"Before you, Bella, my life was like a moonless night. Very dark, but there were stars, points of light and reason. ...And then you shot across my sky like a meteor. Suddenly everything was on fire; there was brilliancy, there was beauty. When you were gone, when the meteor had fallen over the horizon, everything went black. Nothing had changed, but my eyes were blinded by the light. I couldn’t see the stars anymore. And there was no more reason, for anything."

~ Edward Cullen

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Review: Murder at the PTA


Title: Murder at the PTA
Author: Laura Alden
Pages: 311
Challenges: Cozy Mystery Challenge
Rating: 3.5/5

Summary from Goodreads:

A brand-new series in which murder is anything but elementary After Tarver Elementary School's unpopular principal is murdered, PTA secretary and mother of two Beth Kennedy puts aside bake sales and class trip fund-raisers to catch a killer. And when members of the PTA become suspects, she realizes solving this murder will not be as easy as ABC...

I seem to be drawn to the cozy mysteries with moms and books lately.  I think it is the pregnancy hormones speaking out!  Murder at the PTA was one that I found when I was browsing the Berkley book website looking at the different cozy mysteries.  I really liked the idea of a murder involving the PTA, and the idea of the book intrigued me.  Onto the library request list it went.  I started it soon after picking it up, and to my delight I thought it was a pretty good start to a series.

I loved the main character Beth Kennedy.  She was a great mom, owned a bookstore, and did everything she could to make a good life for her and her children.  When she joined the PTA, it was to get out of her house, and out of the funk she had found herself in since her divorce.  With the encouragement of her best friend (more on her later) she took a big step to move out of her shell.  As a sleuth, I thought Beth was a disaster, but one I really liked.  She was so tentative in everything she did, but it made the mystery really good.  Plus the murderer was well hidden, and this mystery wasn't easily solved which I always find to be enjoyable.  It's always nice to have a little intrigue rather than figuring everything out within the first 100 pages.

Now, the reason why I only gave this one a 3.5 despite my love for our heroine and the good mystery was...the best friend.  I couldn't stand her.  She was an odd character, and her personality really grated on my nerves.  She may be one of those characters that grows on me, and I really hope so because I'd like to continue with this series.  Her over emphasis on certain phrases sounded so overdone, like the author was trying really hard to create a "unique" character.  I just think she could have been more well done.

Overall, Murder at the PTA was a really cute read, and one I would recommend for those looking for a quick read with a cute mystery.
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