Murder at the PTA

August 23, 2010
Alden's leisurely debut introduces bookstore owner and amateur sleuth Beth Kennedy. The divorced mother of two is plagued by chronic anxiety, but when Agnes, the principal of her children's elementary school, is murdered, Beth digs up some courage and goes hunting for the killer. Given the task of cleaning perishables out of Agnes's home, Beth snoops around and learns of the seemingly staid woman's secret life, and Beth's list of possible suspects lengthens. Alden slips in asides on the difficult lives of Hmong immigrants in Beth's small Wisconsin town, the inanity of gossipy blogs, the hardships of being a single parent and business owner, and the importance of friendship. Readers will like the quirky characters and pop culture references but may chafe a bit at a pace so slow that three chapters go by before Agnes gets around to dying.