As a professional organizer, Maggie McDonald brings order to messy situations. But when a good friend becomes a murder suspect, surviving the chaos is one tall task . . . Despite a looming deadline, Maggie thinks she has what it takes to help friends Jason and Stephen unclutter their large Victorian in time for its scheduled renovation. But before she can fill a single bin with unused junk, Jason … unused junk, Jason leaves for Texas on an emergency business trip, Stephen’s injured mastiff limps home—and Stephen himself lands in jail for murder. Someone killed the owner of a local Chinese restaurant and stuffed him in the freezer. Stephen, caught at the crime scene covered in blood, is the number one suspect. Now Maggie must devise a strategy to sort through secrets and set him free—before she’s tossed into permanent storage next . . .
“Fans of Feliz’s first book as well as newcomers to the series won’t be disappointed…Moves forward quickly with freshness, a few surprises and a couple of real scares.” —Kirkus Reviews on Scheduled to Death
more
Dead Storage is the 3rd book in the Maggie McDonald Mystery series written by Mary Feliz. This is the fifth book I’ve read by the author (out of order, which is unusual for me), but I wanted to get caught up so that I could read the latest when it comes out this year. I’m now current, but before I talk about the new book, let’s cover a review on this one…
Maggie lives in California with her husband and two teenage sons. She’s an organizational expert who runs her own business. One morning, she’s scheduled to meet good friend Stephen to help prepare his house for some renovations. Stephen’s husband, Jason, is on assignment out of town. Stephen never shows, and when Maggie finds out where he is, it isn’t a good thing — jail! Stephen’s been arrested for murdering the local Chinese restaurateur, Mr. X. We know he didn’t do it, right? But who did… Maggie learns their is a young kid who went to the same school as her sons a few years ago, but he might be an undocumented citizen or immigrant that Stephen wanted to help. As she digs into the puzzle, we learn a lot about homelessness, poverty, immigration, and human rights. Then we find the murderer, and thankfully, in this one, no danger comes close to Maggie.
So… it’s a fun and teachable cozy! It’s different in that as Maggie’s investigating, no one threatens her directly this time. She also doesn’t find and trap the killer. She learns some facts which allow the police to investigate and tell her they found the killer. Interesting amateur sleuth approach, but it worked well. I really enjoyed learning all about the issues the homeless face, as it’s never quite what people expect. As a social awareness tool, for this concern as well as for immigration and drugs, the book really makes you think about how other people live when they aren’t as lucky as you are. I appreciate this type of story, and it shows how books can be useful tools to share lessons without bopping someone on the head about ‘the right thing to do.’
As a series, this is great. I like the characters and the unique plots. I enjoy the friendships and the morals we cover. I think the writing is good, and the mysteries are always diverse. I’m prepared to dive into the sixth one next month now. Thanks for a fun Saturday afternoon before the Easter holiday.
I really enjoyed this book
*I received a free copy of this book which I voluntarily chose to write an honest review for.
I have to admit that I am thoroughly enjoying this cozy mystery series. The eclectic group of characters really provide a well-rounded range of personalities while still interacting well together. Maggie and her family are finally a little more settled by this book but of course things cannot go smoothly. I got attached to both Stephen and Jason in the first tow books so I was hooked from page one of this one. I love the little details and surprises that pop-up throughout and the little pieces of advice at the beginning of each chapter are useful as well. This author has a smooth writing style that really drags the reader in until they cannot help but read it all just to find out what happens next. I highly recommend it to fans of cozy mysteries especially if you would like a family set-up that is slightly different from the others (which I really liked by the way). I really enjoyed it so it gets 4/5 stars.
I enjoy the characters, and the situations in which they get stuck.
Good advice on getting organized is included.
I quite enjoyed this book
Easy read. Similar to the preceding books in this series. Very predictable but enjoyable.
Mystery solving Mom and her faithful dog work to help out a fellow dog owner.
Enjoyable read, fun and entertaining. Would read another by this author.
Excellent mystery, a must read.
Thus is the third in a series & I have read all. The mom in thr family is a professional organizer & has a good family to support her. The progression of starting out in a new town. Making friends & supporting each other is vote. Also is miss judging people & figuring it out later. There is murder, normal life and finding the underlying crime in the bay area across from San Francisco. The mom doesn’t make herself out to be a sleuth of the live if it. She gets involved in a problem & does her best to help out, solving more in the process. The current book takes one to the lives of the homeless. Good descriptions. Good puzzle. Unexpected but plausible endings. On to the next book.
Maggie McDonald is a professional organizer. She
helps her customers put order into unorganized or
messy conditions. Each chapters begins with an
suggestion to help the reader organize.
Maggie is scheduled to help her friends organize
their house prior to having it remodeled. She
arrives with her golden retriever,Bella to meet with
Stephen and his mastiff, Munchkin who is a therapy
dog for him. No one answers!!!! Where could they be??
Then Munchkin shows up injured but without Stephen.
What happened to Munchkin??? Where is Stephen??
Turns out Stephen has been arrested for the murder
of a Chinese restaurant owner. Now Maggie must
investigate to prove him innocence.
A well written, well plotted story with many social
issues mixed into the puzzle. Issue such as immigration,
threats against Maggie’s son, homelessness, small
business survival problems, gambling, mentoring and
financial help needed for hard working unprivileged
kids to get advanced education, therapy dogs, traumatic
experience problems, adventure, intrigue, mystery,
suspense, friendship and trust are all well organized to
create an fast paced story.
There are two ginger-colored cats, Holmes and Watson.
Dead Storage is book # 3 in the Maggie McDonald
Mystery series. It can be read as a stand alone. I am
looking forward to reading the beginning of the series.
I volunteered to read Dead Storage. Thanks to the author
and publishing company via Net Gallery for the
opportunity. My opinion is my own.
I have read others in this series and enjoyed them. This one wasn’t my favorite, but still a good read.
I find this series much more compelling than I expected when I saw the first book. Each novel of the series has drawn me to a place that has darkness but many of the people she encounters remind of us that there is light in even the darkest places. Dead Storage is an intense and complex book that focuses on Maggie’s good friend Stephen, an amazing ex-marine who deals with his PTSD by helping people and dogs with the same issue. Horrified to learn that Stephen has been taken into custody as a possible murder suspect, Maggie is blown away when he refuses to help himself get released. Learning the reason that he wishes to stay the center of the investigation, Maggie feels compelled to try to solve another murder. With limited access to her friend she feels lost in her investigation but inches her way through it. She is a person who loves people, so in addition to worrying about Stephen, it hurts her not to be able to explain to his husband, another dear friend and a police detective who is out of town working in a disaster area. I have adored Jason and Stephen from the beginning and I feel her pain. As usual, her husband isn’t in the picture much as he is involved in a detailed problem at work, but we get to spend time with her awesome sons. I tend to classify this series as lighter fiction in spite of the seriousness of the crimes because there are many wonderful people and great moments to help balance the bad things that happen.
As a fan of the series, I was excited to get to receive an Advanced Readers Copy of Dead Storage from the publisher via NetGalley. I always review books that I enjoy and I greatly enjoyed Dead Storage.
Another fantastic book in this series! This book primarily had Maggie investigating the murder on her own. Jason was out of town on a rescue mission, Tess was skiing with her family, and Stephen ended up in jail after the murder at a Chinese restaurant. Stephen was trying to protect a young man who worked at the restaurant and was a witness. The young man, Rafi, was a legal citizen but did not have a birth certificate. I enjoyed Maggie’s sleuthing with just the help of the two dogs, Belle and Munchkin, along with some help from her two boys and husband. The storyline was very intriguing and I enjoyed how the boys really seemed to want to help their family friend, Stephen. I look forward to more books in this delightful series!!
slow and too wordy
This book had very little action, it was an easy-to-read however it was very slow. On the other hand, I did learn some useful info about organizing.
The tips on organizing and the parts about the dogs were the best features.