A review by veronica87
Polterheist by Laura Resnick

3.0

Another entertaining entry into the series. Finding herself in-between acting jobs since the last book, plucky Esther takes a seasonal job as Santa's Jewish elf in New York's premiere department store. It's not the best job in the world but Esther still gives it her professional best. That is, until it becomes clear that something evil is lurking in the store's non-denominational holiday display, Solsticeland. To figure out what's going on Esther will need the help of her 300+ year old mentor, Max, a semi-retired mob hitman, and accordian playing elf, and a drag queen Santa. To complicate matters, they have to figure it out while working under the nose of Detective Lopez, the man Esther gave up out of fear for his safety.

This series is definitely light urban fantasy, with more of a bent towards the ridiculously comical, and this installment certainly fits the bill. Murderous Christmas trees and vengeful karaoke teddy bears? It's all in a day's work for Esther Diamond. Max seemed more of an afterthought in this one but at least there (finally!) seemed to be some movement on the Esther/Lopez front. Now if we could just get some progress on his possible mystical powers...