Murder 101 (Murder 101 Series #1) » (Reprint)

Maggie Barbieri is a freelance textbook editor as well as a mystery novelist. Her father was a member of the New York Police Department, and his stories provide much of the background for her mysteries. She lives in Westchester County, New York.

When a student turns up dead, a professor turns amateur sleuth in the first novel in a sparkling new series from Maggie Barbieri.

"An entertaining debut."—Booklist

Safely outside the New York City limits, St. Thomas College was supposed to promise peace and quiet. Unfortunately, English professor Alison Bergeron has found it to be anything but. She recently divorced a fellow faculty member and, more recently, her car was stolen. Then one evening, she gets a visit from two homicide detectives from the NYPD. The good news is that they found Alison's beat-up Volvo; the bad news is that the body of one of the students in her Shakespeare seminar was in the trunk.

"Spot-on…with wit and verve."—Richmond Times-Dispatch

Now, not only must Alison continue to hoof it to campus (a fate almost worse than death), she's become a prime suspect for a murder she did not commit—and her efforts to clear her name have landed her in hot water with an even hotter Detective Bobby Crawford, who happens to be a former altar boy, and the sinfully suspicious nuns of St. Thomas. All hell's about to break loose if Alison can't find the real killer…before it's too late.

"If you love Agatha Christie, Sue Grafton, and Sara Paretsky, you'll be delighted by Murder 101."—Sheila Curran, author of Diana Lively Is Falling Down

Publishers Weekly

At the start of Barbieri's sparkling debut, Alison Bergeron, a divorced English professor who teaches at St. Thomas, a small Catholic college in the Bronx, is dismayed when her car is stolen, but she's stunned when handsome NYPD homicide detective Bobby Crawford informs her that it has been recovered-with the body of Kathy Miceli, one of her students, in the trunk. Alison becomes a suspect in Kathy's murder, but disturbing incidents like the ransacking of Alison's office help persuade Bobby she's innocent. The sassy banter between Alison and Bobby nicely balances the escalating tension of the murder investigation, which calls into question the integrity of Alison's philandering ex-husband, another St. Thomas professor. Romance, humor and suspense blend perfectly in this exceptional cozy, the first of what hopefully will be a long series. (Nov.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.