Snowed Under by Mary Feliz

First Line: The scene was like every description of a near-death experience I'd ever heard.

Professional organizer Maggie McDonald's best friend Tess has asked for her help in getting Tess's Lake Tahoe cabin ready for sale. After white-knuckle driving for hours in a blizzard, little did Maggie know that the first thing she would do once they'd arrived is stumble over a dead body in a snow drift.

The dead body is Dev Bailey, Tess's neighbor, who disappeared two months ago. As the snow continues to fall and Maggie becomes acquainted with Tess's neighbors in the cul-de-sac, the suspect list grows-- and so does the danger.

Snowed Under is another enjoyable outing for Mary Feliz's Maggie McDonald-- even though Maggie never seems to get much organizing done. Lake Tahoe is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen, so I loved the setting-- and I loved that I wasn't actually there because snow and I do not get along. (It's much better to read about it than live in it.)

If you like reading cozy mysteries in which the main character as well as her family and friends are good people who use their common sense and intelligence, then this entire series is the one for you. It is so refreshing to read about people who don't go haring off on wild goose chases regardless of the danger, and-- speaking of refreshing-- it's great to have police who are willing to listen and work with ordinary citizens in the areas they protect. So... that explodes two tenents of so many cozy mystery series: the heroes thoughtlessly putting themselves in danger, and stupid, obstructive policemen. Mary Feliz proves that it can be done and done well.

If you think that this sounds like the makings of a boring mystery, think again. In Snowed Under, I didn't have a clue what was going on until one of the characters began to open up a little. An added bonus was watching everyone in the neighborhood work together to make sure they were all safe as one blizzard after another hit the area.

I don't know about you, but I certainly was in the mood for an intriguing mystery that involved good people doing the right thing. If you're not already a fan, you've got an entire feel-good series to savor. Me? Now I have to wait for the next one.

Snowed Under by Mary Feliz

eISBN: 9781516105281

Lyrical Underground © 2020

eBook, 250 pages

Cozy Mystery, #6 Maggie McDonald mystery

Rating: B+

Source: Net Galley

Cliff Hanger by Mary Feliz

First Line: "Mom, you sure those directions are right?"

Professional organizer Maggie McDonald has found the perfect summer job: helping Renée Alvarez set up her property management office in a condominium complex on the shores of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. Maggie will have a condo for the summer, her two sons and their golden retriever will enjoy the beach, and her husband will join them on the weekends. Fantastic, eh?

Well, fantastic until her two sons try to rescue a badly injured man who crashed his ultra-light on the cliffs. The man dies, and Maggie's family become suspects in a murder investigation and the target of a lawsuit. It's a good thing Maggie's specialty is managing chaos because she still needs to do the job she's being paid for, keep one step ahead of the media, and avoid the attention of various criminal elements. Will Maggie be able to keep everyone safe and solve the crime?

Mary Feliz's Maggie McDonald series is one of my favorites when I need to read a mystery but want to read one where all the major characters are The Good Guys. The latest, Cliff Hanger, falls right into that category. The McDonalds are Good People. They use their common sense. Maggie and her husband Max are teaching their children to be good citizens. They pitch in when their community needs them. They have a good support system with their family and friends. Even more important, they have no qualms about doing the right thing.

There are organizing tips at the beginning of each chapter that are truly useful and easy to implement, and the mystery is a good one that kept me guessing. One of the things I enjoyed the most in Cliff Hanger was the setting: the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. I could practically smell the salt air and hear the waves pounding the beach. This is Maggie's first experience living in a small town (where you're one or two introductions away from knowing all the residents), and she really likes it. Having spent the first eighteen years of my life in an even smaller town, I smiled as I read this... and bided my time. Sure enough, Maggie's opinion of small-town life evolved just as I knew it would.

Cliff Hanger is another strong entry in this feel-good series that's such a pleasure to read. I'm looking forward to seeing what sort of trouble Maggie gets into next.

Cliff Hanger by Mary Feliz

eISBN: 9781516105274

Lyrical Underground Press © 2019

eBook, 226 pages

Cozy Mystery, #5 Maggie McDonald mystery

Rating: B+

Source: Net Galley


 

Disorderly Conduct by Mary Feliz

First Line: I told the kids it was a drill.

With a deadly wildfire spreading through the Silicon Valley of California, Max and Maggie McDonald evacuate their family and pets to their friends' house. When firefighters discover the body of Maggie's best friend Tess Olmos' husband, Tess becomes the prime suspect, and Maggie knows that her friend will need all the help the McDonalds can give her.

I've been a fan of Mary Feliz's Maggie McDonald series from the start (Address to Die For), and the author just keeps on giving me reasons to enjoy her books. We don't see much of her organizing skills on jobs, but we see her put her own advice into practice, and each chapter heading is one of her tips. In Disorderly Conduct, they are very timely indeed since they are all aimed at preparing for emergencies and natural disasters. (These are all common sense tips and worth a read even if you think you've got all your bases covered.)

This series is firmly grounded in its setting. It's no secret that California has been suffering from drought, so we see Maggie and her family pitching in at the school to put in drought-tolerant landscaping. There's also information for anyone who lives near public lands-- as in, what some criminals can be using the land for.

Two small things annoyed me with the mystery in Disorderly Conduct: a couple of clues were a bit too transparent and made it easy for me to deduce the killer's identity, and-- the biggie-- Maggie's friend Tess says the one line no character should say in a mystery: "I'll kill that man!" Any cozy reader worth their salt knows that the second those words are uttered, that character is going to be thrown in jail. Every time I see that line of dialogue, I have two reactions. One, a major eye roll. Two, I thank my lucky stars that I'm not a member of a family who goes around threatening to kill each other.

But those annoyances are small. What I really love about revisiting Maggie is just spending some time with Super Mom. Maggie has an excellent support system, and it's because she spends just as much time supporting her friends. When it looks as though the newly widowed Tess is going to jail, Maggie immediately works with her to put legal paperwork in place to take care of Tess's grieving son if the worst should happen.

These regular characters all have very real emotions and reactions, but none of them really go off the rails. It would appear that they're all just too good to be true, and I imagine that they are, but you know what? I don't care. It is so refreshing to read about intelligent people who've raised their children properly-- and everyone uses their common sense! I remember an old television commercial when I think of Mary Feliz's series. I consider these to be my "Calgon, take me away" books. They are a pleasure to read. If the world gets to be too much for you, you'll probably enjoy them, too.

Disorderly Conduct by Mary Feliz

eISBN: 9781516105267

Lyrical Press © 2018

eBook, 233 pages

Cozy Mystery, #4 Maggie McDonald mystery

Rating: A-

Source: Net Galley

Dead Storage by Mary Feliz

First Line: "Maggie, we've got a crisis," Jason had said the last time I'd talked to him.

Even with deadlines looming, professional organizer Maggie McDonald believes she can help friends Jason and Stephen get their large Victorian home decluttered before its scheduled renovation. However, she hasn't even filled one bin with junk before Jason leaves on an emergency business trip, Stephen's injured mastiff limps home... and Stephen himself winds up in jail charged with murder. 

Stephen was caught at the crime scene covered in blood and is the number one suspect, but he refuses to talk to anyone but Maggie. It's time to set aside the decluttering and start sorting through secrets to save her friend.

Mary Feliz has created a good strong mystery that will keep readers guessing as to what is really going on in that area of small businesses where the murder occurred. She also addresses such issues as homeless people, immigration status, and PTSD with sense and sensitivity.

But what she's done that I appreciate the most can all be found in the character of Maggie, and of her family, too. She and her family honestly try to do good for their friends, their neighbors, and their community. Maggie, her husband Max, and their two boys are also intelligent and filled with common sense. When one of the boys is threatened at school, it's handled swiftly and appropriately. Maggie is not the type of amateur sleuth who takes chances with her family's lives. She's also not the type of person who takes ill treatment like a doormat. Her response to an obnoxious lawyer had me laughing and cheering.

Maggie also does what so many other amateur sleuths don't-- she keeps in close contact with local police, and any time she finds something pertinent to an investigation, she shares it with them immediately. This means that the dangerous parts of the case are handled by the professionals... and that the reveal is not done onstage with the heroine narrowly escaping with her life. We learn what's happened by sitting down with Maggie, her friends, and family at her kitchen table and talking it all over. This is something that not all cozy mystery fans are going to appreciate, but I certainly do. Intelligence and common sense go a long, long way with me, and this means that I'm looking forward to visiting with Maggie again soon. 

Dead Storage by Mary Feliz

eISBN: 9781601830074

Lyrical Underground © 2017

eBook, 241 pages

Cozy Mystery, #3 Maggie McDonald mystery

Rating: B+

Source: Net Galley

Scheduled to Death by Mary Feliz

First Line: I couldn't be sure where the line was between a mansion and a really big house, but I knew I was straddling it, standing on the front porch of the gracious Victorian home of Stanford professor Lincoln "Linc" Sinclair.

Professor Lincoln Sinclair is up for a Nobel Prize, and he's just the sort of high-profile client that Maggie McDonald needs to get her new organizing business off to a good start. 

For an academic, Sinclair has more than his fair share of enemies, so when his fiancee is found dead on the floor of his home laboratory, the first thought in everyone's mind is that Sinclair was the actual target. Unfortunately, the detective in charge of the investigation is so bad that Maggie dubs him "Detective Awful," and she knows that if the real murderer is going to be found, she's going to have to put all her organizing skills to the test.

Mary Feliz's second Maggie McDonald mystery is one that will keep you guessing, even though it's saddled with the ubiquitous vile-tempered, dumb cop. (Luckily, he's shuffled off to the shadows rather quickly.) I'm still very impressed with Maggie. She's calm under fire, she's caring, smart, and level-headed. In other words, she's a "Mom," and the best kind of mother there is. 

The author has created a first-rate cast of characters, so much so that-- although I enjoyed getting to know more about Maggie's husband Max-- I missed the interactions with her sons and her best friend. I know everyone in the cast can't be in the spotlight all the time, but these characters are so good that I just get greedy.

Scheduled to Death may have a good mystery, a very good car chase scene, and a fine cast of characters, but Feliz also takes the time to deal sensitively with other issues like homeless children and the world of academia. These topics are woven into the story to give it even more depth and texture.

If you're on the lookout for a good cozy mystery series to read, you know what I'm going to say. Give Mary Feliz's Maggie McDonald series a try with the first book, Address to Die For before you move on to this one. I think you'll enjoy the characters as much as I do.      

Scheduled to Death by Mary Feliz

eISBN: 9781601836656

Lyrical Underground © 2017

eBook, 238 pages

Cozy Mystery, #2 Maggie McDonald mystery

Rating: B+

Source: Net Galley  


  

Address to Die For by Mary Feliz

First Line: "Awesome! I bet it has bats!"

Maggie McDonald's husband Max has a new job that's required the family to move to Orchard View, California, and into the 100-year-old house Max has inherited. It's been a couple of months since Max and Maggie have been to see their new home, and they are shocked at its rundown condition. They are even more shocked to find the caretaker dead in the basement. 

While the police are conducting their investigation, Maggie has no time to lose. She's got to get 14-year-old David and 12-year-old Bryan enrolled in school, she's got to keep food on the table, she's got to get their belongings unpacked and in some semblance of order-- and she's got to do it alone because Max's new job has sent him out of town. Then everything about the investigation unravels, and Maggie decides to give the police a little helping hand. After all, she wants her family life to be normal and she needs a chance to get her Simplicity Itself Organizing Services business up and running again.  

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!
    

Address to Die For by Mary Feliz

eISBN: 9781601836632

Lyrical Underground Books © 2016

eBook, 246 pages

Cozy Mystery, #1 Maggie McDonald mystery

Rating: B+

Source: Purchased from Amazon