Skip to main content

Member Reviews

A murder mystery with a différents. A very quirky tale of a festival for witches and the unusual, which goes very wrong. A murder brings everyone together as they try and solve who did it.
The witch craft and occult is woven in to this tale seamlessly and it just brings a new perspective to this murder mystery,

Was this review helpful?

'Fatality at the Festival' is the eighth book of the 'Nightmare Arizona Paranormal Cozy Mysteries' by
Beth Dolgner. The book is filled with magical creatures, an interesting mystery, and wonderful characters.

And even though I have not read the rest of the series (yet, because now I do want to start it!), it wasn't hard to keep up or to love the characters, and especially the main one.

The paranormal was, in addition, well handled and blended nicely with the main plot, which was also a tricky mystery that wasn't easy to crack.

Finally, the narrator did a great job with her performance and the audiobook production overall was splendid.

Was this review helpful?

“Fatality at the Festival” is the 8th book in the Nightmare, Arizona series by Beth Dolgner. I was a little confused at the beginning since some topics/situations are referred to but then no further information is provided. So going into the book knowing that this might happen made it more enjoyable, and not that I was missing out.

This cozy mystery has a paranormal element, and while I don’t read many paranormal books I found it very well done while explaining each persons quirks without making it their sole personality trait.

There are a lot of characters in this book, and sometimes I got confused who was who, but the narrator (Petrea Burchard) giving the different voices for each character made it easier to keep them straight.

I also enjoyed that the murder aspect was one story line, and that the characters also had their stories and daily lives showcased too. Also I am looking forward to see how the next stories will pan out and it if will include some of the situations it eluded to.

I will probably go back and start from the beginning with book 1 as this is such an interesting area, and I would love to see how all the characters ended up together.

Was this review helpful?

Very charming cozy mystery with a supernatural spin. I didn't realize until about 25% into the audiobook that this is the 8th in a series, so I presume I missed a lot of the character development and context given in the prior books. But it was a delightful and humorous listen. Cozy mysteries are not my typical genre, but I can see what people love about them. There was nothing particularly groundbreaking about the story, but it was still fun.

Was this review helpful?

The was such a fun cozy fantasy murder mystery! At the annual festival a group of magic creatures (and crew of the Nightmare Sanctuary) find themselves trying to solve the murder of a corn dog seller.

This book was just such a fun read, the characters were interesting and has chemistry with the story. There are so many different magical creatures (mermaids, witches, vampires) you name them they were there. I liked that the corporate of the murder wasn’t obvious, so it made it fun while reading along to try and figure out who the murderer was.

The duration of this audiobook was great. The pacing was great, and the fact that Petrea Burchard was able to do so many voices that were believable and easy to listen to for all the different characters was very impressive.

In general, this is a great cozy fantasy murder mystery that I would recommend to anyone who loves this kind of genre.

Thank you so much to Net Galley and Tanor Audio for this ARC audiobook!

Was this review helpful?

A fun quick listen. I really enjoyed the mystery. The author did a great job keeping my interest. A nice variety of characters too. The narrator did awesome and wasn't boring.

Was this review helpful?

I love a fun cozy murder mystery! Olivia’s adventures are always so fun. I loved the silliness brought into this book between all of these characters at the fair and Lucy. I mean, who doesn’t love a corn dog murder mystery with ghosts, witches, mermaids, and all kinds of fun friends! Beth is fantastic at including such a fun storyline and progressing the character development in each book. This series always gets me out of a reading slump.

I highly recommend this book as a fun cozy murder mystery if you needed a mood boost with a silly quick read!

The narrator, Petrea Burchard, was perfect for this book! I appreciate that the narrator matched the energy of the main character!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Tantor Audio for the audiobook of Fatality at the Festival!

Was this review helpful?

The annual arts and crafts festival is taking place in Nightmare, Arizona. Olivia and the crew at the Nightmare Sanctuary stumble upon another murder when corndog vendor is found dead in his truck. While investigating they also uncover a clue that may help lead to the Damien's missing father.

This is such a fun series. I love a cozy mystery but a paranormal cozy just hits different. Each member of the community at the Nightmare Sanctuary has a little piece of my heart. I have read the ebooks previously but really enjoyed Petrea Burchard's narration. I'm thinking an audio reread of the full series will be in my future. I happened to get this book right in line with my read of the series. So I can't wait to get to book nine soon and the tenth and final will be out in June! I will be so sad to say goodbye to this crew but also can't wait for the biggest mystery to be resolved.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tantor Audio for the ALC in exchange for the honest review.

Was this review helpful?

Wanted to give this one four stars sooo badly. I didn't read the previous 7 books in the series, but I don't think I needed to, the author was very good about the world building. For the most part it is a classic cozy mystery, with good pacing and slightly overdone word choices. But... One of the characters is a kind of mythical being which I am pretty sure is Highly Disrespectful to even write the name of. Starts with a W. I can't get behind disrespecting other people's cultures like that. It's a shame the author went there, this book was enjoyable otherwise.

Was this review helpful?

This is proving to be one of my favourite series and for a very good reason. It's so much fun and you can tell the author is loving it too. I really like how the super natural's are becoming more and more involved with the mystery with every book that comes out. This means the author has to come up with new and inventive ways for them to get involved, whether it's simple like investigating at night so the vampires can help or in the case of this book the mermaid joins the festival to cover for a sick human. Each situation are perfect for that story and adds a lot of fun to the story, especially as they are such great characters. I really like the characters and love spending time with them, even when they are trying to scary people in the haunted house or when they are caught up in investigating, both are equally entertaining. The main mystery gets wrapped up nicely and I had no clue who the killer was despite the clues, good job Olivia is on hand to work them out. We also learn a little bit more about the side mystery, the disappearance of the owner of the haunted Sanctuary, which is why I recommend reading or listening to the whole series, you won't be disappointed. I can't wait for the next book to see what mystery and wonders the author comes up with next..
Olivia and her nightmare friends are excited for the arts and crafts festival to arrive in town. Giving most of the residents of the haunted house a chance to have fun but the fun ends when a food truck owner is found dead. Olivia has no plans to investigate, until her friends talk her into it, by finding her clues and going undercover. Together can they find the killer before the festival moves on to the next stop?
I think the narrator is the perfect choice for the job. Each character gets there own voice which helps bring the magic and mystery to life. Making it five stars all round.
I was given this free review copy audio book at my request and have voluntarily left this review

Was this review helpful?