Quick Study

October 13, 2008
In Barbieri's witty third cozy to feature English professor Alison Bergeron (after 2007's Extracurricular Activities
), Alison befriends Hernan Escalante and his extended family from Ecuador at the soup kitchen where she's doing community service north of New York City. When the beaten body of Jose Tomasso, one of Hernan's relatives and an illegal immigrant, surfaces in the Hudson near Riviera Pointe, a luxury condo development in the Bronx where Jose was a construction worker, Alison offers to help Hernan find out what happened. After a second murder at Riviera Pointe, Hernan disappears. Alison's investigation leads her and her sidekicks, including her faithful canine companion, Trixie, into all sorts of nail-biting danger. An offer of assistance from former sweetie Jack McManus, marketing director for the New York Rangers, tests Alison's relationship with her main squeeze, NYPD detective Bobby Crawford. Barbieri scores again with this high-octane blend of romance, laughs and chills.

October 15, 2008
English professor Alison Bergeron ("Murder 101, Extracurricular Activities") is a trouble magnet. Her boyfriend, NYPD detective Bobby Crawford, is frustrated by how often Alison's trouble becomes part of his job; it's not good for her safety or his peace of mind. Alison's serving dinner every Saturday at the Lord's Bounty to work off community service, earned the last time she got involved in Bobby's business, and there befriends immigrant Hernan Escalante and his family. After Hernan's nephew Jose is murdered and Bobby is assigned to the case, how can she stay out of it? There is plenty to enjoy about this series: the characters are engagingly human with appealing flaws, quirky humor offsets the darker moments, previous plotlines pop up in appropriate places, and the storytelling just keeps getting better. Surprising relationship revelations and whodunit solutions at the end are satisfyingly clever. This book can be read on its own, but it's better to have read the series. A cozy mystery suitable for any audience, a smart purchase for all public libraries. [See Prepub Mystery, "LJ" 8/08.]Stacey Hayman, Rocky River P.L., OH

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