When Jonathan Ellington asks event planner Presley Parker to throw him a séance-themed party at which he can unveil his new 4-D technology, she’s hesitant to take the job; Ellington seems really sleazy, and the haunted mansion he’s chosen for the party’s backdrop scares the heck out of her. But Ellington is the son of Presley’s mother’s new boyfriend, and neither her mother nor Ellington will take ‘no’ for an answer, so Presley reluctantly signs on. Soon the night of the party arrives, and everything is going swimmingly: the mansion makes for a predictably creepy backdrop, and in attendance are some of the hottest names in the special-effects industry. During Ellington’s big demonstration, however, something goes terribly wrong; instead of touting the merits of Ellington’s new technology, the 4-D display outs Ellington as a serial philanderer and starts listing the numerous women with whom he’s had affairs. The party predictably screeches to a halt and Ellington’s wife, Lyla, flees the room (followed closely by Ellington, himself), leaving Presley and her crew to deal with the aftermath. The cleanup goes relatively quickly, but Presley can’t seem to find Ellington or Lyla anywhere in the building. And then, when Presley returns to the mansion the next morning to finish cleaning up, she discovers the corpse of Levi Webster – the tech who’d been running the 4-D demonstration the night before. Who tampered with the 4-D display? What happened to Jonathan and Lyla Ellington? And who killed Levi? Can Presley find the answers to these questions before she becomes a target, herself?

Penny Warner’s How to Survive a Killer Séance is the third entry in her Party-Planning Mystery series, and it’s an entertaining read, full of unique characters and breezy prose. The setting is unique, the structure is smart, and the pacing is quick. I enjoyed the mystery despite the fact that I was fairly certain I knew the identity of the killer about halfway in, and while the setup is a tad contrived and Presley’s big plan to nab the killer at the end is overly elaborate, I’d much rather a writer swing for the fences than bore me with the ordinary. And while Presley’s motivations for getting involved in the investigation are a little flimsy, the same could be said for just about any mystery involving an amateur sleuth, so that’s a minor complaint.

Presley is an engaging heroine with a profession that seems perfectly suited to carry a mystery series; there’s loads of potential for interesting storylines when it’s your main character’s job to throw extravagant parties for zany people, and I look forward to seeing what Warner does next. Though her snarkiness occasionally seems a bit forced, Presley otherwise makes for a strong, smart, funny protagonist for whom readers will want to root.

In a nice twist, Presley’s boyfriend, Brad, is not a law enforcement agent but is instead a crime scene cleaner, thereby giving her access to information she might not otherwise have while avoiding the stereotype. And the cast of characters that shares Presley’s office space (and helps her out with the occasional party) is quirky and fun, from Delicia the actress to Berk the videographer to Raj the security guard to Rocco the chef, lending the book texture, life, and a nice sense of family.

Are you a fan of Deborah Donnelly’s Carnegie Kincaid books or Jerrilyn Farmer’s Madeline Bean mysteries? Sad that neither series has seen a new book in a while? If so, give How to Survive a Killer Séance by Penny Warner a try; I think you’ll find that it scratches that itch quite nicely.

Reviewed by: Kat