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Overview
On her way to meet her boyfriend’s parents, college professor Alison Bergeron stops by a coffee shop to steel her resolve. It’s a big event. Not only is it the first time she’s met NYPD detective Bobby Crawford’s entire family, but it’s coming on the heels of a wedding proposal that she has left unanswered so far.
Then, as she steps into the shop, a brawl breaks out that ends in the death of Carter Wilmott, a merciless and loathed local blogger. The case couldn’t be any simpler, and Alison witnessed the whole thing, but when Wilmott’s car explodes in the aftermath, what looked to be a crime of passion becomes something far more complicated and maybe even premeditate.
With Alison and Bobby involved in the case and with each other, readers are in for a treat. Third Degree, the latest in Maggie Barbieri’s charming mystery series, is one heated mystery with plenty of steamy romance and cunning villains who are about to get burned.
Editorials
Publishers Weekly
Barbieri's fizzy fifth mystery featuring English professor Alison Bergeron (after 2009's Final Exam) rates well more than a passing grade. At a Westchester County coffee shop near the college where she teaches, Alison bumps into a fistfight between troublemaking blogger Carter Wilmott and his arch enemy, George Miller. The police burst onto the scene just as George hits Carter in the head, knocking him to the floor. A cop administers CPR to no avail. Alison and her NYPD detective boyfriend, Bobby Crawford, believe it's a slam-dunk case of manslaughter, until disturbing events persuade them otherwise. If George's blow didn't kill Carter, some arsenic in his body might have. Meanwhile, Alison has to worry about the threatening notes she starts to receive and the disappearance of her school chaplain friend, Fr. Kevin McManus. Some punchy plot twists catapult the action to a satisfying reveal. (Dec.)From the Publisher
Praise for Maggie Barbieri’s Murder 101 Mysteries“The secret to a good mystery series is an appealing character. . . . Maggie Barbieri came up with a winner in her first book, and her amateur sleuth, Alison Bergeron, is still provoking laughs and sympathy in the fourth entry, Final Exam. . . . Barbieri aces this exam.” —-Richmond Times-Dispatch on Final Exam“Cute and cozy . . . Barbieri, the daughter of an NYC cop, has a nice, light touch with a procedural. ”—- New York Daily News on Final Exam
“Mystery, romance, and humor blend seamlessly. . . . Reminiscent of the Plum series, this one is not to be missed.”—-RT Book Reviews (Top Pick!) on Quick Study
“Bergeron’s romantic trials and fashion sense are comparable to Sara Paretsky’s V.I. Warshawski. . . . Extracurricular Activities will find a home with readers of chick lit and cozy mysteries alike.”—-The Tampa Tribune on Extracurricular Activities
“A romantic ending and the furthering of a girlfriend bond that we hope to enjoy in murder mysteries to come.”—-More on Murder 101
Kirkus Reviews
A professor stumbles on yet another dead body while wondering whether to get married.
August certainly is the cruelest month for Alison Bergeron (Final Exam, 2009, etc.). Haunted by memories of her mother's death, she drags herself back to her office at St. Thomas University to interview prospective English majors whose grasp of the language is even more tenuous than her own. (In addition to using the now-ubiquitous "comprised of" and substituting "prone" for "supine," she notes that her best friend "found my screaming to be a serious affront to her delicate olfactory function.") Her closest colleague, Father Kevin McManus, is missing in action. And when she goes to get a cup of dreadful coffee from Beans, Beans—Dobbs Ferry's answer to Starbucks—she steps into a fistfight between blogger Carter Wilmott and George Miller, head of the village's Department of Public Works. One punch from the burly trash man wipes Wilmott off the Web for good, and the cause of death seems so obvious that the police don't even bother investigating the bomb that incinerates Wilmott's car minutes after his demise. Ginny, Miller's wife, begs Alison to lie about the fatal blow, but Alison, a veteran corpse-magnet, decides to investigate instead, seeking any distraction that can prevent her from giving her gorgeous, attentive boyfriend, the NYPD's Bobby Crawford, a straight answer to his marriage proposal.
The only mystery in Barbieri's fifth is why Alison keeps drinking coffee she hates but can't commit to the man she loves.