On Flashback Fridays I will share with you
the books I was not able to review
when they were first released that have been screaming at me
from my To-Be-Read bookshelf.
This series has been screaming at me for way too long.
Murder at the PTA (Maya and Sandra Mysteries)
Cozy Mystery
1st in Series
Setting – Maine
Publisher : Kensington Cozies
Publication date : September 29, 2020
Print length : 336 pages
Paperback
ISBN-10 : 1496724488
ISBN-13 : 978-1496724489
Kindle
ISBN-13 : 978-1496719874
ASIN : B082WRDNLS
Someone is trying to turn Portland High into a school for scandal with a gossipy website called Dirty Laundry. The latest target of ruinous rumors is newly elected PTA president Sandra Wallage. After a heated meeting with outraged parents, Sandra runs into fellow school mom and private investigator Maya Kendrick, who’s discovered the person behind the website. But when the women storm into the venomous gossip columnist’s office they find a lifeless body—along with a confession.
Although the police rule the death a suicide, Maya suspects an injured party hung the Dirty Laundry creator out to dry. Maya already has a PI partner—but she’s pregnant, and sonograms and stakeouts tend to conflict. So when Sandra volunteers for a crash course in sleuthing, Maya accepts the help. But as these unlikely partners study the clues, a killer plans to teach them a lesson . . .
Dollycas’s Thoughts
The newly elected PTA president of the South Portland High School PTA, Sandra Wallage, and her husband, United States Senator Stephen Wallage, are the current focus of the breaking news gossip website, Dirty Laundry. There have been others and more to come unless someone reveals the person in charge of the website and shuts them down. Maya Kendrick, a private investigator whose daughter also attends South Portland High School, has asked her to find out who is spewing this information because anger and finger-pointing are rising in the community. When she confirms the identity, Maya and Sandra are ready to confront the person; instead, they find a dead body and a confession.
The death appears to be a suicide, but Maya isn’t buying it. She thinks someone was pushed too far by something reported and made a murder look like a suicide. With Maya’s partner in the last weeks of her pregnancy, Maya needs help with her investigation. Sandra willingly steps into the void with on-the-job sleuth training.
Can Maya and Sandra take down a killer? Or have they attended their last PTA meeting?
Both our protagonists are dealing with complicated family issues. Maya Kendrick resigned from the police force when her now ex-husband, Max, a police captain, was arrested, found guilty, and incarcerated in a widespread corruption scandal. She became a private investigator and is a partner with her friend, Frances Turner. She has a 16-year-old daughter, Vanessa. Sandra Wallage is the wife of a U.S. senator, facing the chaos and drama that often accompanies the office. Keeping up the appearances of a happy family, no matter what is going on in their lives. She is the recently installed PTA president, and they have two sons, Jack, 16, and Ryan, 15. I found these characters to be very well-crafted with plenty of room for growth as the series continues.
With all that was going on in their lives and Frances being eight months pregnant, throwing her hissy fits made solving the murder mystery harder on them than it had to be. I enjoyed how they worked together and that Maya was open to Sandra’s assistance because Maya truly needed her help. The ending twist was great and confirmed a small inkling I had but had discarded, and kept coming back to. The author weaves in some hot topics and themes that could have been ripped from the headlines. Being the first book in the series, where all the characters and their relationships are introduced, the author was still able to put forth a puzzling mystery.
Murder at the PTA has given this series a splendid start. Maya and Sandra are strong characters, complete with their flaws, which makes them easy to identify with. Moms of teenagers, dealing with all that entails, while their spouses have let them down in so many ways. I am invested and want to know how their stories continue. This book waited far too long on my To-Be-Read stacks. I hope to dive into Book 2, Murder at the Bake Sale, soon.
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. Thank you to Kensington and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.
Your Escape Into A Good Book Travel Agent
About the Author
LEE HOLLIS is the pen name for Rick Copp, a veteran Hollywood screenwriter who has written for numerous television series, including The Golden Girls, Wings, Scooby-Doo, Teen Titans, and Barbershop. He is the co‑writer of The Brady Bunch Movie and has written a number of novels under his own name. He also produces, writes, and stars in the hit web series Where the Bears Are. With his sister Holly Simason, he co‑authors the Hayley Powell Food & Cocktail Mysteries book series using the Lee Hollis name. He lives in Palm Springs, California. Website
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