[Book Review] Post Mortem By Kira Snyder &The Roasterie Dark Mojo Dark Blend

Title: Post Mortem
Series: The Parish Mail Series, Parish Mail #2
Author: Kira Snyder
Publisher: Coliloquy
Publication date: February 4th 2013
Page Count: 285(ish) pages
Age Rating: YA (brief violence and gore)
How I got my hot little hands on it: Received a free copy to review
Publisher’s page: Post Mortem

Celia Macarty is back in Post Mortem, the second installment in the Parish Mail saga.

Autumn in New Orleans means Homecoming, romance—and murder. When a friend vanishes, Celia believes a desperate letter about an unsolved Civil War-era murder holds the key to unraveling the mystery.

As she searches for answers, Celia enlists the help of quirky witch Tilly, and either all-American boy Donovan or, enigmatic Luc–you get to choose.

As the gang follows the missing girl’s trail, danger turns up on all fronts. A vicious stranger threatens Celia’s family. Celia’s nightmares–about a shadowy, ominous villain–get worse. And a new ghost has appeared: beautiful Angelica, who shares a past with Luc.

It will take all of Celia’s will and wit, and the faith of her friends, to solve an unspeakable crime. And no matter which path Celia takes, she will discover that sometimes the past can come back to haunt you.

What’s Cool from Coliloquy: Throughout the Parish Mail series, readers decide which clues to follow to help Celia unravel each mystery. You’ll even get to cast a vote for your favorite love interest. But remember: Choose carefully, or else the killer might just get away.

My Review

In the previous book, Dead Letter Office, the psychic equilibrium was thrown into a state of unbalance Halloween night when someone opened the gates separating the world of the dead from the world of the living. Now ghosts are roaming about in corporal form and crimes from the past are being mirrored in the present with lethal results. Celia Jane Macarty, newly moved to history-rich New Orleans after the death of her father, begins having weird dreams and starts finding mysteriously appearing letters in the mailbox-shaped hollow of the bonewood tree in her grandparent’s backyard – letters from the past asking for help and providing Celia and her friends – a witch, a ghost, and the son of a police detective – with clues to solve the modern mysteries taking place.

In Post Mortem, Celia receives a letter from the past asking for help with a murder from Civil War times – a crime which she’s worried is being mirrored in the present with her new friend Kate as the victim. Problem is, the clues aren’t fitting right and Celia has more than just the mystery on her plate. Homecoming is approaching and Celia is on the committee, Donovan is acting strangely around his ex, a girl from Luc’s past begins making waves, and some dangerous-looking guy is hanging around Celia’s mom. New allies are made, new enemies are found out, and some horrifying truths are revealed.

I’ve got to say, this Active Fiction thing may be growing on me a little. Okay, a lot. I really enjoyed Post Mortem, more so than Dead Letter Office. As in the first book, the reader gets to make decisions throughout the book, but I felt like in this book the choices had more far reaching consequence (the reader gets to choose the love interest – Love that!). Some choices made no difference (all choices took you to the same page) and some choices had right and wrong answers (you pick A instead of B, but then the characters do A and realize they should have done B, so they go and do that instead).

Post Mortem is a little darker than Dead Letter Office and the mystery was more twisted and, I think, fun to follow. The writer of the Parish Mail series really does a fabulous job of laying out clues and putting together an interesting mystery for the characters (and the reader) to solve.

The writing in the Parish Mail Series is fantastic and the storyline is really intriguing and I think I’ve been sucked in against my earlier objections into becoming a fan. I recommend giving it a shot now more than ever – I think they may really be on to something here with this series.

The mystery in Post Mortem is complex and intriguing with twists and turns and surprising revelations. As a great compliment to this storyline I recommend The Roasterie Dark Mojo Dark Blend. It’s a complex coffee which may seem simple and straight forward at first (a simple, light flavor) but then something kind of magical happens and you find that it’s actually a deeper, richer experience than first thought.