A Lesson in Woo-Woo and Murder is an entertaining masterpiece that places author David Unger, PhD in the middle of his own fictional story. This is the ninth book in the A Lesson in [insert theme here] and Murder series and after reading this book, I found myself wanting to read more about David and his adventures in murder. In this installment, David, a therapist by trade, is invited to the Whole Life Exposition by a two people he met in A Lesson in Music and Murder, Eve and Sheridan. David clears his therapy calendar with the exception of his client Bennett who is a coke-faced, hooker-addicted writer who needs David at his beck and call to dig him out of unhealthy situations. This is the first holistic/alternative medicine expo Eve has been to and she feels that something will go wrong. She hires David to help man her booth and stake out the other vendors.

This book is fun from start to finish starting with the characters who have so much personality, they’re popping right out of the pages. The tantric sex group recruits David to do a tantric exercise as a demonstration for a small crowd of people. There are also two “UFO guys” who claim that if a human touches them that person will die. Then there is Dennis, the radio doctor, who has organized and is running the expo. Of course a woo-woo expo would not be complete without a psychic and Madame Vadama and Her House of Dreams does not disappoint. With her wild hair and purple velvet, readers will feel the woo-woo. As David is meeting his booth neighbors, he finds himself smitten with The Love Doctor, aka Nova. Nova has no real certifications allowing her to give advice except for a Masters in Counseling Psychology with no license. She says all she needs to be the Love Doctor is “chutzpah.” Readers will follow along as David investigates each character to figure out why people are dropping dead at the expo one after another. Here and there, Bennett and his lover Louise, and Bennett’s security detail, Lucky, show up in the book and David must run off and deal with them. 

All in all, this book is like organized chaos with all of the storylines and characters coming together neatly in the end. I found myself so engaged in the story, I read it in only a few sittings. Readers will love the humor, sarcasm, and suspense in this exciting murder mystery.

Reviewed by Kristi Elizabeth