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: The Doll's House, A Short Story by Lisa Unger

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book review the Doll's House short story lisa unger

The Doll's House: A Short Story by Lisa Unger is expected to be published on September 12, 2024 and is about Jules and her daughter Scout moving in with Jules' fiancé named Kirin. Like Jules and Scout, he's lost loved ones and wants to make them feel safe and secure. However, strange things start happening in the house and on the property. Is Jules imagining it, or is it real?

I'd like to thank NetGalley for the Advanced Readers Copy ARC of this short story. I received a copy for free in exchange for my honest review. Lisa Unger is one of my favorite authors and the cover art is amazing, so I was excited to read this latest story by her.

Told from alternating perspectives of Jules and Scout, the story was engaging and hard to put down. It has a familiar feel to it, and I let my mind go wild with different theories of where Lisa Unger was going with it. None of my theories panned out, which I'm glad about. 

Since The Doll's House is a short story, the author had to get to the ending quickly. However, I wish it had been a full fledged novel because it could have been fleshed out more and much spookier. I just wanted more to the story than what we received. Four out of five stars.

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