Book Review: The Skeleton Makes a Friend by Leigh Perry (Family Skeleton Mysteries #5)

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Strong characters and mystery

Cons: I have no bones to pick with this book

The Bottom Line:

Sid's missing friend leads

To another twisty plot

Filled with laughs and heart

Sid's Friends Draw Georgia to Murder

While I generally avoid paranormal books, there are a few exceptions, and one of them is the Family Skeleton series.  It is just too much fun, and I found The Skeleton Makes a Friend to be a worthy addition.

If you've missed the series, it features Dr. Georgia Thackery, an adjunct English professor, and her best friend, Sid.  It just so happens that Sid is a skeleton.  As in a walking, talking, everything but breathing skeleton.  Naturally, they do their best to keep this hidden from the rest of the world, although they have come across some ways to get Sid out of the house without revealing his existence to the world.  Sid's existence really is the only paranormal element to the series, so this is really paranormal light, and Sid comes across as a very real character.

This book finds Georgia, Sid, and Georgia's daughter Madison spending the summer in a cabin by a lake.  No, they aren't spending the entire summer relaxing since Georgia has a job teaching at Overfeld College.  She's part of an enrichment program for high schoolers the college is putting on.  Sid and Madison stay at the cabin during the day, and it is secluded enough during the week and Sid is able to get out and join his two human friends swimming.

However, the trio get some unexpected visitors one night.  Sid has been spending time playing an online game, Runes of Legend, and one of the friends he's made through the game shows up unannounced.  Jen has tracked Sid down because she thinks he's a detective and she is worried about another member of their questing group.  He hasn't been on line in almost a week, even missing some of their planned missions, which isn't like him at all.  Georgia and Sid begin to track down this player, only to stumble upon a dead body in the middle of their search.  Can they figure out what is going on?

Because Georgia is an adjunct, these books have had several different settings, and I've enjoyed this.  It also means that there is a small number of series regulars, but that's not an issue with characters this strong.  Georgia, Sid, and Madison are all fantastic, and I loved spending time with them.  Fans of the series will be happy to know that Charles is around for this book as well; he's a fantastic supporting character.  We also get some brief appearances from other characters we've met along the way.  Of course, with the action taking place in a new location, that gives us plenty of new characters who are suspects.

And they help drive a great plot.  Georgia and Sid spend quite a bit of time bouncing back and forth between suspects and motives, with each twist sending them in a new direction.  Yet when things do come together, everything makes sense.  In fact, I can't picture the book ending any other way.

I want to circle back to Georgia, Sid, and Madison.  They really do form the heart of this series and this book.  Their relationships are so much fun to watch grow and change, and this is still true here.  If you didn't know better, by the time this is over, you'd swear that Sid was a fully fleshed out character, which he clearly can't be since he's nothing but bones.  The fact that it is Sid that draws them into this mystery certainly helps make him real.  In fact, I love how giving Sid friends, of sorts, develops him here.

Once again, the humor is fantastic.  Yes, we get plenty more bone puns, but the general teasing and joking around by the characters at time is also very fun to read.

Clearly, I recommend this book and this series.  Pick up The Skeleton Makes a Friend, and you'll have some new friends before you know it.

Need more Sid?  Here are the rest of the Family Skeleton Mysteries.

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book.

I'm reviewing this book as part of a blog tour.  For more stops, please visit the tour page.  And be sure to enter the tour wide giveaway by clicking on the Rafflecopter below.

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