Book Review: Murder at the PTA (Maya and Sandra Mystery, #1) by Lee Hollis

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Murder at the PTA (Maya and Sandra Mystery, #1) by Lee Hollis is the first installment in the Maya and Sandra Mystery series, a cozy mystery series centered on private investigators. The story follows Sandra Wallage , the wife of a U.S. senator and the newly elected president of Portland High School’s PTA, who becomes the latest target of a vicious gossip website called Dirty Laundry . After a heated PTA meeting, Sandra crosses paths with Maya Kendrick , a private investigator who has uncovered the identity of the person behind the gossip site. When the two women attempt to confront the culprit, they instead discover a dead body. Was it really a suicide, or did someone have a motive for murder? I’m a longtime fan of books by Lee Hollis , which is actually the pen name for sibling writing duo Rick Copp and Holly Simason . They’ve written several cozy mystery series, and what I appreciate most about their books is that they aren’t overly kitschy, unlike some other cozy mysteries I’ve ...
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Book Review: Twelve Sharp (Stephanie Plum, #12) by Janet Evanovich

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twelve sharp stephanie plum 12 janet evanovich

In Twelve Sharp (Stephanie Plum, #12) by Janet Evanovich, Stephanie Plum finds herself being stalked by a woman dressed in all black, carries a 9mm Glock, and reveals that she has a connection to Carlos "Ranger" Manoso. When someone dies and a child goes missing, Ranger and Stephanie team up to find the culprits. As the two become friendlier with each, Stephanie's boyfriend, Joe Morelli, steps up.

What I enjoyed about this book is that Stephanie finally tells Joe that she loves him, and I felt like she was finally growing and maturing as a character. I also appreciated that we learned a lot more about Ranger in this edition. It made his character a little more three dimensional. 

However, there were things that I didn't like as  well. In the previous book, Eleven On Top (Stephanie Plum, #11), Stephanie had quit her job as a bounty hunter and went to work for Ranger's security company. In Twelve Sharp, she's gone back to being a bounty hunter with no explanation at all as to how that happened. That would have been a nice detail to have included. Additionally, I didn't care for a couple of the characters joining a band. It just seemed a little hokey.

All in all, I enjoyed Twelve Sharp well enough to rate it four out of five stars and is definitely a must read if you want to continue reading the "Stephanie Plum" book series.


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