The Astonishing Mistakes of Dahlia Moss

January 16, 2017
Those who like their mysteries garnished with a large dollop of quirkiness will welcome the return of gaming maven and detective wannabe Dahlia Moss (after 2015’s The Unfortunate Decisions of Dahlia Moss). In her second lighthearted adventure, the geeky girl attends a computer games convention in St. Louis as the result of a request from the mysterious Doctor XXX, who follows Dahlia on Twitch. She assumes he wants to hire her for her detecting skills, but fears he might be a stalker. At the convention hotel, she finds a dead body in one room and, in another, a nearly nude man handcuffed to a chair. From these she draws a number of conclusions—all wrong. News of the murder scares off some competitors, allowing Dahlia and her partner to advance in the games. She gets some assistance from her roommate’s boyfriend, who’s busy practicing his Australian accent. Readers should be prepared for lengthy, plot-slowing passages devoted to what can charitably be called Dahlia’s thought processes.

January 1, 2017
A decidedly twitchy personality finds herself investigating the geek-gamer world of a video game tournament, with only her roommate's boyfriend and some highly questionable followers to give her support.Dahlia Moss is pretty sure the $500 tip she received via her Twitch feed isn't just a gesture of appreciation for her internet monologue. That's the kind of cash someone gives when they want something in return. So when the donor, whose screen name is Doctor XXX, asks to meet her in a private chat room, Dahlia is the opposite of surprised. Doctor XXX wants Dahlia to come to a tournament celebrating Dark Alleys, which he claims could benefit from some oversight by a budding investigator like Dahlia. In spite of her adventures in her last case (The Unfortunate Decisions of Dahlia Moss, 2015), including taking a bullet, Dahlia resolves to fulfill this installment's title by agreeing to meet this internet stranger at the video game contest. Though she wishes she could bring her roommate, Charice, a manic pixie she thinks would be a perfect dream girl for the video game world, she's instead saddled with a wholly inadequate substitute: Daniel Simone, Charice's man of the month. Daniel's mainly interested in practicing his Australian accent for auditions, but Charice seems determined to foster a friendship between Daniel and Dahlia. Does that mean Daniel might last longer than the month? On arriving at the tournament, Dahlia and Daniel find that the man behind the meetup may have been murdered. The two search the tournament's wacky range of geeky gamer-testants for answers and the identity of the mysterious Doctor XXX, all the time wondering if the $20,000 in prize money is enough to motivate a killer. Endorsed by Charlaine Harris, another author in love with her feisty female lead, Wirestone's franchise will appeal to those willing to fall for his heroine as hard as he has.

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February 1, 2017
Millennial, gamer, and amateur PI Dahlia Moss returns for another case and comedic display of poor judgment in this sequel to The Unfortunate Decisions of Dahlia Moss (2015). When an anonymous Doctor XXX contacts Dahlia on Twitcha live-streaming platform for online gamersand requests that she meet him at an upcoming tournament to do some detective work, her curiosity is piqued. Ignoring all red flags, Dahlia heads off to the hotel hosting the event with her roommate's boyfriend, Daniel, acting as bodyguard. As they try to track down Doctor XXX, they instead find a naked man in a supply closet and a very dead body. And that's just day one! Written by Dahlia after closing the case, the narration includes knowing commentary to build suspense and humor, though occasionally these asides slow the story. The light mystery brims with hijinks and colorful characters, not the least of whom are Daniel and kooky roommate Charice, whose escalating relationship is causing Dahlia major stress. As ridiculous situations and bodies pile up, Dahlia's second outing doesn't disappoint.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)