Schooled for Murder

Title: Schooled for Murder 
Author: Cindy Muir 
Published: 6-26-2014
Publisher: Black Rose Writing
Pages: 200
Genre: Mystery, Thrillers & Suspense			
Sub Genre: Amateur Sleuths, Cozy Mystery; Clean & Wholesome; Women Sleuths
ISBN: 13: 9781612963761
ASIN: B00LQASDPC
Reviewer: DelAnne			
Reviewed For: NetGalley
Rating: 4.25 Stars


I received a copy of "Schooled for Murder" from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.
			
			
Publisher's Description:

Laurel Franks might as well be a professional volunteer, with all the hours she doles out to her teenage daughters' activities, church and civic responsibilities. She puts up with a husband consumed with antiquated opinions and views, while dreaming of singing Trop Rock music and quoting Jimmy Buffett lyrics.


Laurel finds out through the local grapevine that the school superintendent has been murdered and the sheriff's office seems to be unusually mum about the investigation. With her best friend and sidekick, Sherry Sharp, she delves into her own investigation of the murder against substantial odds.


Using prior connections, Laurel and Sherry traverse the Texas Hill Country. They encounter several eccentric characters, each of which might have had a motive for rubbing out the superintendent.


It doesn't take long for Laurel to realize that someone wants to halt her investigation and may go to extreme lengths to silence her. Can she survive her efforts to prove that art should exist for art's sake?


My Review:

A wonderful first novel by Cindy Muir.  Laurel had my sympathies from the very first.  Then I cheered as she began to blossom as the story progresses.  She deserves more from her Neanderthal husband, but it is a joy to see her confidence and self-worth grow.  The mystery was woven throughout the story.  There were a quite a few characters that definitely kept the story light and added a touch of humor.  This is story that will appeal to young and old alike.  I look forward to reading more from Ms. Muir.  I hope to return to San Antonio (which I visited often when I lived in Texas and found it described very well) and spend some more time with Laurel in the future.  My rating is 4 out of 5 starts.

Thank you.
Enjoyed it.
Will purchase copies for family and friends.

Ok book for killing time. Premise a little silly-the bored housewife starts snooping into a murder in town and gets in trouble with law enforcement. Too much detail about trivial things at times.

The cover is what drew me into this book, but I loved everything else inside as well!

Schooled For Murder by Cindy Muir is a cute and funny cozy mystery. Laura Franks, who might be called a professional volunteer, and her best friend Sherry Sharp travel the Texas Hill Country to solve a murder. With the background music of Jimmy Buffet, Jerry Diaz and other Trop-Rock artists playing Laura and Sherry investigate the murder. Can they find the killer before becoming the next victims?

The book is filled with eccentric characters and beautiful descriptions of the Texas Hill Country. The locations and descriptions made it fun to virtually travel these well-known areas of Texas along with Laura and Sherry. The characters they meet along the way could be easily found at any of these locations also.

This is a great short read perfect for a weekend get away, made special by its tour through Texas. As Ms. Muir’s first published book, I look forward to reading her future works.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and Black Rose Writing with no obligation to review it. This is my honest review after reading.

The cover pulled me in and I enjoyed the determined mind of Laurel, the main character, finding exactly what was going on in her community and finding something for herself besides taking care of her family. The story was rich with descriptions and had me hankering for some good music and sunny weather!

A really fabulous and fantastic mystery with well developed characters and captivating and intriguing plot. I loved it and would recommend it to everyone. The book was a one sit read for me. I really hope for more titles like this from the author.

Laurel is a great new character for hopefully a new cozy series.  She is your typical mom of two teens who is involved in their school activities.  When the superintendent is found murdered in his office there is a long list of suspects including teachers, parents and town folk.  Ready to make some changes in her life she decides to investigate and gets herself caught up in being the next victim.  I liked her friends and family.  I see potential as she decides to get some training as a PI.  Cindy Muir has created a good mystery with some fun characters.

Book Review
Title: Schooled for Murder
Author: Cindy Muir
Genre: Crime/Mystery/Suspense 
Rating: **
Review: The opening to Schooled for Murder was great we are introducted to our protagonist Laurel who is your average soccer mom who has a degree in journalism she hasn't used for years. She is just going about her normal life when she gets the news that the school superintendent has been murdered and almost immediately her investigative brain kicks in and she wants to know more about what happened. As Laurel learns a tiny bit more about the murder the more intrigued she seems to be and I can already tell that she isn't going to put it down until she knows every single detail about Byron Butler's death. 
As we approach the 1/4 mark in the novel, Laurel uses her connections within the school to secretly find out all the information she can about the murder which seems to have her extremely fascinated, more so than the average person. She evens talks to the local sheriff's deputy Darla for information and she is told that the sheriff's department is being extremely tight-lipped about the murder which Laurel finds very strange and this only heightens her infatuation with the case although I am still unsure what ends this invesitgation meets for Laurel. When we think Laurel has hit a wall in her investigation she is spurred on by the fact that detectives from the Sheriff's office are quietly threatening her for asking these questions and decides to get to the bottom of it as soon as possible despite having no leads or ideas.
As we approach the half way mark in the novel Laurel has a small list of suspects growing and is using every trick she knows in order to gather the information she needs but little does she know there are also people watching her as she invesitgates probably making sure she doesn't dig too deep. Her husband also begins to take a icy view to her meddling which is strange as he has been nothing but lovely until this point. At this point I was thrilled with the novel as the pacing has been slow and not much has happened apart from a few threats so I am hoping that the novel will pick up very soon. As we cross into the second half of the novel Laurel decides to confer with a real PI on the Butler case and she finally feels as though she might get somewhere, but she is now aware she is being followed by the police for some reason which still remains unknown and I have a feeling Laurel might land herself in some real trouble. 
As we approach the 3/4 mark in the novel I was beginning to doubt whether I would finish this novel because nothing has really happened and we over half way through the novel. While Laurel undoubtedly keep gathering intel on the school, community and Butler the story just wasn't going anywhere and I was getting very bored and was just trying to drag myself to the end of the novel. As we cross into the final section of the novel Laurel begins to zero in on Wallance Sanger as the prime suspect because he had a lot of oriential items in his home and had more than enough reason to hate Butler at the same time she is trying to hold the appearance of normal soccor mom and wife. When Laurel finally finds out who the killer is I was totally unprepared for what came next although I kind of suspected that this particular character had some part in the murder. Laurel as I suspected got herself in a jam but George the PI is on his way to her and I hope he finds her in time. 
The ending of this novel was good and I was flying through the pages. Overall though I found this novel to be extremely slow and boring up until the last 20%. If this is your kind of novel then give it a go but for me this was average at best and it felt like the author couldn't think of anything interesting to put in so she just dragged out Laurel's mundane routine for 80% of the book.

This is a fun series. The characters are colorful and the story is well written.
Laurel Franks is a full time mom and volunteer, keeping busy with her daughter's daily activities.

When news of a mysterious death makes it way to Laurel, she can't help but include her sidekick, Sherry.

Nothing can stop these determined ladies.
I am looking forward to the next book.

Schooled for Murder is a great read that won't let you put down the book until you have finished it. If you like eccentric characters and twists and turns, look no further than this book.