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(More customer reviews)"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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