THE READAHOLICS AND THE GOTHIC GALA is book three in Laura DiSilverio's "Readaholics" cozy mystery series. In this "Readaholics" mystery series, Amy-Faye Johnson takes the organizational skills she uses with her event planning business and applies that to solving crimes. In THE READAHOLICS AND THE GOTHIC GALA Amy-Faye doesn't go looking for murder and mayhem, but has it land on her doorstep. I was drawn to this book because I love cozy mysteries, but I also adore gothic novels and was intrigued to have them front and center in this book. Laura DiSilverio provides quite a cavalcade of quirky and extremely suspicious characters. The Readaholics book club selection in this story is the classic novel REBECCA by Daphne du Maurier, and I enjoyed the book chat and the way the club members draw parallels between the characters and situations in REBECCA to current events.

The Celebration of Gothic Novels provides a great backdrop to the sinister and puzzling events in THE READAHOLICS AND THE GOTHIC GALA. The celebrity authors in town for the event are an entertaining and odd assortment of huge egos. Amy-Faye and her more down-to-earth friends balance out the authors' outlandishness. I like that the victim is a stranger to town, just as the primary suspects are. I like the symmetry of the victim and suspects both being completely unknown territory for the amateur sleuth and her pals to investigate. The costume party murder site lends to the overall strangeness of the murder itself and the characters. I'm happy that Amy-Faye doesn't go on investigative trips alone and almost always has a trusted companion along as backup. The resolution fits the story, and I enjoyed Laura DiSilverio's fun twist near the end.

THE READAHOLICS AND THE GOTHIC GALA is a mystery with greedy suspects, costume changes, wild alibis, and the perfect sleuth to sort it all out. The side stories involving the evolution of Amy-Faye's love life, and her friend Brooke's ongoing quest to be a mom make the main characters more real to the reader, and provide nice counterpoints to the murder. Amy-Faye's romance with Hart adds soft edges, and I love that her police chief hottie doesn't scold her for trying to look into the murder or treat her like a mischievous child. I look forward to reading the next "Readaholics" book by Laura DiSilverio.