Maggie Barbieri

Forty-something Dr. Alison Bergeron, professor at a small private university in New York, may have been framed for the murder of one of her students.

Murder 101 is a fast, entertaining read with little in the way of surprises; most cozy mystery readers will recognize the murder, the frame-up, the love interest, the wacky best friend, the impending danger, and the crisis that makes all the little things irrelevant. Because of the formula being followed so closely – there’s almost a rhythm to the events – you will experience the literary equivalent of “don’t go in the basement” more than once. And you’ll be correct. Alison should definitely NOT go into one of the many figurative basements that populate her life.

Still, this is a fun read – and ok, there is one surprise at the end of the book, which means that the end of the book is not quite the end of the story.… (altro)

This was a re-read of a book I'd read years ago, the first in a series that takes place on a private, catholic college campus. Our MC is a professor of English literature and the formula is fairly basic: she's an unwitting suspect in a campus murder, and the investigating detective is a tall slab of gorgeous. Peril and protection follow.

Same old, same old right? Yes, and no. When Barbieri wrote this 14 years ago, this formula wasn't yet so much a formula as it was a trend, and as such, this book doesn't feel derivative - at least not to me. This story was written before 'cozy' became synonymous with 'fluffy' and 'vapid'. So we have likeable characters we genuinely cheer on, that are going through some rather heavy duty events involving very real violence. When the MC sees crime-scene photos, she passes out, then vomits all over the detectives shoes - twice. But instead of being played for laughs, the author makes us feel the mc's embarrassment - and the detective's embarrassment for her.

The plotting was good; not spectacular, but this is a first book, and it was adequate enough that I didn't guess the culprit. The author did well with presenting an array of viable suspects, and when it came down to it, the solution made sense.

I'm glad I re-read this; I'd forgotten why I loved cozies so much; it's nice to see that what I fell in love with is not the derivative nonsense cozies have become today. Of course, I now want to re-read the entire series.… (altro)

Well, I didn't think I'd be able to refrain from immediately picking up the next book, but I'm a bit surprised by how quickly I devoured it. Almost as good as the first one, though the action got a little bit over the top. I found the premise believable, but the number of times Allison, the MC, found herself in peril stretched the boundaries of believability, even for a cozy. Not cozy peril either: she's shot, she's stabbed, she's kidnapped ... her insurance rates must be hell.

Still, it obviously kept me riveted. I miss mysteries like this; I know they're still out there, but there just harder to find, which makes me all the happier that I can revisit the keepers on my shelves from time to time.

I have the rest of the series on my shelves too, but I'm going to try to hold off starting #3 so I can get some Halloween Bingo reading in. We'll see how long that lasts.… (altro)

Re-read

Well, this book was better than the last one, Quick Study, but it wasn't as good as the first two books. Allison, our now-fearless MC, is back to being thrust into situations beyond her control, albeit with some serious authorial license - in the first book Allison was tenured. Now, she's not, which I guess gives the administration the power needed to force her into being a Resident Admin at one of the dorms when the current RA goes missing. Allison is determined to find out where the missing RA is, so she can move back home and off the dry, catholic campus.

When Allison moves into her room, her toilet explodes, revealing a brick of pure heroin. This only spurs her on, of course.

What results is a bit convoluted, and the story is further muddied by a side plot involving her best friend's marriage which didn't quite work. Ultimately, the plot, distilled down to its essence, is a good one involving unwitting college students, drug runs and what a less-than-ethical parent will do in the name of 'what's best' for their child. No dead bodies in this one, just a lot of chases and head wounds. But in my opinion, it could have been better with, perhaps, a different editor. This author writes good crime mysteries, and efforts at high-jinks just fall flat.… (altro)