From USA Today bestselling author Anne Marie Stoddard comes a frighteningly fashionable mystery that asks the question: What do zombies, vampires, and beauty pageants have in common? They’re all about to make Kaley Kalua’s life a waking nightmare¿Happy Hula Boutique manager, Kaley, is excited to celebrate Halloween with her friends at Aloha Lagoon’s upcoming Alohaween Festival-that is, until her … her Aunt Rikki drags her to a ghoul-themed beauty pageant to cheer on her longtime nemesis, Harmony Kane. The competition is stiff, and things turn deadly when the winner is found staked with her own scepter and stuffed inside a coffin on one of the floats for the annual Halloween parade.Kaley is even more shocked when she receives a call from Harmony, begging her to prove that she didn’t kill the woman. She reluctantly accepts, and with the help of her pal, Jamie, and the oh-so-tempting resort lifeguard, Noa, Kaley delves into the mysterious circumstances surrounding the beauty queen’s ghastly murder. Did a scorned pageant contender take out the competition, or does one of the judges have something to hide? It seems nearly everyone has a skeleton in their closet, and someone wants theirs to stay buried. Kaley finds herself in the killer’s cross-hairs, and if she doesn’t uncover the truth soon, she may wind up in a coffin of her own.
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This review is for the audio book.
I enjoyed this book. This series is made up by different authors writing cozy mysteries all taking place in one location and featuring different shops and characters. I think this works really well and I have listened too and enjoyed a number o the books in the series. So I jumped at the chance to visit with old friends, especially as this book was written by Anne Marie Stoddard staring Kaley Kalua, who I have met before. So glad I did because the book didn’t disappoint. The mystery was interesting but it was the characters that I really liked, especially the fact that Kaley needed to help her high school nemesis and how the friendship develops between them, it leads to some funny moments. I also liked the Halloween theme throughout the book. I can’t wait for the next adventure.
It’s hard enough for Kaley to work with her high school nemesis Hamony everyday at work as the manager of a clothes shop but when all the employees attend the ghoul-themed beauty pageant she has no choice but to grudging go. The competition is fierce as many of the competitors have meet before and once again Harmony loses to her biggest rival. But things take a scary turn when the winner is found dead and Harmony is the number one suspect. She begs to help her clear her name but can they both out there last behind the and get to the bottom of the murder? The death seems to be connected to the pageant and the way she treated people from her step brother, the judge’s and even her fellow contestants so Kaley will have work on narrow the suspect list down if she wants to catch the killer and stop Harmony from going to jail, express it looks like some one is trying there best to frame her.
I did like the narrator but had to slow the listening speed down because she talked to fast and I struggled to concentrate on what she was saying. Once slowed, I found her to be bubbly and enthusiastic.
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
Another wonderful saga in the Aloha Lagoon mystery series. This is the third book in this series written by this author, but, one of the absolute best things about this series is that all of the books do wonderfully as stand-alones, SO, DON’T let that stop you from getting and reading the rest once you are done with this one!!! So many entertaining characters that come together in this story to keep you completely entertained and glued to this book till the very end. No spoilers here, you just need to read this book to find out for yourself what all the fun and mystery is about! The setting of this marvelous mystery is a pageant at the Alohaween Halloween Festival. There are tons of twists and turns, laugh out loud moments, times when you just groan because you just want to jump into the story and intervene. You will find tons of people who have even more reasons than not to want the murdered character dead, and Ann Marie does yet another wonderful job keeping you glued to this story from the first word to the last. So, what are you waiting for, join the gang at Aloha Lagoon for a terrific, entertaining fast reading cozy mystery. I received an ARC of this book from the publisher for the sole purpose of an unbiased review.
The action and drama in Aloha Lagoon continues in Tiaras and Terror. Harmony asks for Kaley’s help to solve the murder. Kaley is distracted because her boyfriend Noa has been seen around town in the cozy company of a red haired woman. With possible boyfriend issues and way too many suspects who will not mourn the victim’s demise, can Kaley find the murderer before she herself becomes a victim? Do not miss this newest murder in Aloha Lagoon.