Against her will, Carol Andrews agreed to be on a committee planning the fortieth anniversary of graduation from Mount Saint Francis Academy. Joining her are her three best friends from those school days, all of whom had remained friends.
The school, located in a beautiful old mansion, had been turned into a senior living facility. The night before the reunion, the committee members decided to sleep there, partly for memories and partly to be able to get an early start on the preparations. As Carol and her best friend Nancy opened the door to their room, they discover that it was not locked. They entered the room and discovered someone was already sleeping there. A closer inspection revealed that the person was dead.
The story then went into flashback.
Before the first committee meeting, another classmate, Meg, showed up and demanded to be on the committee as well. Carol had very unpleasant memories of her. Entering high school divided the her and her three friends as they got involved in different groups, but she blamed Meg for her worst experience. She decided to let bygones be bygones and invited her to the first meeting. The woman showed up for the first meeting, bringing three other classmates with her. She inquired about the others at the meeting but said nothing about herself.
It turned out the other three friends also had negative feelings about Meg as well. Because the group refused to adopt one of Meg’s suggestions for the reunion, she stopped attending the meetings.
Later questions arose about what Meg had been doing the past forty years.
Back to the dead woman in Carol’s room. At first the coroner ruled her death a suicide. But Carol and her friends didn’t believe that. They decided to verify.
Meanwhile, a book was coming out the day of the reunion, an expose of life in a Catholic girls’ high school. The author was unknown but the picture on the cover was Mount Saint Francis Academy. Needless to say, the class members were very upset.
As many people who attend class reunions might have experienced, in many ways while people have changed, the members often revert to their old behaviors. That was true in CLASS REUNIONS CAN BE MURDER.
After the story ended, Susan Santangelo added an essay about bullying by girls that has some very important information. She also added several recipes, based on food served at the reunion, that have both the original recipe and revised ones with fewer calories.
The story moved fairly well. There are witticisms and puns galore. Most of them related to getting old even though they were only fifty eight. Examples included “Jim always made the morning coffee. It was one of the few perks (pun intended) of his being retired.”
Each chapter opened with a humorous observation: “I got great news at the supermarket the other day. Campbell’s alphabet soup now comes in a large type version.”
“I changed my computer password to ‘incorrect.” That way, if I log in with the wrong one, the computer will tell me, ‘Your password is incorrect....’”

One big editing error had Carol leaving her dog in her car for several hours and then when she got home, her husband told her what he had been doing with the dog.
Santangelo also unnecessarily referred incidents in previous books in the series.
The mansion had been donated to the local nuns with the stipulation that “the building be used primarily to educate and nurture young women.” The book didn’t explain how the nuns were able to convert it legally into a senior residence.
This book was a free download. ( )

I enjoyed this mystery a lot!

It's definitely a cozy, but not the sort where the protagonist is a doormat. Carol is a baby boomer with a fairly recently retired husband, various friends, two grown kids, a pair of dogs, and a penchant for meddling.

I really loved the tone. It's like Carol was recounting the events to me personally, complete with the occasional snarky aside and amiable bickering with her beloved husband. She's a lot of fun to hang out with, and has the kind of nuance that one generally acquires with age: for instance, you can love your husband lots, and love spending time with him- and still look forward to him leaving in the morning to give you time for your own interests!

The mystery is solid, and entwined with all kinds of other events from various points in the past.

I had not read any novels in this series before, but plan to pick them up- mostly because of Carol's voice.

Very recommended especially for Boomers who are not quite Miss Marple, but are heading that way! ( )

“Class Reunions can be Murder” by Susan Santangelo

Being the fourth in the Baby Boomer Mysteries series, “Class Reunions can be Murder” is still high on the charts and so is Santangelo. This author can whip together a story that will have you cackling. Warning: don’t read it when others are around. If so, they may end up wondering if there’s something wrong with you because you’ll be doubling over in laughter.

Carol Andrews is at it again. The poor woman can’t stay away from dead bodies. It’s not like she goes looking for them, they just seem to appear wherever she is.

This time a body is found in Mount Saint Francis Academy, an all-girl Catholic school. Oh, excuse me, it’s Fairport Manor Senior Living Community now. Or will be right after the Ruby Reunion. Forty years after graduation, Carol is talked into being on the committee to head up the reunion. The dinner the night before is a huge hit. They decide to stay in rooms the night before the actual reunion at Fairport. But Carol doesn’t get the chance for any sleep that night. She and her girlfriend Nancy walk into the room, only to find a dead body in one of the beds. And the victim is none other than Carol’s arch nemesis from her school days. Just great. Finding bodies is what happens to Carol. Can we expect less?

It’s hilarious reading about the following excursions and escapades that Carol goes through to find out first, why everyone believes the suicide note and second, who is actually responsible for the murder.

Honestly, even if you have not read a book in Santangelo’s series before, you really need to pick this one up. Pure entertainment at its best! ( )