"a wonderfully fun whodunit"
Misadventures seems a bit of an understatement when it
comes to Maggie Phillips. Maggie, a stay-at-home mom with
in-laws from hell, has perfected the art of being in the
wrong place at the wrong time. At a soiree with her
gorgeous husband, a former Navy SEAL, her best friend talks
her into taking a cleaning job, and it's all downhill from
there. Dead people, implements of torture (not used), quick
one-liners and hilarious similes comprise this comic
mystery. Jennifer L. Hart has written a wonderfully fun story, and I
love Maggie's character. She's one of the most realistic
characters I've read about recently, and everyone can
empathize with her; from page one when she has to re-wash
her hair with Head & Shoulders because she found dandruff
and then used cuticle scissors to remove the one straggling
gray hair. And, Neil is also terrific with just the right
combination of humor, love and macho male protectiveness. Hart has her pacing down to a science. And, she throws in a
few surprises just to keep you guessing. I had no idea who
the villain was, and I hate it when that happens. In
addition to Maggie, Neil and their two boys, we meet a nice
old guy, an older Annie Oakley type, a couple police
officers and a greasy "gym rat." Her characters, both
primary and secondary, have good complexity, and she keeps
you laughing all the time you're trying to guess whodunit.
From the title, and the ending, it sounds like this will be
a series, and I definitely look forward to future
installments.
Reviewed by Katherine Petersen
Posted November 21, 2008
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Maggie Phillips hasn't had it easy. As the wife of a retired Navy SEAL and the adoptive mother of two little hellions, Maggie is constantly seeking new ways to improve her family's financial situation. She accepts a cleaning position for her new neighbors (who redefine the term 'eccentric'), never imagining she will end up as the sole alibi for a man with a fascination for medieval torture devices when he is brought up on murder charges. While Maggie struggles to prove the man's innocence, her deadbeat brother arrives, determined to sell Maggie and Neil on his next great scheme and to mooch with a vengeance. If that isn't bad enough, her in-laws (cutthroat corporate attorneys), descend on the house, armed with disapproval and condemnation for the family's annual Thanksgiving celebration. As the police investigation intensifies, Maggie searches for the killer among the upper echelon of Hudson, Massachusetts, in the only way she can--by scrubbing their thrones. Of the porcelain variety, that is....
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