Beth Kennedy is a single mother of two children, a
children's bookstore owner, and the secretary of the PTA.
And she seems to have gained a reputation for solving
murders in her spare time. The small town she lives in (just
outside of Madison, Wisconsin) recently suffered the murder
of one its citizens, and she and her best friend Marina
solved the case just ahead of local law enforcement. So
when PTA member Sam Helmstetter is found dead immediately
after a PTA meeting, most of the locals expect Beth to jump
into action once again.
Beth is reluctant to get involved initially since
Thanksgiving is approaching and she is responsible for the
family gathering. Plus, the holiday season normally means a
busy season for the store. But gradually, she finds
herself asking questions about possible motives and alibis.
Everyone universally agrees that Sam was the kind of person
that had no enemies. The last argument that anyone can
remember him having was a bench-clearing brawl during a
baseball game... when he was eight years old.
When Beth finds it necessary to fire an increasingly
irresponsible employee, she hires Yvonne, who seems perfect.
Yvonne discloses that she served time in prison for murder
until DNA evidence proved her innocent. But the local rumor
mill has already started, and people begin picketing the
store, vowing not to patronize a children's bookstore that
employs a convicted killer, especially one that may have
killed the town's beloved Sam.
Beth kicks up her investigation, determined to find the real
killer -- both to save her store and prove Yvonne innocent.
Beth is definitely a likable character. The author does a
great job of showing how she juggles being a mother, having
a career, and participating in the PTA. What's great about
how Beth is portrayed is that she sometimes struggles with
how to balance everything, which is a very real concern for
the modern working mother -- she doesn't effortlessly (and
unrealistically) slip from job to job. While her friendship
with Marina is clearly necessary to her life in terms of
grounding her, I found Marina to be grating and annoying.
Beth clearly has the problem-solving skills to solve the
mystery; this is demonstrated by the way she handles her
everyday life. However, the author committed the cardinal
sin of mystery books. While the culprit was someone that
Beth was able to figure out from some clues provided
throughout the book, the motive was out of left field.
There is no possible way the reader could figure out the
correct suspect or motive before the big reveal, which is
always part of the fun of reading a mystery.
A fun subplot throughout the book is Thanksgiving dinner,
how it comes together, and how Beth handles it. The big
payoff happens during the last scene of the book, and the
book ends on an up-note, which left me wanting to read more
from this author.
When PTA member Sam Helmstetter is found strangled to death
following a heated meeting, and all evidence points to her
employee Yvonne, Beth Kennedy, believing in Yvonne's
innocence, places her reputation--and life--on the line to
catch the real killer. Original. 20,000 first printing.
Excerpt
Yvonne broke her M&M cookie into four pieces, picked up
one, and covered the other bits with her napkin. She
finished the first piece and reached for the second. Though
she’d said she needed to talk to me, she didn’t seem eager
to begin the conversation.
Which could only mean there was something she didn’t want
to tell me. I considered possibilities. Due to seasonal
affective disorder, she never smiled when it was cloudy.
Or, thanks to family issues, she’d need to bring—I
scanned her face, trying to estimate her age—her
daughter to work three times a week. Or, due to a bizarre
medical problem, her doctor had said she shouldn’t operate
a computer keyboard. Or—
"I was in jail."
Or she’d been in jail. If I’d had a month, I might have
come up with that possibility, but probably not.
"Actually, it was prison." She gave me a darting
glance. "There’s a difference."
Prison. Yvonne? She didn’t look as if she would swat a
mosquito that was poking its pointed nose into her skin.
What could she possibly have done to end up in prison?
She pulled out the third piece of cookie. "I was convicted
of murder."
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