The Busy Woman’s Guide to Murder

By Mary Jane Maffini

Paperback, 294 pages, $7.99

Put ‘The Busy Woman’s Guide to Murder’ by Mary Jane Maffini on your summer To Do List, and not only will you enjoy a great story, but also it will also help you organize and unclutter your life. And your home.

As a rather organized person who makes daily lists, I can appreciate Charlotte Adams and her highly-structured life. In fact, I used this one today: Confine your Daily To Do List to top five things you need to accomplish. You’ll get more done than with a rambling, unfocused list. And, as Charlotte predicts —you’ll feel less stress, too.

She also recommends doing what you hate to do first and the rest will seem easier. Try it and you'll agree.

In this fifth installment of the Charlotte Adams mysteries, delightful and detail-oriented Charlotte is preparing for a lecture series at the Woodbridge Library called “A Busy Person’s Guide to Managing Time and Life” — a course all of us could use.
But before her five-part series is complete, Charlotte is pulled into a series of hit-and-run murders that involve the mean girls from her high school days.

As they are picked off one by one, Mona Pringle, one of the town’s 911 operators, thinks she is being framed for the deaths, and Charlotte becomes her personal emergency contact.

While Mona makes her living ensuring that people are helped and rescued when they need to be, now the table’s turned, and Mona needs Charlotte's help.

So along with taking 15 minutes a day to chip away at a large project you’ve been neglecting, take time for yourself and grab this title, which will keep you guessing until the end.

There’s humor, a budding romance with her landlord and, best of all, lots of trips to the fudge store to be enjoyed vicariously. Plus, Charlotte has the chance to annoy the local police force numerous times along the way.

In addition to a fun read, there’s inspiration to tackle the projects you haven’t wanted to face. Could a reader ask for anything more?

Maffini is fast becoming one of my Top 10 favorite cozy authors.

This series just gets better and better so grab them all: ‘Organize Your Corpses’, ‘The Cluttered Corpse’, ‘Death Loves a Messy Desk,’ ‘Closet Confidential,’ and ‘The Busy Women’s Guide to Murder,’ and you’ll have enjoyed five fabulous cozies while gaining wonderful decluttering and organizing tips, too.

Lisa Allmendinger is a regional reporter for AnnArbor.com. She can be reached at lisaallmendinger@annarbor.com. In addition, each Wednesday she reviews a cozy mystery in her column called “Cozy Corner.”