Murder by Death

After 19 really solid, enjoyable books, this one tanked for me.  It's still ok, hence my 3 stars, but comparatively speaking, nowhere near as good as the book that came before it.

Contributing to my general disappointment was the feeling that Haines just never got a handle on the plot.  It's a really interesting one about Indian burial mounds, archeology and curses, but it never gelled and in fact went somewhat around the bend in terms of incredulity, character angst, and abuse of dues ex machina.  The series has always had a light touch of the paranormal in Jitty, the ghost that haunts Sarah Booth, but the author charges past the lightly paranormal line, and blazes right into unbelievable miracles, and then she throws in some science fiction just to really stomp on any believability the plot may have had going for it.

I didn't hate it, and it's not generally bad; it's just not anywhere near as complex and interesting an instalment as previous books have been.  Everyone gets a phone-it-in in a long running series, and it took Haines 20 books before she cashed hers in.  I'm confident that should there be a 21, it will be back to the high standards of previous books.

I read this book for Halloween Bingo's New Release square.