19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A teacher spends time in the school of hard knocks., November 25, 2006
This review is from: Murder 101 (Alison Bergeron Mysteries) (Hardcover)
"Murder 101," Maggie Barbieri's debut novel, features Alison Bergeron, an English professor at St. Thomas, a small Catholic college in the Bronx. Alison calls herself "queen of the nerds," and it is an apt description. She is in her thirties, five-foot ten, intellectual, a chatterbox, clumsy, and prone to making silly and often inappropriate wisecracks. She cries at the drop of a hat and often faints or pukes under stress. Alison was recently divorced from her husband of seven years, a fellow professor who cheated on her repeatedly.
Her problems with her ex-husband fade into the background when two policemen barge into Alison's office. It seems that one of her students, Kathy Miceli, has been found dead in the trunk of Alison's car. The fact that the police consider Alison a suspect is bad enough, but making matters worse is the fact that Kathy's parents are reputedly Mob connected. If they believe that Alison was in any way responsible for their daughter's death, they might have her fitted with cement boots and dumped into the Hudson River.
The only silver lining is that one of the detectives who questions Alison, Robert Crawford, is nice-looking and apparently single. Alison is attracted to him, and she believes that her interest may be reciprocated. Alison's best friend, the sassy Maxine Rayfield, dubs Crawford "Detective Hot Pants," and snickers suggestively whenever he and his partner are around. As the investigation progresses, Alison's life is repeatedly threatened; she is also in danger of losing her heart to the compassionate and adorable Detective Crawford.
Barbieri's debut novel is a frothy combination of romantic chick lit and murder mystery lite. For the most part, "Murder 101" is formulaic and far-fetched, but it has pleasant moments of lighthearted wit and sweetness. Alison is a refreshing character: bright academically but naive in almost every other way. As she puts it, "I had spent way too many years with my head in books." It's time for her to grow up at last, and as a result of her traumatic experiences, Alison learns a great deal about the tough realities of life. "Murder 101" is an inoffensive, squeaky clean, and delightfully funny murder mystery with a spunky and appealing heroine.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Light hearted fun, December 12, 2006
This review is from: Murder 101 (Alison Bergeron Mysteries) (Hardcover)
The mystery and romance are light hearted fun. The characters were well developed and there is definitley potential there for sequels. The only complaint I have and the reason why I gave it 4 stars rather than 5 is that the primary character, Alison, is CONTANTLY fainting, throwing up or crying. While I enjoy the rest of her personality, fainting once would have been enough and I can't stand women who cry at the drop of a hat. So...looking forward to more from this author. If this is her debut book as the reviews have stated, then her next books should be exellent as her first one is very good.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
murder 101, January 31, 2008
As an English teacher, I really wanted to like this new book. While the mystery was interesting, the characters were just annoying. Alison Bergeron, the narrator & an English professor, tries to be funny but fails. Her best friend, Max, is even more annoying; she seemed like some caricature. I might try the next installment, "Extracurricular Activities," only because I had high hope for this series.
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