How to Party with a Killer Vampire: 08/27/12

How to Party with a Killer Vampire by Penny Warner is the fourth of the Party Planner mysteries. Presley Parker is hosting the wrap up party for Cee Gee studios in a Colma cemetery. Things go wrong when a tabloid journalist is murdered.

Mixed in with the vampire horror film wrap up, is the art of parkour. Three local experts had been brought on as stunt doubles and now they are wrapped up in the aftermath of the journalist's murder.

Strange characters with San Francisco stylings are the usual fair for the Party Planner. The location often plays a big role as a character in its own right. This time, though, Colma didn't come off as convincing as previous locations had. It felt more like a generic cemetery location, than the actual one — being conveniently far from anything, dark, and of course populated by crazy groundkeepers.

Although Colma isn't in San Francisco, and at one time was in the middle of no where, it no longer is. Colma sits nestled between Daly City, San Bruno mountain and South San Francisco. While cemeteries are its primary business, it also houses car dealerships, a couple strip malls, restaurants and a pub. It's not the dead place as described in the book. Some of the streets even go right through cemeteries, so it was hard to believe that Presley has as alone as she often says she is.

Four stars

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