Let’s Play Dead
A Museum Mystery, No 2
Sheila Connolly

Berkley
July 2011/ ISBN 978-0-425-24220-9
Mystery/Amateur Sleuth/Cozy
Amazon

Reviewed by Laura Hinds

In this the second book of the Museum Mystery series, newly appointed president of the Pennsylvania Antiquarian Society, Nell Pratt, is facing a collection of problems that feel almost as vast as the society’s collections of priceless historical objects. Her first big problem is staffing, and there seems to be a dearth of qualified applicants.

Nell lucks out when she is able to hire a new development director, Shelby Carver, before her references can even be checked. Shelby and Nell hit it off right away and she finds that having that one issue crossed off her list allows her to breathe a sigh of relief. Another worry is that her peers seem to not be welcoming her aboard, but before she can worry too much about that she is invited by the president of the Let’s Play Children’s Museum to a sneak-preview of a new exhibit. Nell gratefully accepts little knowing what the end result will be.

There is an electrical malfunction at the exhibit and an installer is zapped, but he survives. When a second glitch jolts another man and he dies, a homicide investigation is initiated. Nell gets involved out of her concern for her friend, Arabella Heffernan, the museum president. Naturally, her potential romance with FBI Agent James Morrison doesn’t have anything to do with her involvement. Sure it doesn't.

I found this to be an easy and light read, laced with interesting facts about museums, humorous relationships, and the usual amateur sleuth works with Federal Agent to solve a murder that is familiar to cozy mystery readers. While I have not yet read the first book in the series (Fundraising the Dead), I don’t feel that I needed to in order to enjoy this one. Yet I do plan to read it to get more of the backstory because I did enjoy this book very much.

Anyone who enjoys a good cozy mystery should like this book, and if you are already a fan of author Sheila Connolly’s Orchard Mystery Series, you will want to read it too. Connolly has a smart style of writing that keeps you reading and guessing all the way to the end. For a summertime read I give this book five sunbeams!