Actress and part-time P.I., Ivy Meadows (Olive Zeigwart) is excited when she learns that her best friend and fellow actress Candy Moonpie is in town as part of the touring cast of The Wizard of Ozpera. It has been a few months since they have seen one another and when they meet up, things are strained. Candy, now called Candace Moon, has lost a dangerous amount of weight, seems jumpy, doesn't look well or seem like herself. Ivy visits her on set and is caught up in an accident when the chandelier comes crashing down and injures one of the actresses. The producer/director asks Ivy to investigate and well as work as understudy for the show. Ivy finds out that there have been many accidents on this tour. She also comes up against Babette, a nasty woman who has a television show that finds the next "It Girl". When Candy disappears, Ivy not only has to find out about the accidents, but is worried that something bad has happened to Candy. Can Ivy find the answers before someone else gets hurt? Of course Ivy is also dealing with her brother Cody who is being secretive as well as a developing romance with Matt, her brother's previous caregiver.

The book includes a musical that is a mash up of The Wizard of Oz being performed in Space. There are bits from Star Wars, Star Trek and more. There is humor along with the stress of working in the theatre with stage mothers. (The munchkins are child actors) Ivy also discovers a couple of things about herself that she does not like very much and she works hard to change. There is a lot going on in this story and the murder and disappearance happen later in the story. Once that occurs, the climax comes pretty quickly. This was not one of my favorite books in this series, but it was still an enjoyable read. The publisher generously provided me with a copy of this book via Netgalley. ( )

This is the first book that I've read in the series, I liked the theatrical setting and all the behind the scenes of putting on a play.

Ivy’s best friend Candy has come back to Phoenix from Hollywood to star in the theatrical version of “The Wizard: A Space Ozpera, which is being directed by the famous Arrestadt Giry. There is also a famous reality star, Babette Firman who is looking for her next “It Girl”. It’s a major coup for the actress who she chooses. Could Candy be the next “It Girl”?

When Ivy finally meets up with her friend Candy she’s hardly recognizable what has Hollywood done to her best friend? Candy is no longer the voluptuous, fun loving person she was just a few months ago. She’s a shell of her former self, Ivy jumps to several conclusions as to what is happening to her friend and none of them are good. She’s also a bit envious of Candy’s sudden success which is not like her. She should be happy for her friend, but it’s obvious that something is seriously wrong with Candy.

There are a lot of great characters in this book; the young munchkin, Madison who is wise beyond her young years who is being pushed by her stage mom, Desiree to stay with the tour. Then there is the wonderful pear-shaped Eden, who worships "The Goddess” and sends some sage advice to the readers about why we should embrace our body image regardless of our flaws. There are too many remarkable characters to list. Ivy’s little brother, Cody who is about to make a momentous change to her eccentric Uncle Bob the private investigator who she works for part-time while juggling her own theatrical career.

This was a fun book, from the Lady in White who seems to haunt the theater to one of Eden's own ideas of how to "embrace your true beauty". We must not forget the awful reality star, Babette Firman who is looking for her next "It Girl”. She’s got everyone kissing up to her while she rips up their self-esteem by calling them such names as "Brownie Butt" and other unflattering things. Ivy finds herself wanting to get next to this pretentious, publicity hound because of her fame in Hollywood until she finds herself being on the receiving end of Babette’s acerbic remarks. Not to mention all the mayhem Babette is responsible for regarding the paparazzi’s stalking everyone’s moves.

This is the fifth installment in this series, but you can just dive right in and become familiar with the major points in Ivy's past. I have already purchased the first book in this series because I want more of Ivy Meadows.

Disclosure: I was provided with an e-galley from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. The opinion stated above is my own. ( )

Ivy Meadows is an actress and part-time PI in Phoenix, Arizona. One day she receives a call from her best friend Candy, who has moved to California to pursue her acting career. It seems she's in Phoenix touring with a roadshow of The Wizard: A Space Ozpera - a sort of The Wizard of Oz in outer space. While Ivy is excited that she's going to see Candy again, she's totally floored when she finally does.

Candy isn't the same voluptuous woman she parted with: she's now razor thin to the point of emaciation, with dingy hair and grey teeth. In fact, it pretty much looks like Candy is doing some sort of drug and Ivy is sure she's killing herself. But she won't talk about it, and she doesn't want to spend a lot of time with Ivy.

When Ivy visits the theater to watch rehearsal, she encounters a most unpleasant woman - Babette, who runs a reality show that 'discovers' new talent, and she thinks nothing of destroying others' dreams nor humiliating them in public. There's also someone else in the theater, but unseen: the ghost of a broken-hearted actress who killed herself after a tragic love, the Lady in White. She's been disrupting rehearsal, causing accidents, and while not everyone believes in her, enough do that the accidents are causing problems with the play. And Babette is making the most of it, using the media to tell everyone how the ghost is targeting her and trying to kill her.

But it's not until after a particular incident when Candy disappears that Ivy begins to seriously worry about her friend and if something's happened to her. Surely it couldn't be a real ghost causing all these problems? What if it's something - or someone - more sinister, and why would they want Candy out of the way? But it's not until she receives a phone call from Arrestadt Giry - the director and Candy's boyfriend - wanting to hire her to locate her missing friend that she begins to worry in earnest. Then, when another tragedy befalls production and someone is murdered, Ivy is in a race against time to find and save Candy - but is it from an unseen force or herself?

I have to tell you that I absolutely love the Ivy Meadows mysteries. They're smart, funny, suspenseful, and intelligently written. Ivy is no flaky miss who stumbles around in investigations. While she sometimes gets a slow start, she's on the ball: she asks questions, has a curious nature that propels her along, and doesn't walk head on into iffy situations (although she does sometimes go places I probably never would - like cobwebbed hallways). She's sharp and cute, and even though she sometimes has a lapse of judgment where her personal life is concerned, her heart is always in the right place.

In this book, when Ivy goes to see Candy perform in The Wizard, she doesn't have a clue that things are about to change - not just Candy's physical and mental changes, but that her own life will change. She winds up as a temporary cast member (which could lead to a permanent job) who's taken over Candy's role when she disappears. While everyone is telling her Candy left on purpose Ivy's gut is telling her something else. (As a side note, you can still get Moon Pies where I live - and in many different flavors).

It doesn't help that she develops a cold which can threaten her performances; her brother Cody has a secret that worries her - and she's keeping one from her boyfriend Matt; and her Uncle Bob is out of town on a romantic rendezvous with his girlfriend, so she's on her own, unless you count on the help of an unseen and possibly unworldly spirit.

I found the book to start a little slow, but once it picked up it was quite intriguing and kept me reading in one sitting. Ivy is not only an extremely likable person, she surrounds herself with others who are also likable but quirky. I think this is what makes the series so much fun to read. Everyone has a little bit of strangeness in them, and it makes them human somehow.

When we finally come to the end and the killer is discovered it is put together extremely well, believable and satisfying. Ms. Brown has written another suspenseful tale full of humor and enough twists and turns to keep one interested throughout. This is the fifth book in the series but can be read as a stand alone, and I look forward to the next in the series. Highly recommended. ( )

Ivy is back and this time she is investigating her friend Candy. Ivy has noticed some drastic changes in Candy and wonders what is going on with her. When a bunch of accidents happen at the show Candy is working at Ivy is hired to figure out what is going on.

I liked Ivy in this latest installment. Sometimes she can be stubborn and not that great at being a PI but I feel like she was much better at investigating and was very likeable. I didn't really like Candy much during this book. Candy definitely changed and she was treating Ivy like garbage. Personally I felt like Ivy should have just dropped Candy as a friend.

One thing I didn't like about this book is Ivy's relationship with Matt. I don't feel like there head been any growth to the relationship and their interactions at this point are boring and repetitive. I'd either like to see growth in their relationship or Ivy with someone else.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the galley. ( )