The latest Maternal Instincts Mystery, Formula For Murder by Diana Orgain is just as much fun as the preceding two installments.
In Formula, Kate Connolly - new mom and private eye extraordinaire - finds herself and baby daughter Laurie smack dab in the middle of another mystery.
It's Christmas time, and Kate is on her way to take her baby Laurie for holiday photos. After being rear-ended at a red light by a car with French Diplomat license plates, Kate decides to pay a trip to the French Consulate to see what she can dig up about the driver of the vehicle. Two news reporters are seen exiting the Consulate, and when one of them soon turns up dead, Kate knows she is on to something no good.
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The Maternal Instincts series is one of my favorite series right now. I love Kate's character, and I love how Diana Orgain incorporates baby Laurie into the story. Being a private investigator who brings her baby with her on stakeouts, etc. is a little over the top, but it definitely works.
Cozy mystery lovers must realize that most cozy mysteries have an element of "over the top"-ness. With cozies, you'll find talking cats and dogs, pet psychics, tea-leaf readers, and the list goes on. But that's half the fun of the cozy.... it doesn't contain blood & guts, and usually has no explicit sex scenes. It just has a fun storyline with a great mystery that needs to be solved.
Kate is a down-to-earth kind of gal who is trying to justify wanting to be a stay-at-home mom in an economy where it is hard to justify, if she is able to be churning out a living. The problem is, she does not want to leave her baby girl with a daycare provider and take the chance of missing all the wonderful "firsts" that come in a baby's first year of development. And who can't relate to that? Wanting to be the best mommy possible, but also wanting to help contribute to the financial stability of the household. It's crossed my mind a few times in the past 16 years!
Formula For Murder ranks right up there with Orgain's two previous Maternal Instincts titles -
I look forward to the next chapter in Kate & little Laurie's madcap adventures.
