Selma Eichler

Review based on a re-read

I read this years ago and remember really liking it, but I think I loved it even more now. Absolutely wonderful and effortlessly amusing, this is a series I’ll definitely be continuing while crossing fingers it stays as good. Seriously the humor is quirky and made me laugh out often. Desiree has a fun outlook on life and she’s not one of those perfect heroines who has stellar IQ. She even admits embarrassment to missing the obvious sometimes.

Desiree is a show more down-to-earth and realistic sleuth with high sympathy and addiction to food. She indulges without apologies and admits to flaws and novice mode in investigations. This is her first murder assignment so she’s out of her league, but relies on some friends in the detective department who she of course pisses off. There are a few side character companions in Desiree’s ring that bring more life to the party.

Pacing is slower for a mystery but that’s fine. Desiree’s niece takes some scenes, including a bizarre love interest twist, but this kind of ties into Desiree’s vulnerabilities later. The pacing isn’t fast paced enough to make this a book that’s impossible to put down, but it’s such a fun thing.

The mystery leads Desiree back and forth through old fashioned detective motions like interviewing the same people after new facts are learned. It’s back to the basics but it works. There are several suspects who I wondered about, and the villain turned out to be a likable person who you kind of hated for it to be.

And of course COVER LOVE. show less

Very cute again. Sometimes it dragged on a few places and I don't get her relationship with Tim who is mainly a jerk, but I love Desiree and her investigating. She has a natural self-awareness about her that makes her more "real". The meddling in her niece's love life was cute. It feels slightly unresolved with the villain for some reason, but the mystery was complicated, tragic, and interesting.

Quite enjoyable. The bizarre means of murder, I suspect, is a trademark of the series rather than a writer running out of ideas, and the whole thing held together well, with even a sad ambivalence in the ending reminiscent of some of Sue Grafton's stories. Another trademark is the focus on the personal life of the detective. I was able to deal with her trying to sort out her niece's love life, but the continual detailing of which of her friends she went to the movies with and how they show more disapproved of her life got old after a while. But enjoyable overall. show less

Murder Can Upset Your Mother is one of those mysteries where in the beginning no one has any possible motive to commit the murder, but by the end everyone could have and probably should have done it. It was virtually impossible to figure out who the murderer was, even though the clues were completely laid out for you. The mystery was entertaining with many secrets revealed and a couple of really surprising twists.

Unapologetically full-figured private investigator Desiree Shapiro is smart, show more sassy and always wants to see the best in people. I enjoyed the character and loved her self-acceptance, but the almost constant descriptions of her every meal got to be a distraction from the story. I appreciate that she isn't going to starve herself to become a socially acceptable size, but I didn't need to know exactly what she ate every time she ate something.

Desiree considered eating eggplant parmigiana for a moment at one point in the story. She didn't actually cook it or eat it, yet the recipe was included in the back of the book. I found it a little strange, but maybe it was an attempt to appeal to culinary mystery fans.

Murder Can Upset Your Mother is the 8th book in the series, but wouldn't be confusing if read as a stand-alone mystery as I did. I would definitely recommend Desiree Shapiro to cozy mystery fans but they find them difficult to find as some of the earlier books appear to be currently out of print. If you do manage to come across them, check them out. show less