Murder 101

Starred review from September 25, 2006
At the start of Barbieri's sparkling debut, Alison Bergeron, a divorced English professor who teaches at St. Thomas, a small Catholic college in the Bronx, is dismayed when her car is stolen, but she's stunned when handsome NYPD homicide detective Bobby Crawford informs her that it has been recovered—with the body of Kathy Miceli, one of her students, in the trunk. Alison becomes a suspect in Kathy's murder, but disturbing incidents like the ransacking of Alison's office help persuade Bobby she's innocent. The sassy banter between Alison and Bobby nicely balances the escalating tension of the murder investigation, which calls into question the integrity of Alison's philandering ex-husband, another St. Thomas professor. Romance, humor and suspense blend perfectly in this exceptional cozy, the first of what hopefully will be a long series.

September 1, 2006
Having her car stolen is only the beginning of Alison Bergeron's bad day. When the police find the car, they also discover in the trunk the body of one of her students; her philandering ex-husband is picked up for questioning. In this debut entry of the ever-expanding world of chick-lit mystery, the characters are so irritating that any attempt at humor is spoiled. [See Prepub Mystery, "LJ" 7/06.]

Copyright 2006 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2006
Alison Bergeron, newly divorced English professor at St. Thomas College, is having a difficult time. Someone stole her car, so she has to walk to the train station for the commute to work. Once there, she finds two homicide detectives waiting in her office to ask why the body of one of her students is in the trunk of her car. Trying to remove herself from the list of suspects is not easy. She also has to deal with the distraught family of the dead student, bail her ex-husband out of jail, and grade final exams for her Shakespeare class. For some reason, those boring exams are the object of a great deal of attention. As if that weren't enough, one of the homicide detectives, Bobby Crawford, is taking a romantic interest in Alison, and the pompous college president may decide that her involvement in the case is bad for the school's reputation. This is an entertaining debut and a series to follow for fans of gentle academic mysteries.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)