Reviewed by Cheryl K
TITLE: Dead Serious Case #4 Professor Prometheus Plume
SERIES: Crawshanks Guide to the Recently Departed
AUTHOR: Vawn Cassidy
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 287 pages
RELEASE DATE: December 31, 2023
BLURB:
Inspector Danny Hayes has something very important to ask his boyfriend Tristan Everett. Over the past six months they’ve survived reapers, chaos monsters, and biblical storms, not to mention averting an apocalypse. So, what’s left to do but pop the big question?
Tristan is ready for a break from world-saving, spectral crises, and most definitely from ghosts. He wants some one-on-one time with his boyfriend, preferably horizontally. So when their Boxing Day celebrations result in a drunken booking of a romantic New Year’s getaway at a quiet little hotel near the wilds of the north Yorkshire moors, Tristan can’t wait.
But as usual nothing ever goes according to plan. Snowed in during an unexpected murder mystery weekend at what turns out to be one of the most haunted hotels in Northern England is not what they had in mind, but when one of the actors turns up really dead not just fake dead, they once again find themselves caught up in another investigation.
With only one night to figure out who the killer is while wrangling a multitude of overly helpful ghosts, Tristan begins to wonder if romance really is dead….
REVIEW:
Here’s my disclaimer speech about this series, it is a series that must be read in order as each of story builds on the previous one. It is not a book to read as a standalone. This series has been one of my favorites from the get-go. Brilliant doesn’t even do this book justice. But it really is brilliant. Vawn took a different approach with this one and it was genius. I really loved how this book focused more on Danny and Tristan’s relationship.
Full disclosure, there were a few parts of this book, where I just bawled… Which just shows how fabulous her writing is. The prose in this one tops the last book, exponentially. Which just means I am more invested in the outcome of all the characters in this series. I fear my heart will be ripped out in the future, in regard to one of the side characters. But I think that is the foundation of any well written book. The author grabs you by the short hairs and reels you in and makes you feel all the feels.
As I’ve mentioned in previous reviews of this series, I love the depths she infuses in not only the main characters, but also in the side characters. She has incorporated the burgeoning relationships of not only Danny and Tristan, but her side characters as well. Death and Chan were a stroke of brilliance. Dusty and Bruce are too cute together.
In an attempt to give Danny and Tristan a break from solving murders, they head out for a weekend getaway. But they pick a hotel that’s having a murder mystery week, I giggled so hard. But Vawn incorporates a very cathartic scene with Danny’s family. Found family is everything, but sometimes it’s nice to have blood family embrace the diversity found in this series. That family reunion might have been one of the times I cried.
Worldbuilding can become old hat sometimes, but not in this series. This time around we get to visit a haunted hotel, that is hosting a murder mystery weekend. In addition, we get a glimpse into how powerful Tristan might be. Vawn just keeps adding more layers to the world Danny and Tristan live in. I find it fun to be drawn deeper and deeper into their world.
If you’re looking for hot sexy times, this one has that too. It has brilliant banter and some surprises that will leave you breathless. This series gets better and better with each new installment, and I can’t wait for the next book in the series. You all know the drill – don’t walk or stroll to your favorite book purchasing site – you need to run. I fiercely recommend this book and series. I am eagerly awaiting the next book in this series.
RATING: 
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