Review: Dead Is a State of Mind

Dead Is a State of Mind
by Marlene Perez
Published: January 1st 2009
175 Pages
I give it:

Description: A creepy, campy new mystery series

Welcome to Nightshade, California—a small town full of secrets. It's home to the psychic Giordano sisters, who have a way of getting mixed up in mysteries. During their investigations, they run across everything from pom-pom- shaking vampires to shape-shifting boyfriends to a clue-spewing jukebox. With their psychic powers and some sisterly support, they can crack any case!

There's a gorgeous new guy at Nightshade High: Duke Sherrad, a fortune-teller claiming to have descended from Gypsies. Even though she's psychic herself, Daisy is skeptical of Duke's powers. But when a teacher who was the subject of one of his predictions ends up dead, she begins to wonder if Duke is the real deal after all. Maybe if Daisy can track down the teacher's killer, she can find out the truth. The only trouble is, all signs point to the murderer being of the furry persuasion. Is Daisy any match for a werewolf? Maybe she is . . . in more ways than she bargained for!

My Thoughts: I am thinking about changing my rating system, because I think the fact that I gave this book 3 stars could be a little deceiving, and perhaps seem like I didn't really like the book, when in fact that simply isn't true! It's just hard to honestly rate books like this.

I actually do like this series. I quite enjoy it actually. "Dead Is a State of Mind" is a pretty good sequel to "Dead Is the New Black". It's a quick, easy read that can be easily finished in one sitting. I find that I mostly read books for the simple fact that I want to be entertained, and this book definitely accomplished that. Although I can't exactly justify a four or five star rating, on the simple fact that the twists aren't twisted enough, and it's pretty simple to figure out the Who, What and Weres (did you see what I did there? Weres, as in, short for werewolves! hah! Yeah, don't judge me). But, it's still fun to read about Daisy and her gang, even if you find yourself wanting to shout "He's obviously the bad guy!" at her through the entire book.

If you are a younger teen, or even pre-teen, I would definitely recommend this book to you. Even though the book's main characters are mostly 16/17 years old, I do believe this book is best targeted at a younger audience. I also recommend it to those who are simply looking for something quick, cute and entertaining to read.