
  Anyway, I absolutely loved Brad. He wasn't a suspect, and he helped Presley more this time. And finally, he started to make some moves with her. Besides, we get to know more about him, but he's still mysterious. And sexy.
  
  I liked that we get see more of the other characters - as Presley friends, her mother, her cats, and even the super sexy but annoying detective - but still, the main character was Brad. I was really glad, because in the first book I wanted more of him, and in this book, my wishes were granted.
  
  The mystery was more complex this time, because there were lots of suspects and none of them seemed to have a motive (at first). There were many clues that didn't mean anything, and others that meant more; and some nice twists. I had a couple of suspects in my mind, but didn't discover the killer until the end. I wished Presley wouldn't have been so naive sometimes, because she was barely telling the killer every important detail.
  
  Overall, I really enjoyed it....even more than the first one. I love this series and I can't wait to read the next book, How to Survive a Killer Seance, which is going to be released March, 2011.
• 
  Marlyn

  The sequel to How to Host a Killer Party has party event planner Presley Parker hosting another fundraising bash. This one is benefit for San Francisco's DeYoung Museum, and will be a murder mystery event in the museum. The hostess us philanthropist Mary Lee Miller, who has decided to play the role of the victim herself.
  
  But on the night of the party, when the victim is found, Mary Lee is discovered to actually be dead.
  
  There is no shortage of suspects for the crime, as Ms. Miller was arrogant, demanding and abrasive. But Presley's assistant Delicia (dating the Mary Lee's son Corbin, to the displeasure of his mother) who had a public argument with the hostess the previous day, is arrested.
  
  Presley is horrified, especially since Delicia believes it was she who told the police about the argument, and determines to clear Delicia by finding the real killer.
  
  She is aided in her quest by enigmatic crime-scene cleaner Brad Matthews and hindered by police detective Luke Melvin, who thinks that Presley is a clumsy, interfering snoop.
  
  Presley uses her experience as an abnormal psychology instructor, as well as her Party-Planning Checklist as a template for her investigative process. (Party Plan - What's the occasion?; Investigative Plan - What's the crime?) It works pretty well, except that Presley does tend to be accident-prone. In this book, she goes through almost as many cars as Stephanie Plum does in one of her investigations.
  
  Except for Brad, the rest of the characters (even Delicia) tend to be pretty one-dimensional, but we do see more of Presley's charming relationship with her mother, who has early-stage Alzheimer's.
  
  Warner, author of the Connor Westphal mysteries, is not unfamiliar with the party-planning process, having written several books on the subject.
  
• 
  Sarah Sammis

  Presley Parker is back in How to Crash a Killer Bash by Penny Warner. She's hosting another huge shindig in San Francisco, this time a fundraiser at the de Young Museum. When the curator and host, Mary Lee Miller is found murdered with museum property in the middle of the pary, Penny's best friend is fingered for the crime. Can she figure out who did it before she becomes another victim?
  
  As with the first book in the series, How to Host a Killer Party, San Francisco is as much a character as Presley. The main points of interest are the museum, Treasure Island and points in between. I haven't been to the de Young but reading the book has made me think about getting tickets.
  
  The characters are also entertaining. I'm quite fond of Presley's mother. She's forgetful thanks to Alzheimer's but helps keep the plot grounded at times when it seems like it's about to fly out of control. On the other extreme, there's the cleaning man who Presley's still trying to figure out. He has an air of mystery about him and I'm just as curious as Presley to learn his back story.
  
  So then there's the mystery itself. I had the killer pegged on page two. Usually Warner's mysteries keep me guessing all the way to the end. Even though I was sure who would commit the crime and later who had committed the crime, I still enjoyed the book. But I'm knocking one star off the rating for the blatant bad guy.
• 
  Misty

  loved this I stayed up late just to finish it (I will be so sleepy later but I will not regret it!) I cannot wait to get the other book. Presley is once again knee deep in another confounding mystery!
  
  When the guest of honor at her mystery party ends up bloody on the floor her best friend is framed for the crime. Pres is sure her friend is innocent and is determined to prove it...even if it kills her.
  
  Detective Melvin makes another appearance here and he is still as annoying as ever pestering Presley. (no pun intended.) The ever sweet crime scene cleaner is there helping her along the way.
  
  I usually peg the killers in these or have a good hunch see if you can guess before you get to the end. Also I love the sweet fluff between Presley and Brad. Too cute.
• 
  Myhotstylist

  This has to be one of the best cozy mystery series available on the market today. Presley is such a fun quirky character that cant seem to keep her nose out of trouble.
  
  In this second installment, Presley throws a murder mystery party at the de Young Museum. Things turn to crap when her best friend is arrested for the muder of the guest of honor. presley decides to snoop to uncover the truth and get her friend out of jail.
  
  Even though it was predicatable (I guessed the killer very early on) I still enjoyed it a lot. Im very excited about the next release, where they will be throwing a seance party at the Winchester House!!!!
  
  Great series, highly reccomend!!!!
• 
  Jeannie and Louis Rigod

  This murder mystery fundraiser was held at the De Young Museum in San Francisco, but, alas, there was a glitch, a murder occurred. Off goes our event planner/sleuth and her cohorts when one of their own is arrested (falsely.)
  
  I once again enjoyed the characters in this book. I was very happy to see, Presley's mother become more involved.
  
  The brief glances at the history of the city continues and really adds a level to the book's enjoyment.
  
  I am anxiously awaiting publication of the next in the series.
• 
  Vickie

  A fun wee series that I look forward to reading more of. It takes place in San Francisco, a city I want to visit someday.
  I know murder is bad, but when the truly odious Mary Lee Miller gets whacked, I didn't feel too badly. I felt bad when party planner Presley Parker's friend Delicia gets accused of the murder. I like Delicia and there were plenty of other suspects. Presley sets out to figure it out as well as keeping her busy business running.
  A lot of fun and I look forward to reading the rest of the series as I find it.
• 
  Mark Baker

  Thanks to Penny, I got an ARC of this book. Presley Parker is hosting a murder mystery to raise money for San Francisco's de Young museum when the play's victim dies in real life. The final quarter seemed a little bumpy with Presley being over shocked by things I thought were obvious. The climax still surprised me and kept me turning the pages.
  
  Read my full review at
  Carstairs Considers.
• 
  Caroline

  Okay this was cheating - the book's not officially out yet but Penny Warner kindly gave me an ARC. This was a wonderful book! She always has interesting characters and always includes something informative about a disability or charity cause. Very entertaining. I love Penny's writing.
• 
  Melodie

  Decent read, but I think I liked the first one better. Presley is likeable and mystery party at the museum was a great idea. Didn't figure out "whodunit" too quickly either!
• 
  Jamie

  A predictable but fun, quick read.
• 
  Karen

  More trouble for the party planner in San Francisco.
• 
  Debbie

  presley parker is a great sleuth! I love these books and have read every one of them! it's a great mystery with a little bit of fun and laughter thrown in !! :)
• 
  Regan

  fun read -- the de young is a favorite haunt
• 
  Jenn

  It is a nice easy read. Sometimes I get really frustrated with Presley since she always will do the stupid thing. The mystery is light and easy. Nice and fluffy.
• 
  Brigitta

  I loved Presley!!! Her sense of humor was great!! She was a strong and determined character who never gave up. Wonderful!!!
• 
  TJ

  For a complete review check out, AffairedeCoeur.com, August 2010 edition!
• 
  Karen Desmond

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