Let's Play Dead

Nell Pratt is settling into her new job as the President of the historical museum when, while visiting another institution, she is witness to an electrical accident that portends another that turns fatal. Worried that the bad publicity will reflect on all museums, she sets out to uncover how it happened and why.

I liked this mystery mainly because of the characters - the additional individuals who were introduced to fill out Nell's staff were funny and entertaining while helping with the storyline as well as the story specific characters being interesting even though they were a bit stereotypical at times.

I think that overall, the plot was weak but because of the strength of the characters the story moved along at a good pace and show more entertained the reader. I hope that the next one has a bit stronger plot. show less

A friend (AC) sent me a number of books from this series. I am glad to see that the author is not keeping all the mysteries to the same museum. It also seems a nice way to spotlight various Philadelphia museums (even if making up a name for one for the book, there could be a dedication page or a large notation somewhere in the book encouraging visitors to go to a real life similar museum in Philadelphia--the tourism board should thank her!)

I was trying to remember if I'd ever been to a museum like Let's Play where touching the exhibits was encouraged. Perhaps some of the science museums but I don't remember a kid's museum like this in my past.

Hadley's situation with her publisher seems realistic from what I've heard of the contemporary show more publishing world--it reminds me a bit of the academic saying "publish or perish", though in this case it would more likely be "sell books and make us a profit" rather than publish.

I did not guess how the crime came about or who might have done it. I agree with another reviewer that the explanations of electricity and how it works might have been misleading enough to confuse the how--also I don't think they gave us enough information on what the Willy the Weasel exhibit was supposed to be set up to do early on enough in the book that it might have made more sense.

Overall though I enjoyed reading the story and will continue on with the series. show less

In Connolly's mustery novel, Nell is invited to the Philadelphia children's museum, Let's Play, for a look at the newly installed exhibit based on the Harriet the Hedgehog children's books. In the middle of her visit, one of the installers gets a jolt from working on an electronically animated weasel. He recovers, but when a second man gets fatally zapped, it sparks a homicide investigation, with Nell right in the middle of things. Determined to discover who set out to sabotage the exhibition, Nell teams with her potential beau, FBI Special Agent James Morrison. It's ultimately up to Nell to focus her energy into finding the killer before he finds her. Nell Pratt is a wonderfully unexpected sleuth that you can't help but root for.

This time Nell's on the case of a death at the children's museum, Let's Play and sadly, this wasn't the cracking mystery the first in the series was. Funnily enough, the investigation into the death worried me a lot less than Nell's hiring practices. After the terrible experience the Society had in the first book, I'd have thought they've be vetting all new hires up one side and down the other but alas, just about anyone who showed up on their doorstep was hired just on the "good feeling" of Nell. Her recognition of her poor judgement on character and integrity from the first book disappeared here so I wasted a lot of time thinking it'd come into play in the main mystery but it didn't. It didn't even feel like a red herring, it just show more made Nell look a bit dim. Not great, in your sleuthing heroines. I do think the behind the scenes look at the running of the museum's was still well done here, so that was to the good.

I'm going to say if you're reading the series, you can likely skip this one and continue just fine. There are new hires at the Preservation Society and little movement on Nell's relationship with James so you're not missing anything that'll prevent understanding future books. I'll definitely read the next in the series. show less

Let's Play Dead is the second book in Museum Mystery series by Sheila Connolly.

Things are beginning to settle down at the Pennsylvania Antiquarian Society and Nell Pratt is adjusting to her new position as president of the society. At the top of her "to do" list to find someone to take over her old job as fundraiser and to find a personal assistant. Those are filled in short order. Nell receives a phone call from the head of a children's hands on museum Let's Play, to come and have a preview of a new exhibit. The exhibit is comprised on characters from a successful children's series. If the children touch the Harriet the the Hedgehog or Willie the Weasel the character would interact with the children. In a trial run a worker is shocked show more when he touches Willie and the next day another worker receives a shock that kills him. Needless to say this could also kill the museum. Nell feels sure that Arabella, the director of the museum, was in no way responsible. Just maybe it was the author, whose sales have been dropping off, or Arabella's ex who at one time had ties to the IRA. So Nell starts to look into the situation with the help of her friendly FBI agent, James Morrison.

This is a very exciting story with an insightful look into the behind the scenes running of a museum. Interesting characters who are easy to like make this books a great read. show less

Let's Play Dead is the second book in Museum Mystery series by Sheila Connolly.

Things are beginning to settle down at the Pennsylvania Antiquarian Society and Nell Pratt is adjusting to her new position as president of the society. At the top of her "to do" list to find someone to take over her old job as fundraiser and to find a personal assistant. Those are filled in short order. Nell receives a phone call from the head of a children's hands on museum Let's Play, to come and have a preview of a new exhibit. The exhibit is comprised on characters from a successful children's series. If the children touch the Harriet the the Hedgehog or Willie the Weasel the character would interact with the children. In a trial run a worker is shocked show more when he touches Willie and the next day another worker receives a shock that kills him. Needless to say this could also kill the museum. Nell feels sure that Arabella, the director of the museum, was in no way responsible. Just maybe it was the author, whose sales have been dropping off, or Arabella's ex who at one time had ties to the IRA. So Nell starts to look into the situation with the help of her friendly FBI agent, James Morrison.

This is a very exciting story with an insightful look into the behind the scenes running of a museum. Interesting characters who are easy to like make this books a great read. show less

This was an odd one - not sure what to think of the plot decisions the author made - but I appreciated that it wasn't one of 5 plots some authors just recycle. I like the museum setting and the characters are getting livelier and more interesting.