Review

There’s always something to celebrate in Celebration Bay, New York. This mean Liv Montgomery’s job as the town’s event planner is never done. The small town is getting ready to celebrate Independence Day in a big way. Liv has the traditional parade and expected fireworks display to plan, but unique to Celebration Bay, also a Revolutionary War reenactment, complete with a ghost. However, it’s a much more recent casualty that could ruin the July Fourth fun. The usual “ghost” is missing, but Liv finds an all too real dead body instead. Liv finds herself in the middle of a ghost hunt, a treasure hunt, and the hunt for a murderer along with all of her event planning duties for the town.

I love the theme of this series in which Liv plans various holiday events for the town, and of course solving murders on the side. This is the third book in the series and each holiday-themed book in the series has been a lot of fun. I enjoy seeing Liv’s little dog Whiskey accompanying her around the town. Whiskey plays the role of best friend for Liv, who is still meeting people in her new town, but at least she knows when to ask friends to dog-sit, so Whiskey isn’t showing up in every scene. Unfortunately, Liv’s co-worker Ted is still teaching Whiskey to “sing” but at least there aren’t paragraphs full of “aroo-roo-roo” this time.

Liv and Ted make a great event-planning team and I like their friendship. Liv doesn’t know a lot about Ted’s personal life, but still have a great working relationship. Liv has her share of friendly acquaintances in the town, such as her elderly landladies Miss Ida and Miss Edna, and not-so-friendly acquaintances such as Janine, who used to do the town’s event planning, but she’s really starting to feel like a part of the town. She doesn’t have much of a love life, but I’m hoping Liv can continue to get to know the enigmatic Chaz Bristow because there is an obvious attraction between the two characters. 

I really like this book, although the story meanders a bit. The ghostly theme with two ghosts named Henry Gallantine and someone else posing as the ghost, along with a treasure hunt, and local political skirmishes gets to be a bit too much. However, Liv’s following the clues and determination to solve the mystery and make sure the right person is brought to justice is as entertaining as ever. The book ends on a high note with Liv planning a well-deserved vacation. It’s Liv and the various festivities that make this a delightful series, which is becoming one of my favorites. Liv, Ted, Whiskey, and Chaz are keepers and will make you wish you could spend your next holiday in Celebration Bay.

Reviewed by Christine