Adventures in Funeral Crashing – Milda Harris

Author: Milda Harris
Publisher: Milda Harris (Self-Published)
Published: July 15th 2011
Pages: 177 (e-book)


Summary:

Sixteen year old Kait Lenox has a reputation as the weird girl in her high school, mostly because of her ex-best friend turned mean popular girl, Ariel, but maybe it has a little to do with the fact that Kait has a hobby crashing funerals. At one of these, Kait is outted by the most popular guy in school, Ethan Ripley. Yet, instead of humiliating her for all the world to see, he asks for her help, and Kait finds herself entangled in a murder mystery. Not only is the thrill of the mystery exciting, but more importantly Ethan knows her name! A little sleuthing is well worth that!

THREE OUT OF FIVE STARS ***

This is an interesting story about a girl who has an odd hobby; funeral crashing. This results in an adventure that she could have never expected. It is a mystery novel that essentially keeps you on your toes. While you believe you’ve got it down to a tee, it’s possible you’ll be surprised by the actual result. The story itself flows quite well and it is certainly a nice, quick, and easy read but, unfortunately, it simply wasn’t one for me. I can see, however, that it is one that others, especially those younger than me might enjoy but it just personally wasn’t for me.

Milda Harris is a talented writer. This much I certainly have to admit and I am, essentially, glad that I gave this book a try and read it all the way through to the end. Unfortunately, however, I just couldn’t get my head around the main character and found myself rolling my eyes too many times. This, however, is simply because I am passed the teenager years that she is dealing with. Kait is sixteen, an outcast in her highschool having been shunned by her ex-best friend who is now one of the most popular girls in the school. Milda manages to truly get inside Kait’s head and she clearly has a knowledge of what sixteen-year olds can be like and therefore this book is written as though a sixteen year old has written it. This could be horrifying but actually is a talent that many authors do not possess.

I liked the characters of this novel, all except for Kait, anyway. I especially loved Ethan and while it was a tad annoying that he was the most popular guy in school (and doesn’t Kait like reminding us that), this simply helps to make the book flow nicely as a good high-school novel. He is caring and not someone who really cares for his position within the school which is always a nice change, at any rate. I also really liked Kyle and Suzie but I wish that they could have had a bit more of a front focus in the novel and think that this could maybe change somewhat in the next few books to come, perhaps.

The story itself is definitely an interesting one. It’s quite nice to see how it all happens and how things turn out. Especially with the idea that it’s just a bunch of teenagers that supposedly don’t know what they’re doing in the middle of a police investigation. It is a story that I can definitely see a lot of younger audiences enjoying, even if I didn’t find it particularly enjoyable myself. I especially think that anyone who likes Jacqueline Wilson would enjoy this story and the ones that are on their way.

Fortunately, while this story didn’t grab me the way others have in the past, and while it’s not one that really had me begging for more, I’m definitely intrigued enough to wait patiently for the next book and give that one a read over when I get a chance. It’s not a book I’d read again but it was easy and quick and a nice change from the other books I’ve been reading lately. I am glad for the opportunity to read it through the Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy goodreads group.