Viva Durant and the Mystery at the Masquerade Ball

Viva Durant #3

by Ashli St. Armant, Bahni Turpin (Narrator)

It’s Mardi Gras time in New Orleans, and Viva Durant, the young sleuth, is taking a break from mystery solving to celebrate with her family.

Paired up with her precocious pal Reece, Viva’s too busy navigating the daunting world of debutantes too get caught up in the unsolved cases of Crescent City.

But the festivities take a sharp turn when there’s a blackout at the Mardi Gras Ball—and Viva’s grandmother goes missing!

Join Viva as she zips through the streets of the French Quarter and the West Bank tracking big bucks and bad guys in her most personal caper yet.

Genres: Mystery, Audiobook, Middle Grade, Young Adult, Contemporary, Childrens, Fiction

Audible Audio

First published February 8, 2024

About the author

Ashli St. Armant is a vocalist, actor, writer, and arts educator based in Southern California. She is the founder of Leaping Lizards Music, a music and theater education program for students, TK-12. She is a professionally trained vocalist and actor who attended the Orange County High School of the Arts and holds a degree in Child Development from Saddleback College. Alongside teaching, writing, and raising her two sons, Ashli tours with her band, Jazzy Ash and the Leaping Lizards, a jazz band for young audiences. Together they have produced four albums featured by NPR and L.A. Times, and have performed at numerous venues, including Lincoln Center and Sprout Network (NBC).Viva Durant and the Secret of the Silver Buttons is Ashli’s debut audio original, and sets the path for her new venture into children’s literature.

Reviews

[Rin ⭐️ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

ورجعنا مع فيفا ومغامراتها الجديده ، هذا الجزء الثالث لسلسلة كتب صوتيه وصراحه كنت محتاجه شي خفيف لانه كل شي قاعده اقراه ثقيل هذي الفتره

هذا الجزء مو الافضل صراحه بس حبيت انه تعرفنا اكثر عليها بعد وعلى اهلها احس النهايه تقول انه في جزء رابع اكيد راح اسمعه يوم ينزل ⭐️⭐️

[Kimberly Pierce · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute little audible series. Listened to the first two and I thoroughly enjoyed them and this was the same. Super fast but fun to get back into Viva and her Grams antics again

[Kendra M Layden · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5, rating up. Cute cozy mystery. Very quick read too. Perfect for meeting reading goals.

[Kimberley Cline · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a good YA read.
Lots of information about Mardi Gras and New Orleans woven easily into the storyline. Realistic dialogue

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really love this series. I hope the author keeps writing about Viva and her adventures.

[Katie Storer · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

This was a great set-up for, what I hope to be the next book in the series.

Stolen money, gambling, Mardi Gras floats and family all over the place. This book has it all!

[Ida Wilcox · Rating 5 out of 5]

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO I love this series.
I hope the author continues on with this series.

[Elise C · Rating 4 out of 5]

These stories are great, pacing is good. A good Nancy Drew-esque type series.. I can see these have a bunch of stories. Fun premise

[Hilal Tunçkol · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this most recent Viva Durant book, Viva is a debutant waiting to enter the New Orleans society. However, in a ball that she attends, the power suddenly goes off and Viva discovers that this time, no stranger but her grandmother is up to someting. She sees her grandmother take some money and hide it in a parade float.

Viva, obviously starts investigating immediately.

Viva got to spend more time with Reese, the boy her grandmother wants to match her with, as well as her famiy member, specifically her cousin, which all made sweet and adorable scenes. But most of all, it was hilarious that Viva thought her grandmother could be a mob boss at some point, because she was having shady meetings with some shady people.

SPOILERS AHEAD

So, naturally, it was surprising to learn that the woman who was responsible for preparing Viva and the other girls for the debutant ball was actually stealing from the foundation she worked for for quite some time the foundation hired Viva's grandmother to solve the mystery of the missing money.

The grandmother was just doing her job.

The book ended as the family wanted Viva's grandmother to start living in an assisted living facility, because they were fed up with her mysterious disappearences and they didn't know that when she wasn't around, it just meant she was somewhere, investigating.

So, Viva decided to move in with her grandmother. The final decision hasn't been made yet, but it looks like Viva and her grandmother will be having more adventures in the future.

Lovely series so far.

[January · Rating 3 out of 5]

Viva Durant and the Mystery at the Masquerade Ball by Ashli St. Armant
Viva Durant #3
4h 20m narrated by Bahni Turpin


Genre: Mystery, Young Adult, Children's > Middle Grade; Thriller > Mystery Thriller; Cultural > African American

Featuring: New Orleans, Louisiana; Grandma's House, Family Reunion, Drama, Mardi Gras Krewe, Mardi Gras Ball, Initiation, Debutantes, Sound Effects, Singing Music Breaks, Food, Singing, Curious Behavior, Parade

Rating as a movie: PG

My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️🎭👑

My thoughts: 📱37% 1:36:33 Chapter 6 - My kid is not happy. He didn't even cringe when she started singing. He is enjoying this story and I'm finding it to be a huge stretch with a weak plot. This will be my car book with him, I turned it off because we were minutes from home and I didn't want to stop in the middle of a chapter.
📱61% 2:38:25 Chapter 10 - This story has so many unbelievable storylines and plotholes, but my kid is cool with it.

Okay, it got a lot better after the grandma reveals, however, it was so extra. My son thought the ending was cliché. I have to admit I kinda enjoyed the last quarter of this one. Not sure I'll do the next one but my son is game.

Recommend to others?: Sure. This series would be great for a family road trip with members of all ages, 0 to 102.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set in New Orleans. Estimate 195 pp (4 hr 19 min audiobook - https://audiobookcalculator.net/audio...). I can see this being really enjoyed by its target audience -- older middle schoolers who love mysteries and same-age detectives. The most annoying thing for me was all the sound effects. They took away from the reading rather than added to it. Also the tools that Viva used... she has access to a license plate reverse lookup on her phone? Maybe she got that in an earlier book?

Viva Durant and the Mystery at the Masquerade Ball (Viva Durant, #3) by Ashli St. Armant

[Brock Casselman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to love this book, because the first two were so great. And there were some aspects I loved, like seeing Viva’s character growth over the series.
In part, being an adult male, I wasn’t into the glitz and glam of the debutante scene.
But more problematic, Viva never really solved a mystery. Instead, she spent the book poking her nose into her Gram’s business. And while she often caused problems with the investigation, her involvement never once helped her grandma.
This book could have been a transition to Viva more directly working with Gram. But in the end, she snuck around, disobeying what she was told, and sticking her nose where it didn’t belong. I’m afraid this one didn’t do it for me.

[Reader_for_LifeTLG · Rating 5 out of 5]

Viva and Gran do it again! - The final installment in this series (that I can find) is just as good as the first two. Dragged into being a debutante is nothing when compared against sleuthing with(out) Reece. Viva just has to know why Gran is sneaking away at random times. The truth is more palatable than her imagination but the criminal is an "upstanding" member of NOLA society, finally brought low by greed. A great tale and I really hope there will be more.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listening Time: 4 hrs and 19 mins
This was included in Audible's Plus Catalog.
The narration by Bahni Turpin is great, though she sounds older than a 14 year old.
This is the 3rd book in the series and we got to meet more of Viva's family.
I enjoyed the entire mystery from the sleuthing to the conclusion.
Recommended for middle grade or younger YA.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story was good and it was a fun YA novel, but the random background sounds were very distracting. Several times i paused the story to figure out what the noise was, only to discover it was the book. That's why it's only 3 stars.

[Brenda TXLassy88 · Rating 5 out of 5]

At first, I wasn’t really enjoying this audiobook very much because it seemed a little childish. But I was really loved the mystery aspect of it and how well thought out it was; it was quite entertaining. I’m looking forward to reading g more from Ashli St. Armant.

[Leslie DeLain · Rating 5 out of 5]

A little young for me, but still loved. Great for middle school aged kids. Taught middle school for years, but am now in HS. Would highly recommend as a class read or lit circle selection. Educational and fun.

[Katherine R · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fun installment in the Viva mystery series. I really enjoy watching this character grow and how she interprets things and the funny situations she'll sometimes get into as well as the fun sites of New Orleans as she visits various famous sights.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Found Viva annoying in this book. Put upon to be a debutante and rude to Reese and her cousin Jada.

[Mandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series has been very cute so far. I hope that there’s more.

[ReadingFun7 · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

[Aurélie Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was a super cute book. Adding to the list of books to read with my son

[Melissa Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Rating

[Brittany Boggess · Rating 5 out of 5]

We finished all three books during our road trip. We absolutely love these and the ending made me tear up. I hope there are more cases/adventures for Viva and Gram.

[Adrian · Rating 3 out of 5]

We enjoy this series, but this was not our favorite.

[Kristina Mosley]

I love this author, and such a joy to dive into the world of adventure!!! Great Book! A must have for families who share in the joy reading together. My kids loved it too!!!

[Georgina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Grateful to this book to help pass the time on a long car trip with my kids. Both kids agreed to listen to this title and the others in the series and they both enjoyed it — a true rarity.

[Dani · Rating 5 out of 5]

These books just keep getting better. It's such a fun story of family and friendship with mystery and New Orleans culture blended in.

[Dawna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this was my favorite of the series. Those kids are so darn nosey though 🙃

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very cute and short cozy mystery...