Summer

31 August 2011

MURDER AT THE PTA - Laura Alden



From the back of the book: Single mom Beth Kennedy gets a lot more than she bargains for when she becomes the PTA secretary-----and discovers a killer is running rampant in her small town....


As the owner of a children's bookshop in the quaint town of Rynwood, Wisconsin, and a mother of two, Beth Kennedy has a full plate. So when her best friend, Marina, asks her to become the secretary for Tarver Elementary School's PTA, Beth can think of better ways to occupy what little free time she has. But after some arm-twisting (Marina's favorite activity), Beth agrees to come on board.


The course of PTA meetings never has run smoothly, but when Tarver's unpopular principal turns up dead, Beth realizes that making bake sales wheat-free and funding class trips weren't the only things on the agenda. Then the local gossip blog, WisconSINS, starts fanning the flames of speculation, and it seems like everyone is a suspect----especially certain members of the PTA. Beth knows she must race to find the killer before he teaches another fatal lesson....

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I had high hopes for this after reading a review from trusty reviewer harstan, but I didn't get a whole lot of enjoyment out of this cozy. I think mostly a lot of characters to contend with, characters I didn't care too much about, even the murder victim had it comin'. There were a lot of little bits of info thrown in that didn't seem to have too much to do with the progress of the story.

It may also have been the inane blog that has the small town abuzz and the friend that gets Beth into more than she can deal with as a single mom. I may have been projecting, though. I don't have a lot of tuck with anyone, female or otherwise, who butt in and try to get me to do more than I am willing to put forth.

I did finish the book and may give the next in series, FOUL PLAY AT THE PTA, a chance. It looks to be a stronger tale with a more interesting premise. The book won't go to the 'must get' section of WWBL, but it will be on the WWBL.


Three meh beans....














2 comments:

Aurian said...

Wow, I have never seen this score pic on your blog before. Pity, the series looked like a good one to me.

Vickie said...

Aurian: I think it's only the first time out syndrome. I did keep reading it, so that says something for me. I usually stop after a few pages and put the book in a trade pile if the book really isn't grabbing me. And I've done that with quite a few lately. Life is too short to read bad books, but I will take the time with a book that shows promise.

That all said, this is only my opinion of this book. Others liked it quite a lot.