Skeletons in the Closet by Jennifer L. Hart

Via Goodreads

Title: Skeletons in the Closet (The Misadventures of the Laundry Hag #1)
Author: Jennifer L. Hart
Genre: Cozy Mystery
How I got the book: I downloaded it onto my Kindle

Summary (from Goodreads):

Maggie Phillips hasn’t had it easy. As the wife of retired Navy SEAL, and the adoptive mother of two little hellions, Maggie is constantly looking for ways to improve her family’s financial situation. She accepts a cleaning position for her new neighbors (who redefine the term ‘eccentric’), never imagining she will end up as the sole alibi for a man with a fascination for medieval torture devices when he is brought up on murder charges.

While Maggie struggles to prove the man’s innocence, her deadbeat brother arrives, determined to sell Maggie and Neil on his next great scheme and to mooch with a vengeance. If that isn’t bad enough, her in-laws, (the cut-throat corporate attorneys) descend on the house, armed with disapproval and condemnation, for the family’s annual Thanksgiving celebration.

As the police investigation intensifies, Maggie searches for the killer among the upper echelon of Hudson, Massachusetts in the only way she can— by scrubbing their thrones.

Of the porcelain variety, that is…

My Review:

I bought this book on a whim all thanks to BookBub. The was on sale for free and I love mysteries, so I thought I would give it a shot.

Even though the genre is “cozy” mystery, I thought this storyline moved kind of slow. There was a lot of build-up and background up until almost 100 pages in. Then the murder happened.

Granted, it was all information that needed to be said, but I felt as though the process could have sped up a little.

Maggie, the protagonist, was well written. I loved her sharp wit and sarcastic inner dialogue. I could relate to her well because she and I mostly thought alike. Even her husband was a wonderful character. He was very supportive, even though he didn’t necessarily agree with what she was doing. They had a great relationship with one another.

Maggie’s best friend, Sylvia, was a cool character as well. However, she disappeared halfway through the story and didn’t appear again until later. Even then, she was just kind of mentioned. I didn’t like how her part of the book was over, so she just wasn’t needed anymore. I liked her and wished she was able to pop up more.

The overall plot was interesting. I kept guessing who the culprit might have been, not bothering to suspect their suspect. They’re usually always wrong on their first try with these kinds of books.

The actual culprit came out of left field. Once it was all explained, it made sense, but there was no way anyone could guess who it was. The only reason Maggie herself figured it out was because he had revealed himself and tried to kill her while doing so.

Overall, the characters were fun and the plot was easy to follow. I just would have liked a little bit more plot and less background filler in the beginning.

Skeletons in the Closet by Jennifer L. Hart gets 4 out of 5 stars.

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