The Self-Made Widow by Fabian Nicieza

 

First Line: Derek Goode rarely had pleasant dreams anymore.

 

Uncovering a decades-old conspiracy in their New Jersey town made quite an impact on the lives of housewife Andie Stern and journalist Kenny Lee. After his success as Andie's sidekick, Kenny's reaping the benefits of a restored image. On the other hand, investigative savant Andie Stern now has five children and a husband who sincerely hopes she's got that "business" out of her system. It's time to forget all that and get back to diaper changes, carpools, and lunches with her girlfriends.

But once having had a taste of the career she always wanted, Andie is having a difficult time forcing herself back into the old grind. Her group of gal pals she secretly calls the Cellulitists (think cellulite and elitists), and when Cellulitist member Molly Goode's husband dies suddenly, things just don't add up for Andie. She's convinced that Molly killed her husband, and she begins to do a little digging.

Meanwhile, Kenny gets an anonymous phone tip that Molly Goode killed her husband. End result? Kenny is back in suburbia with Andie investigating a death.

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I loved Fabian Nicieza's Suburban Dicks in which Andie Stern made her first appearance, and I'm thrilled to say that Andie's second appearance here in The Self-Made Widow is even better-- one of my Best Reads of 2022 better.

The Self-Made Widow is a many-layered how of a mystery. We all know Andie Stern is right-- Molly Goode did indeed kill her husband. The question is, how she did it, and the sheer joy is sitting back, turning the pages, and watching Andie strut her stuff (usually with a baby on her hip). I loved the humor-laced-with-sarcasm of the first book, but here-- although there's still plenty of humor-- it's a bit gentler and has been toned back. Since sarcasm isn't to everyone's taste, readers may find The Self-Made Widow more palatable. That's for them to discover for themselves, and I certainly hope they do.

 

If some of the focus is off the humor, what does the spotlight shine on here? It shines on the wonderfully plotted mystery, and it delves more deeply into the personalities and motivations of Andie and Kenny. Andie gets high marks for her parenting-while-sleuthing skills, and Nicieza never puts her or any of her children in danger, in case you're wondering. And speaking of those five children, each one of them has his or her own personality, something which would be difficult for many writers to pull off. In particular, I really enjoyed how Andie's oldest daughter, Ruth, is brought into the story, and how her perception of her mother has changed. 

 

Other cast members shine as well. Andie's new BFF Sathwika Duvvuri. The new chief of police Preet Anand. And Kenny's crew and his girlfriend who are working on the Netflix series based on his book about the case he and Andie solved the previous year. Who knows? If Andie and Kenny finally figure out how Molly killed her husband, Kenny may have another book and another series in the works, and he does love that fame and fortune. 

This is a banquet of a book. Wit and humor. Developing characters. A splendid howdunit. I don't know what Fabian Nicieza has up his sleeve next, but I can't wait to find out!

The Self-Made Widow by Fabian Nicieza

eISBN: 9780593191309

G.P. Putnam's Sons © 2022

eBook, 400 pages

 

Amateur Sleuth, #2 Stern & Lee mystery

Rating: A+

Source: Net Galley

Suburban Dicks by Fabian Nicieza

 

First Line: Satkunananthan Sasmal would have been the first to admit he'd had worse nights working the midnight shift at his uncle's Valero station.

 

Andrea Abelman had a brilliant career as an FBI profiler ahead of her until she got pregnant. Now she's Andrea Stern, extremely pregnant with her fifth child, living in West Windsor, New Jersey, and busy taking her husband to the train station, her kids to school...to the pool...to their games...

 

Catching killers was in her rearview mirror until she pulled into a gas station and stumbled into a crime scene. With one look, it's easy for Andrea to see that the attending police officers are clueless. In no time flat, Andie finds herself pulled into the investigation, children in tow, and paired with the most unlikely partner: a disgraced journalist named Kenny Lee who is desperate for a return to his glory days.

 

Together, these two dig up simmering racial tensions, a few body parts, and a decades-old conspiracy. But do they have what it takes to bring a killer to justice?

 

~

 

You'll have to work long and hard to find a hero who makes a more memorable entrance (and exit) than Andrea (Andie) Stern. Deadpool co-creator Fabian Nicieza has created a mystery that will fire up your mental movie screen and leave you wanting more. That is, you'll be begging for more unless you're a reader who does not like satire-- especially satire that pokes fun at the sanctity and inevitability of motherhood and children. Being childless by choice, Nicieza's humor was right up my alley, and I enjoyed every moment of it.

 

Nicieza is very adept with perfect turns of phrase and setting scenes, and I loved the character of Andie Stern. Andie has a brilliant criminalist's mind, able to see patterns that no one else can see, capable of absorbing the smallest details from crime scenes, and detecting the subtle nuances of a person's behavior. Having been instrumental in catching a serial killer before she ever graduated from college, Andie should have gone straight to the FBI. Now, years into a disappointing marriage to an investment banker on parole for playing around with other people's money, she realizes that the one thing she gave up in exchange for a wedding ring is the one thing she misses the most: her intellect and the joy of using it. Having babies and being a chauffeur just doesn't cut it. She needs more.

 

Kenny Lee is the weaker of the two characters, at least for me, probably because he exhibits that annoying reporter behavior that can drive most people insane. But he does have an important role in this amateur investigation. He's not merely an annoyance. Kenny was the youngest reporter to win a Pulitzer Prize, "the college student who brought down the governor of New Jersey", an answer on Jeopardy! for crying out loud. But his fall from grace has him working for a weekly newspaper in West Windsor, New Jersey, and willing to do anything to be back in the spotlight.

 

As the investigation unfolds and pieces slowly begin to fall into place, I found myself expecting something to happen that never did. Andie, with 4.9 kids in tow, couldn't always find a babysitter, so it's fortunate indeed that anyone with criminal intent relied solely upon intimidation instead of anything stronger. I like it when an author does the unexpected, but then... Nicieza had to, didn't he? If he harmed a pregnant mother, readers would have come forthwith to his doorstep brandishing torches and pitchforks.

 

I enjoyed Suburban Dicks from first page to last, and with a main character who looks a man in the eye and calmly says, "How could I be obstructing the performance of your duties if you're not performing them?" how could I do anything other than say, "Mr. Nicieza, may I please have more Andie Stern?"  

Suburban Dicks by Fabian Nicieza

ISBN: 9780593191262

G.P. Putnam's Sons © 2021

Hardcover, 400 pages

 

Amateur Sleuth

Rating: A

Source: Purchased at The Poisoned Pen.