Firstly, it's refreshing to have a book from the perspective of the adult who's hiding the family magic secret from the teenager for once. It's the "Mirror, Mirror" version of a YA novel. 
 Georgia has a teen daughter, a crappy adjunct professor job, and a skeleton in the closet. His name is Sid, and he's a sarcastic anime fan whom Georgia's family has been hiding since she was six. As the family settles after a move, Georgia's effort to keep Sid's existence from her daughte are complicated. 
 He goes to an anime convention. 
 That's not the issue. They pull it off with strong enough cosplay, honestly. Still, he sees someone he knows, which is the first hint ever of a memory of his pre-death life. Time for Georgia help her best friend solve his own murder. 
 It felt like it took a little while for the mystery to really start rolling. As a writer of supernatural mysteries, I totally forgive that. I had to do some initial world-building as well, and the interactions between the cast more than makes up for it. After that, I had a little more issue with the pace. It's really weird to me that, it's continues for over three weeks since the beginning of the investigation. Well, there's no police captain screaming at them, I guess. 
 For most of the book, I didn't exactly get a sense of dramatic urgency. Maybe that's just my preferences as a mystery writer coming out; my own Murder With Monsters happens over a long weekend, whereas this takes about a month to unfold. I'll keep an open mind; this could be one of those "cozy" mysteries I've heard about. The pace does get suitably frenetic and the stakes tense by the last act. 
 Here are some of the many reasons I enjoyed it. 
 -Georgia and Sid have no fancy CSI equipment, and their investigation tactics are plausible and clever. 
 -I love how Leigh uses actual geek terminology instead of making up weird-ass fictional franchises, as many are wont to do. 
 - The flashback to the main character meeting the skeleton at a childhood carnival catastrophe is ADORABLE. 
 -The patter is great. "Truly you are the Houdini of skeletons. Though I guess, at this point, Houdini is the Houdini of skeletons" 
 Despite my issues with the pacing (or, y'know, unfamiliarity with the subgenre), I'll definitely be picking up Skeleton Takes a Bow. Us monster mystery writers have to stick together. 
 If you could provide enough of a regular special effects, this would make a hell of weekly mystery show.