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Book Review of Address to Die For (Maggie McDonald, Bk 1)

Address to Die For (Maggie McDonald, Bk 1)
cathyskye avatar reviewed on + 2260 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3


The first word I would use to describe Maggie is "Mom." And since she's a professional organizer, the second word would be "organized." With a dead man in the basement and their new home being targeted for unknown reasons, she's still got to get stuff unpacked and her two sons as settled as is humanly possible. In between errands and trips back and forth to the boys' schools, Maggie makes the time and effort to get acquainted with her neighbors. This is when readers learn that Mary Feliz has created a multi-faceted cast that should work well in a long-running series (as I hope this will be). The author has also written a strong mystery with a fine sense of misdirection that kept me guessing throughout.

There are a lot of things that happen to Maggie's new home. A lot. Each chapter begins with a quote from her own professional organizing business, and these quotes make sense-- especially the ones that advise people to know when to ask for help. I only had one problem with Maggie asking for help. All those things that happen to Maggie's house need fixing. Many of them could be done by homeowners with time and varying amounts of elbow grease. With Max gone and all these crazy things going on, Maggie didn't have time so she pulled out her checkbook and had other people take care of everything. Why did I have a problem with that? Because most of us don't have checkbooks that can withstand one expensive hit after another. (Okay, color me envious and call it a day!)

And once you've called it a day, you'll find that I really enjoyed Address to Die For. I want to see that house get finished. I want to see how Maggie solves more mysteries once Max is back in town-- I already know she can take care of things on her own. I want to see her get her business up and running (because "organized" is a word that most people use to describe me). I like Mary Feliz's mystery and her characters, and I'll definitely be back for more!