| Title | : | How to Survive a Killer Séance (Party Planning, #3) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0451232798 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780451232793 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Mass Market Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 320 |
| Publication | : | First published January 4, 2011 |
How to Survive a Killer Séance (Party Planning, #3) Reviews
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3.5 This is the third in the Party Planning series and it's better with each addition. Presley is putting on an event for Jonathan Ellington. He is going to reveal his new holographics. The location will be the Winchester Mystery House and Jonathan will bring back Sarah Winchester (the heiress to Winchester rifles and is said to be guided by spirits) in full living detail. As Sarah's image appears, things go horribly wrong and someone is dead. Presley goes into full investigative mode to find the killer.
This is a fun and light cozy to curl up with...but keep the lights on! -
Super cute! Presley Parker is always in the thick of things.
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Well done. Had read #5 first. This one held my attention and was fun.
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Presley Parker is back and finds herself evicted from her Treasure Island barracks office as the building has been condemned. Luckily Brad, the crime clean-up specialist, uses his connections to find new office space for all the evicted businesses.
Presley has no time to waste dealing with building matters as she plans a Séance Party at San Jose's Winchester Mystery House for Jonathon Ellington. He plans to unveil some really cool holographic technology developed by his company. Some real A-level guests are attending including George Lucas, creator of the Star Wars and Indiana Jones movies. The idea was to have the image of the late Sarah Winchester appear and actually converse with the people at the séance table. All was going fine until the image of dear Sarah veers off script and starts quite a commotion with her tales aimed at the host of the party. The party comes to an abrupt end but left behind is one dead body.
It is going to take more than a crystal ball, Ouija board or a spiritual guide to communicate and track down this killer. Presley will have her hands full even as someone tries to scare her to death.
I LOVED IT!!!!!
I have enjoyed this entire series. This story like the two before is packed with loads of fun. The characters we love are back with a few new ones, some that I predict will show up again in the next book.
The cool thing about this series is that they are set in real places. This story is no exception, the San Jose Winchester Mystery House is wonderfully described in this book and after you read it you should visit the website. It is a truly scary place and a perfect setting for this book.
For those of you like me who are not from California or don't know a lot about the state, Treasure Island and the buildings the author uses as her settings are also very real.
The author is also a party planner herself, planning over five hundred parties and events. She has also written several books on party planning.
This reality makes it so easy to step right into these stories. It makes you forget that they are actually fictional, or maybe they are not, or at least not completely fictional. Mark Twain has a quote that starts out "truth is stranger than fiction..." and that may be what Penny Warner is drawing from in these wonderful stories.
Take my advice, pick up this book as soon as it is released and cozy up by the fire and "escape" into the wonderful world of Presley Parker. You will not be disappointed and I hope you will come back and let me know how much you enjoyed this book. Be sure to let the author know too! She can be reached through her web page.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Obsidion, a division of Penguin Publishing. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” -
I've lived in the Bay Area now for 12 years. The one place I want to go and haven't yet is The Winchester Mystery House. It is the setting for the third of the Party Planner books, How to Survive a Killer Seance by Penny Warner.
Presley Parker's latest client is the CEO of a tech company with a new 4D technology, something like a fully realized hologram. To launch the new product, he wants Presley to put on a seance where Sarah Winchester will materialize (and thus show off the new technology). Of course someone ends up dead and Presley's the center of attention again.
Meanwhile back at Treasure Island, her offices are being condemned and she has to find a new place to work. She's also being haunted by spirits of her own. Maybe the murderer is trying to scare her off?!
I was having so much fun with the setting and Presley's trouble on Treasure Island that I was too preoccupied to guess the identity of the murderer. That was a big improvement over How to Crash a Killer Bash. This series of books is a perfect mix of Bay Area locations and party planning mayhem.
I read this books for fun. They are my curl up with a hot cup of cocoa books.
The fourth book is How to Party with a Killer Vampire (review coming). -
Posted at
http://oh-my-books.blogspot.com/2011/...
How to Survive a Killer Seance is the third book of this series, and I was dying to read it. This time, Presley is almost obligated to plan a party for Jonathan Ellington at the Winchester Mystery House, but of course, nothing goes as planned.
Dead and infidelity are the protagonists in this story, and Presley is going to be in the middle of it. As always, she starts to investigate who is the possible murderer, which was one of the party attendees. This time, the mystery wasn't so intriguing, and I suspected from the character almost since the beginning, but still it was fun to read how Presley would discover it.
I was glad to see more of Presley and her boyfriend Brad, which I love. And I loved the detail of that new character in the detective department.
Overall, I love this series and this book wasn't the exception. It was light, funny and easy to read. Perfect for a relax day. -
Warner was a new author to me, and I enjoyed this mystery. Presley Parker is a party planner, and was asked to plan a seance party to take place in the Winchester Mystery House. That made it worth reading to me because of TV shows dealing with the location, but Presley was interesting, too, because she has ADHD, with which I'm too familiar, as I have a daughter with it. My only complaint is that the plot seems a little forced to me. The police have a suspect arrested for the murder, yet the detective shows up for a trap Presley has set. The detective even drove Presley's mother, and the suspect's father to the reveal. What? The police don't do that here, and some might see getting too close to suspects as a conflict of interest. I still enjoyed the book, and want to read more by this author.
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these stories just keep getting better and better.
3rd in series, Presley the "Event Planner" is called upon by her mothers' boyfriend to throw a seance party for his son Johnatans' company.. to launch a new 4-D product that will change the world. The catch? They want it held at the Winchester Mystery House!
During the party, the guy operating the 4-D projector ends up dead, and Johnathans fingerprints all over the murder weapon. With the guest list a mile long there are many many suspects and Presley is determinded to find the killer so she can get herself paid.
Even though I guessed the killer early on, I just adore the characters and plotlines of these books. I hope there will be more to come. -
Presley Parker is back as an event planner/crime solver. This time she is pressured into planning a Seance for wealthy, cocky and pushy Jonathan, a big wig with a big idea. Fending off his advances in between trying to plan everything he wants is stressing Presley out. Then at the Seance, the 4D hologram accuses Jonathan of all his numerous affairs and then the computer guy is found dead - by a candlestick Jonathan himself carried out of the room. Presley's mom begs her to solve the crime and help out Jonathan and his father. This time Presley is threatened to leave it alone and finds herself moving closer to Brad. The mystery was interesting but I did have it figured out for the most part before the reveal.
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Penny Warner's "How to Survive a Killer Seance" is a winner for interesting murder mysteries set in unique situations. This time it was the famous "Winchester Mystery House" in San Jose, CA.
If you like strong sleuths, Presley Parker, interesting jobs-Event Planner, and laughing out loud humor, well this book is for you. Oh, and I forgot...high technology concepts- 4D?
Every character is special and sharply defined. Each book leads you through a maze so that you feel you helped Presley solve the crime. Then at the ending...you get a glimpse of the next in the series that makes you impatient to read it!
I highly recommend this series! -
Event planner Presley Parker is hired for a seance themed party at the Winchester Mystery House. But part way through, the "ghost" goes off script. Next thing she knows, the host is missing and a body has turned up. I really like the characters, but plot could have used a bit more polish. It dragged in a few places, and the ending felt rushed.
Read my full review at
Carstairs Considers -
I love the party planning tips in the beginning of each chapter but the mystery part is not enough to satisfy the inner detective in me. The mystery is very quickly solved by our dear Presley Parker; event planner/amateur detective extraordinaire that I couldn't help but wonder where the action is.
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This is just plain fun. I will definitely read more of Warner's mysteries. Not only is it a blast to read about settings, like the Winchester Mystery House, that I have visited but her characters are quirky and very likeable.
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so much fun already and I'm only on page 29 - love how she uses her relative's names as characters - a really fun read and surprise ending
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3rd in the series and the best so far. Looking forward to the next one!
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I love this series! And she's prompted me to go to the Winchester Mystery house this Halloween.
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Not the best in the series so far but the use of the Winchester house makes this an intriguing story.
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Who does not love a visit to Winchester Mystery House?
4D graphics, holograms and a stepped up contact with Brad. -
I love Presley! The party planning details are really fun. More of her budding romance in this one and less of her other office mates. A quick satisfying read.
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This third installment in the party planning novels was very good! I am totally in love with Brad! I would love for Presley to learn more about him so we readers can learn about him as well!
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Once again, I enjoyed the authors use of real historic locations in her stories. I have been the Winchester Mystery House and that made the story even more enjoyable!
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Good. Light mystery with fun characters & a little romance
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Not my normal genre but I enjoyed it. It had humor and mystery with a sprinkling of romance in there. Enjoyed it and hope to read some of her other books
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Slightly better than average cozy with your usual cast of characters. I enjoyed the mystery, I just wish that most cozies didn't have such interchangeable characters.
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It's been a decent random read.
