The Busy Woman's Guide to Murder, by Mary Jane Maffini

 

The Busy Woman's Guide to Murder, by Mary Jane Maffini 

A Charlotte Adams Mystery

 I found myself compelled to finish this book while, quite frankly, not knowing initially if it was because I wanted to know "who dun it" or get away from Charlotte. I didn't dislike her but found her obsessions and compulsion to go against everyone else's advice both admirable and annoying. In the end, I decided I'd like her, albeit in small doses. Jack, the love interest, summarizes Charlotte well when he tells her she has a "tendency to charge right in, no matter what the risks and try to make everything right." 

The plot itself is intriguing, the life long effect bullying can have on the victims.In this case it leads to multiple murders. Toss in some twisted personalities and it's no wonder chief victim, 911 operator Mona Pringle, begins to doubt her own sanity. Charlotte is a good friend and wants to support her. Now, if she just knew where Mona was. 

There are plenty of twists and turns, not to mention red herrings along the way, as well as hints on organizing your home and life. Charlotte is a professional organizer and we get to see her in action, a nice break from the building tension of the plot. Charlotte, of course, is in the middle of it all. I haven't read the previous books in the series so didn't feel like I knew the other regular characters as well as I might, but overall it made no difference. "The Busy Woman's Guide to Murder" works as a stand alone.

I won't detail the plot other to say Charlotte seems both compulsive and impulsive and basically ignores her friends' cautions that she needs to back off and let the police handle the investigation. This is a common theme in cozy mysteries, as is the main character shrugging of warnings and plowing ahead. Given Charlotte's personality and behavioral tendencies, I'm not sure she could stop even if she wanted to, to be honest, a compulsion that makes even the police and 911 operator reluctant to lend much weight to her ideas and theories. That leads to an especially frightening, tense ending.

I applaud the author for dealing with the potential long term harm of bullying, in this case during the characters' high school years. Charlotte seems to have slipped through relatively untouched, perhaps, as some hint, because of her mother's position (a story obviously told in previous books), but feels guilt now because she feels partly responsible for not doing everything she might have been able to do to stop it and protect the more vulnerable. I think it was that sense of responsibility, the caring about others and their pasts, that made me like Charlotte in the end, even while withing she could just chill out a bit. 

For an intriguing, thoughtful read, "The Busy Woman's Guide to Murder" is a winner. I'm tempted, I must admit, to skip backward and read the books in the series leading up to this one. I don't always feel this way when I jump into a series in the middle, so that is high praise. Excellent writing, a plot that moved along, and, oh, did I mention there are dogs? Therapy dogs, in fact, that visit an Alzheimer's wing with Charlotte. See, I told you there were reasons I liked her in the end. 

Thank you @NetGalley and #BeyondthePage