Murder by Death

Singularly most frustrating series I've read.

Written in the third person POV by a husband and wife team and unfortunately, it reads like it's written by a husband and wife team - with a bad editor.  I'm sorry, but they suck at third person POV; it's all "Stella did this, then Stella said 'x' then Stella went here".  It reads like a Dick and Jane book.  A good editor could have smoothed this out, made it flow better, but they don't have a good editor as is evident by the number of grammatical errors (of the missing word type - mostly 'a', 'an', 'the' etc.), a lack of clarity, and a few continuity issues.  Finally, I don't know who told them ending the books on artificial cliffhangers was a good idea, but it just makes me roll my eyes; it ends a good story on a silly, melodramatic note.

But I like the stories in this series, dammit!  I like the characters, I like the relationships the authors have created, I like the back drop of a volunteer fire department; it's not cutesy or frivolous like so many recent cozies.  And I really, really like Eric the ghost.  The mysteries, too, are decently plotted although this one could have used a lot of polishing.  The authors took care not to make the solution obvious, but the journey was a little clunky and ultimately the unmasking wasn't shocking.

I am absolutely going to read the next book because I love the characters and setting in spite of how badly the authors treat both.  And if I ever have to be haunted, may I be haunted by a ghost just like Eric.

[PopSugar 2015 Reading Challenge: A book published this year.]