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 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. ( )

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 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. ( )

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. ( )

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 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.

( )

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 entertained the reader. I hope that the next one has a bit stronger plot. ( )