This spring I discovered yet another mystery series featuring an English teacher at a small college: Maggie Barbieri focuses on Alison Bergeron, who teaches at the same small Catholic college she once attended. I read her books out of order: Murder 101 is the first one. Alison has two best friends: Kevin is a priest and works at her college; Max is a very glamorous, worldly woman and her old college roommate.
She has recently gone through a divorce; her husband Ray teaches at the same college, and while he seems to be a handsome, friendly man he has a problem with monogamy. He has never been faithful and Alison can no longer tolerate it.
As the story begins, Alison's car gets stolen--which seems frustrating enough. Then, one of her Shakespeare class students is found dead in the trunk. She gets interrogated by a pair of police detectives and when one of them shows her the pictures of the dead girl, she throws up on his shoes. Detective Bobby Crawford is a smart man and decides she is probably innocent; however, his partner, Fred Wyatt, seems to be a little tougher. Alison soon decides that she has to find out who did this to clear herself, and her friend Max offers to help.
I liked the little details about the college, some of the description about Alison's relationships with her colleagues as well as the details about her classes. Of course, the developing friendship/romance with the very hunky Detective Crawford also adds to the storyline--as does her boss, Sister Mary, and Gianna, Alison's former classmate whose father is in the mob. If you like mysteries with an academic twist and great characters, and have a slightly twisted sense of humor, you will like this series. Alison is no Wonder Woman; she is flawed, stubborn, and really needs to eat more fruits and vegetables, and buy comfortable shoes. However, she cares about her college, her students, and her friends and as a character she grows on you!
You can find Murder 101 in the Mystery area of the Waterloo Public Library.
c Waterloo Public Library 2010
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