Review: Skeletons in the Closet

Skeletons in the Closet by Jennifer L. Hart
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3.5 I got this book for free on Book Bub. Generally, I find their offerings to be hit and miss, but I liked this one so much I ordered the box set of the first four books from Amazon and am trying to find a paper version to send to my non-Kindle using mother as I think she would enjoy it as well.

Maggie Phillips is married to a gorgeous retired Navy SEAL and helping to raise his two sons from his first marriage in small town Massachusetts, having relocated upon Neil's retirement from the SEALS. She's happy in her marriage but admittedly wouldn't mind getting out of the house more during the day when everyone is gone. While attending a dinner party, Maggie's best friend "helps" her get a job cleaning the house of the soiree's well-to-do hosts, the Klines. Maggie reluctantly takes the job and ends up the alibi of Mr. Kline after Mrs. Kline is found murdered. Even more reluctantly, Maggie agrees to take on MORE clients as an undercover CI to help the lead detective on the case solve it.

I really enjoyed the character of Maggie and could relate, perhaps a little too well, to the scrapes she found herself in, as well as her sense of humor and sarcasm as she made her way through everyday life. I guessed early on who I thought the killer was going to end up being only to be wrong - as another reviewer said - it was not who you would expect! So that was a nice twist.

I felt the interactions Maggie had with her family were all too real - the characters in this book definitely had human flaws - but I couldn't help but like them. The Phillips seem like people I would want to be friends with.

I did notice a few editing errors, but they weren't bad enough to detract from the overall book, and I did feel it needed to be explained more as to how Maggie came to be "Mom" to Kenny and Josh - is Neil divorced or widowed? Maggie being the only mom the boys knows would imply widowed, but a comment during a fight implied divorced. However, apparently there is a prequel to this book that explains all that. I did find it a bit far-fetched that a housewife would find herself in the middle of a murder investigation in an investigating role, but if Joanne Fluke's cookie baking Hannah Swenson can play cop, why not?

Overall, a fun, quick read with a likable cast of main characters who I am looking forward to visiting again.

View all my reviews