Flying in the middle seat can literally be murder. Upon landing in Westbrook, Susan Wiles and new friend Valerie Holmes discover the man sitting between them is dead, presumably from a heart attack. Of course, Susan notices his blue lips and the snack spilled out onto the floor. The dead passenger, owner of a successful college preparatory company, has made enemies as a result of accepting bribes … accepting bribes in exchange for Ivy League acceptance letters. His widow, a colleague of Susan’s son-in-law, Jason, doesn’t feel the police are taking the murder seriously. Jason has told stories in the past about his mother-in-law’s success as an amateur sleuth inspiring the widow to enlist Susan’s help. By accepting, she’d be helping out both the widow and her detective daughter who’s in charge of the case. Susan’s daughter is short-handed while waiting for her new partner, Valerie’s daughter Jazmin, to arrive from St. Louis. On top of that, Westbrook has bank robbers on the loose and the police department is under pressure to keep its citizens safe. Retired teacher Susan Wiles and her new bestie Valerie team up to lend a hand and bring justice to Westbrook.
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This review is for the audio book.
I loved this book. This is book eleven in the series and the author still manages to keep it fresh with new ideas for her plot lines. I think the reason the series is so much fun is because of two reasons. First there is so much going on in the book that your never get time to get bored from solving murders, to catching bank robbers, finding a new house, breaking an ankle, to marriage and baby news this book has it all but it is written so well that it is all part of the adventure and you never find yourself wishing they would just stick to the mystery. Its nicely balanced out and the author also finds room for drama, humour, romance, twists, and most importantly mystery. The second reason is the characters I just love Susan and I am so glad that Valerie (from the previous book) has moved to Westbrook and become her sidekick, together they make for an amusing amateur sleuth duo who find trouble where ever they go but somehow mange to come out of it unscathed, mostly.
Valerie and her daughter Jazmin are moving to Westbrook, as her daughter has taken up a new job as a police detective but before they can move they need to find a house. In steps Susan to help but when the passenger between them dies on the flight home Susan and Valerie find themselves doing more than house hunting. Susan’s daughter finds herself a man down until Jazmin arrives just when she has two bank robberies to investigate and her mother thinks a murder. The dead passenger had blue lips and after watching her husband go through two heart attacks, Susan is convince that is more a sign of poisoning. As she and Valerie dig into the case they uncover lots of people with motives to kill him but can they help by narrowing down the opportunity? Valerie also finds the perfect house for her small family, the problem is the house used to belong to the bank manager of one of the banks that got robbed and with a prowler around and signs someone has broken in to her new house,she starts to question if she has done the right thing?
I liked the narrator as she sounds perfect for the part, I especially liked the voices she used for the main characters Susan and Valerie. They sounded so different I never had a problem telling who was speaking.
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
I have read every book in the Susan Wiles Schoolhouse Mystery Series by Diane Weiner. Each book in the series lets us get to know the characters better. They have grown in depth so that the reader begins to feel as if they are all family.
I must admit while reading the first book in the series, Murder Is Elementary, I wasn’t sure if I was fond of the main character because I felt she was a little too nosy and uptight. Susan always got herself in the midst of things she shouldn’t and it made for a good read, although in my mind I wasn’t sure about her. Now to be fair, I did let the author know I felt this way. I say this now, I was wrong about Susan Wiles.
She is a smart, likable woman with deep loyalty to her family and an insatiable curiosity that lands her in trouble but what fun trouble.
In Murder Is Universal we are again introduced to Valerie, a friend she made in the last book, Murder is Medical. Valerie moves from St. Louis to Susan’s community of Westbrook. Her daughter, a detective is also moving with her to work with Susan’s detective daughter. Right away they are thrown into a mystery when the man in the seat next to Valerie on the plane dies. Add a house purchase with mysterious happenings and the amateur sleuths have their noses to the ground. They are a fun to follow duo.
I give this five stars. I loved this mystery. I enjoy the entire series so I would recommend it. Ms. Weiner’s writing just keeps getting better and better.