Ok, this book had an amusing cover that caught my eye in the new book section at the library, so I grabbed it. It's really what I'd call a fluff mystery, but unlike the other book I didn't like, I loved this one. Yes the main character is dealing with death (possible murder), but she is still great fun while she tries to solve the mystery while still dealing with her little kid and husband who try her patience. I figured out that there is just one in of the books in a series that deal with the same main character who quits her job in the DA's office to be a stay-at-home mommy. Of course she manages to get involved in shady situations regardless. I'm going to read more of these as soon as I get a chance - no thinking required!
I've read a few of this series and they were unusual, well-focused and just right for someone with kids, who can't concentrate on too many plot twists and levels of detail for long. The amateur sleuth has been a public defender but now she's a stay-home mother who is looking for preschools, attending play-dates and funerals and all kinds of things that women do instead of being at work. She still can't help investigating crimes. The kids are pretty good kids I have to say, and the good mother comes to the fore and puts their needs first.
Do You like book A Playdate With Death (2003)?
I like Ayelet Waldman books. P.D. James said she purposefully removed family from her detective series, but Ayelet Waldman anchors her mysteries with a complicated, messy family life. The main character is constantly juggling her interests and complicated feelings for family and for the life she left as a public defender, and a modern marriage where partners are constantly negotiating their relationship and responsibilities while trying to connect. (Waldman is novelist Michael Chabon's wife and mother of 4, so she has the experience to pull it off.) Waldman is also realistic about modern crime and unhappiness but finds a lot of good in the world too.
—Vilo
