Review: Post Mortem (Parish Mail #2) by Kira Snyder & GIVEAWAY!

Source: Received a copy from the publisher for an honest review.
Publisher: Coliloquy, LLC
Release Date: Already released.


Description from Goodreads:

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.

This series is quickly reawakening the mystery fan in me! I love trying to figure everything out and piece it all together as Celia uncovers different clues, and once again, I really enjoyed the interactive aspect that Coliloquy's stories bring to this type of story. I read through all possible variations, and I could see how the choices made differences in the storyline. I'm starting to notice that the version I picked first usually ends up being my favourite though. ;) haha

I loved Post Mortem just as much as I loved Dead Letter Office, and I'm thoroughly enjoying getting to know Celia and her friends. I'm also incredibly fascinated by the paranormal and magical elements that are in this series. I love all the mentions of cadeaus, and just different types of spells. Kira Snyder has made them fit so seamlessly within the story that it honestly doesn't even seem out of the norm in modern day New Orleans, and I think that's the part that I find the most fascinating about the paranormal bits...it's as if it could happen to anyone and that you could move to New Orleans and realize your unknown cadeau, too...and I kinda like that. ;D

Along with the magic, I loved the story. Celia spent a lot of Post Mortem just trying to figure out if there was an actual mystery to solve, and I always had confidence in her instincts, just like her best friend Tilly did. Although the boys were another story. Depending on the version you went with one of the boys, Donovan or Luc, were always a bit more hesitant and the other believed in her the whole time, and that was kind of interesting aspect I saw when reading through both versions because it was like one choice had rivets throughout the story.  Even with her doubts, Celia continued to investigate, and she soon uncovers some pretty crazy and intense stuff! While Dead Letter Office was awesome and exciting, Post Mortem was both of those things and also had some pretty freaky parts that kind of gave me the creeps...in a good way of course. It had even more of the paranormal and magic that I mentioned before and it made for one crazy mystery. :D

Since I mentioned the boys before I have to bring them up. Celia's got quite the dramatic love life right now. She doesn't have a boyfriend, but there are a few prospective love interests in her life. You have Donovan--the detective's son, Luc--the attractive ghost from another era, and even Sloan is kind of romantically linked a bit...he and Celia have a very strange relationship. Sloan's the resident rich boy with a bad attitude, and he has a tendency to insult her almost every time he sees her...although not always. I have to say that Donovan is my favourite though. He's just such a good guy, plus that roguish smile he has gets me every time. *sigh* I like Luc, but I'm not really digging the whole ghost relationship thing. :P Well, now that I've had a one-sided gush fest about the boys with you all, I'll just say that you'll have to read the series to find out which one you like and feel free to gush with me about them. ;)

Overall, I loved Post Mortem. :D It's a fantastic story and definitely a worth follow-up to Dead Letter Office. I loved everything about it from the truly spooky mystery, to the budding romance (or rather romances) and finally to Celia herself. She is quickly becoming a favourite of mine and really reminds me of one of my absolute favourite characters, Veronica Mars. Celia's not as snarky, but she definitely has the guts to go into some crazy situations and will follow any lead to uncover the truth just as Veronica does. I definitely cannot wait to see what happens to Celia and her friends next. :D

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GIVEAWAY!
- US/Canada Only!
- 1 Winner will receive a set of Dead Letter Office and Post Mortem in the Parish Mail series in the ebook format of their choice
- Giveaway ends May 17th at 11;59 PM (MST)
- Winner will be chosen with Rafflecopter, contacted via email and will have 48 hours to claim their prize

TO ENTER FILL OUT THE RAFFLECOPTER BELOW:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Good luck if you enter the giveaway! :D
So, what do you think of Post Mortem and the Parish Mail series?

Review: Dead Letter Office (Parish Mail #1) by Kira Synder

Source: Received an ebook from the publisher for an honest review.
Publisher:Colliloquy, LLC
Release Date: Already Released.
Number of Pages: 212 (Paperback)


Description from Goodreads:

When Celia’s father is killed in Afghanistan, she moves with her mother to New Orleans, the city where her father grew up. Struggling to adjust and haunted by troubling dreams, Celia finds comfort in new friends like Tilly, a practicing witch, and Donovan, the son of police detective. On Halloween, bizarre supernatural occurrences rock the city. Celia meets the mysterious Luc and finds a letter, over a hundred years old, addressed to her.

The paranormal repercussions continue when Celia learns that Luc is the restless spirit of a young man murdered in 1854, only able to assume solid form at night. And then, to her shock, Celia finds that the letter, which describes the suspected murder of a man in 1870, contains uncanny parallels to the present-day death of Abel Sims, a homeless veteran.

With help from Luc, Tilly, and Donovan, Celia races to solve the murder—and the mystery of the letter—using both magical and forensic clues.

This is an Active Fiction title
"Active fiction" is a new type of e-reading experience that allows the reader and the author to interact with each other and the text in new and different ways.

Kira has written Parish Mail like a TV series–there are over-arching mystery and romantic story arcs that extend between the episodes, while each episode has a smaller case that is presented and solved. Along the way, she asks you, the reader, to make several small decisions as you read. These choices do not impact the overarching storyline, but certain combinations “unlock” clues to the series’ mystery, which are embedded in the text. Kira also asks you to cast a vote at the end of the episode, to get additional feedback from her fans about their preferred love interests in future episodes.

I don't actually read very many mysteries, but whenever I do, I remember just how awesome they are. It's kind of neat to have everything slowly unveil before you as the main character figures everything out. :D Dead Letter Office definitely did the whole mystery element well, and the fact that it is an active fiction title made it even better! Instead of being a passive reader experiencing everything as the character makes choices, you get to make the choices for them and that was fantastic!

I made sure to read all of the possible alternatives so that I could review this title fairly, and I really liked that the differences between paths were subtle, but they also stood out and did take the story in different directions. :D I definitely loved that you get to choose how it all unfolds though because that was a really interesting experience. :)

Along with the mystery element, Dead Letter Office was also shrouded in the paranormal, and since the main character, Celia, was pretty curious, she worked hard to try and figure out everything that's going on. I really enjoyed Celia! She was curious, and I liked the honest relationship she had with her mother. :D Donovan, Tilly, and Luc were also really interesting characters. I'm gonna try to spoil too much, but there is definitely a love triangle going on in this one...and boy is it a strange one. :P haha I loved that each character provided a different element to the story through their relationship with Celia, too. Through Donovan, you get to see the whole Detective side of uncovering the truth, and through Tilly, you get to see magic and all that fun stuff! :D Luc also brings a very interesting perspective, but I'm going to let him remain a mystery until you read Dead Letter Office yourself! ;D

Overall, I loved Dead Letter Office! The active fiction aspect of the story brought a whole new element to the story, and made the mystery even more fascinating. The characters were great, and the writing was descriptive and kept me riveted until the last page...in every version of the story that I tried! I'd recommend this one to mystery fans, and even to those who aren't a fan of mysteries. I think you'd really enjoy this one if you like crime stories on TV, too. All in all, I thought Dead Letter Office was fantastic, and I can't wait to read the sequel, Post Mortem! :D

Are you a fan of mysteries?
Would you enjoy getting to choose what the narrator does in a mystery?
Any other thoughts? :)

Author Interview with Kira Snyder (author of Dead Letter Office)

Hey Kira! Thanks for stopping by my blog! :D

Thank you so much for having me!

Let’s start this interview off nice and easy. Can you share a bit about yourself with us?

I live in Los Angeles with my husband. We just bought a house and consequently are spending way more time at hardware stores than I ever thought possible (who knew one house could have so many light bulbs to replace?). My day job is writing for TV, pretty much the best job ever. I’m grateful every day. Some of the shows I’ve written for are the cult hit vampire detective show “Moonlight” and “Eureka” and “Alphas” for the Syfy Channel. I also worked in computer game design for a number of years – you can see glimpses of this in the Parish Mail interactive ebooks – and enjoy playing Xbox or PS3 when I can find the time.

Could you describe the first book in your Parish Mail series, Dead Letter Office, for those not familiar with the series yet?

In Dead Letter Office we meet the series heroine Celia, a teenager who’s just lost her father. She’s newly arrived in New Orleans with her mom and has a thousand things to adjust to: a family she’s never met, a new city, new school, new friends. On Halloween a massive supernatural disturbance rocks the city, and Celia finds a letter, over a hundred years old, apparently addressed to her and pleading for her help. Celia becomes convinced that the letter holds the key to solving the present-day death of a homeless veteran. Helping her are Tilly, a quirky witch, Donovan, the son of a cop, and the enigmatic Luc, who is much more than he first appears. The mystery deepens in Post Mortem, the second Parish Mail book, when one of Celia’s friends goes missing right before Homecoming.

Dead Letter Office is described as an “active” title. What does that means and how does it influence your writing process?

Dead Letter Office and all the Parish Mail books are interactive, sort of a next generation/2.0 version of Choose Your Own Adventure. At key points you get to make decisions for Celia, and those decisions have consequences. Some of the choices are personal: does Celia accept the popular Peyton’s invitation to attend a swanky Halloween party, or does she hang out with Tilly in the French Quarter? Does Celia choose Donovan or Luc to help her solve the mystery? Other decision points let you play detective along with Celia. Which clue should she follow? Which suspect should she chase? The choices you make determine the story for the rest of the book and also unlock clues to the overarching series mystery. The writing process involves not just a chapter by chapter outline but also a detailed flowchart like I used to make as a game designer, mapping out all the paths, decision points, and clues. Writing an interactive book is creatively very challenging, but a lot of fun.

In the description for Dead Letter Office on Goodreads, it also says that you wrote it like a TV series. What’s that process like and how do you weave all of those over-arching aspects into one story?

As the first book in the Parish Mail series, Dead Letter Office is like the pilot (first) episode of a TV show. It sets up the world including the characters and the overarching mystery, while having a specific case for Celia to solve by the end of the book. Post Mortem and the other books to come also have their own single mystery that wraps up by the end, but also further advance both the long-term story and the emotional development of the characters.

Where do you get your inspiration while writing from?

From all over, really. The city of New Orleans and its astonishingly rich history is the primary inspiration for the entire Parish Mail series. Celia herself was inspired by the strong and smart teen heroines of “Veronica Mars” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” two TV shows I’m a big fan of. But I also find creative sparks from music – I listened to Dixieland jazz and blues while writing Dead Letter Office – and books and movies.

And my final question: I’m always curious about authors as readers, so do you have any favourite authors or books that you’d recommend?

My favorite book about writing is Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird, with Stephen King’s On Writing a close second. For recent YA, I loved Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor. I’m currently reading Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn and can hardly can put it down, it’s so compelling and poignant with wonderfully grounded and specific character details. And I’m biased of course, but Coliloquy’s entire catalog of interactive ebooks is terrific.

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About Kira Snyder:

DEAD LETTER OFFICE and POST MORTEM, the first two in the Parish Mail series of interactive ebooks, are now available for Kindle, Nook, Android, and Kindle app (iPad/iPhone):

http://www.coliloquy.com/products/dea...

http://www.coliloquy.com/products/pos...

Kira Snyder is a writer living in Los Angeles. Her television work includes the Syfy Channel shows ALPHAS and EUREKA and the People’s Choice Award-winning vampire drama MOONLIGHT, which aired on CBS. Kira’s plays have been performed at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, the Circle in the Square Theatre School, the Burton-Taylor Theatre in Oxford, England, the Bay Area Independent Theatre Fringe Festival, and Stanford University. Also a game designer with a Masters degree from NYU-Tisch’s interactive media program, Kira has produced games for Electronic Arts, Purple Moon, Microsoft, There.com, the MIT Press textbook Rules of Play, and Yahoo, including EA’s seminal alternate reality game MAJESTIC. She is a proud geek and loves sci-fi and videogames, reading and playing when she’s not writing or designing.

Author Description from Goodreads.
Author Links: Twitter | Blog | Goodreads

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So, what do you think?

Does Dead Letter Office sound like something you'd like to read?