Citizen Insane

If there isn't another book after this I'm going to have to hunt the author down and chain her to a chair and force her to continue writing books. She ends this book with a "The End---Or is it?" How cruel is that?

This is a funny series with well drawn, believable characters and you just know if they were real they would be among your best friends.

An amusing and briskly moving story line keeps you glued to the page and makes this a fairly quick read. The mystery was such that I just didn't see the person 'whodunnit' until they bit me on the butt, so you will be happy to just go with the flow of the story! Very clever!

While you do not necessarily NEED to read the first bookTake the Monkeys and Run: A Barbara Marr Murder Mystery, I highly show more recommend that you do. I still wish I had re-read it before I picked Citizen Insane up just to refresh my memory. show less

http://lilacwolfandstuff.blogspot.com/2011/08/citizen-insane.html

The cover, just like her previous novel, is colorful and quirky. If I saw this as a paperback it would catch my attention. Looks like it is just an e-book right now. But on the bright side it's only $2.99 and worth every penny!

Can you read this if you haven't read Take the Monkeys and Run? Yes! There isn't really much that happened in the first one that she doesn't cover in this one. Like her husband isn't living at home and she explains that with finding out he's an FBI agent their whole lifetime together was thrown under the microscope so she told him that they should start over with dating.

Problem is she misses him dearly and even she thinks she was an idiot for show more suggesting it. Especially when she sees him dining with a hot blonde. And that's all I can say about this plot line. lol

A character from the previous book, Frank, a mobster who hated killing is back. He is free in exchange for helping the FBI and is turning over a new leaf. He is a chef at the yummy Italian restaurant and brings Barb baked Ziti along with an apology. Oh I hope he's here to stay, he's a hoot!

There are a few times in the book that make me laugh so hard (harder than other places) when Karen makes fun of it being a murder mystery. Like Barbara finding her friend missing and a note written in blood, she calls 9-1-1 and laments "why does this keep happening to me!?" And another friend in the story saying "We've become characters in a silly mystery book." Of course Peggy thinks that's great! Those scenes made me giggle.

Well the mystery is that Bunny and Michelle have a fight after a PTA meeting, the only one Barbara has ever attended. And later that night she gets a strange phone call from Bunny begging her to come over. Barb grabs Roz and they make their way over, when suddenly Barb hears a thump. They hit Michelle. Poor Barb thinks she killed her - but that's where the mystery starts. Police are holding Michelle's husband but Barb is certain Bunny did it. So - who done it? Read the book! You won't regret it.

And before I drop the 5 stars on this one I want to say BEST ENDING EVER!!! It made me all fuzzy and warm inside. show less

Enjoyable freebie on kindle. Just a light mindless mystery, but fun characters and a plot that wasn't too predictable. A nice diversion.

Often in a series there is one that is my favorite however thus far I can say that I love them both. We are welcomed by familiar characters and introduced to a few new ones with the same amount of laughs and unexpected twists and developments in the mystery. Another awesome book!

In this sequel to TAKE THE MONKEYS AND RUN, suburban soccer mom and wanna-be online film reviewer Barbara Marr is merely seeking a nice relaxing foot massage at a day spa. She and her good friend and neighbor, Roz, are supposed to go to one together and be pampered. However, a slightly crazy, um, dizzy, um, weird woman named Bunny (yes, really!) shows up in her yard. And she's turning around in circles, muttering to herself.

Now, on top of throwing a kink into Barbara's plans to hit the spa, it doesn't help that Bunny matches this description: "Towering close to six feet tall, she had a Cindy Crawford body and talked all breathy as if she were trying to be sexy, but really it just sounded like she was always on the verge of an asthma show more attack."

Keep in mind that Barbara has separated from her husband, Howard. In the first book, she found out he's an FBI agent and kept it secret from her like forever. Sound familiar? True lies. And she's a film nut, um, buff, um, fan. Get it? Anyhow ...

Also, keep in mind that Barbara has seen Howard with some mysterious blonde in a very nice restaurant. She calls the blonde the Fiorenza Floozy, because that's the name of the restaurant and, well, you know what they say about assumptions ... because Howard does look like George Clooney, after all.

So, Barbara's got a whole lot on her mind. And it's driving her a bit nuts to say the least.

This is creating a communication problem with her teenage daughter, but not (unfortunately) her mother, who insists on showing up at Barbara's door (unannounced) and giving her (honest and unsolicited) opinion (about everything).

Then, to top it off, her friend Roz asks for her help in resolving a problem with the school yearbook. And it involves attending the PTA meeting. Oh, my God!

If you think legislatures and high diplomatic circles are the only places where political games go on, you would be so wrong! Those guys are rank amateurs compared to the ladies of the PTA. And, as with all political games, you never know who's on what side or why.

To read the entire review, see: http://thebookgrrl.blogspot.com/2011/10/things-get-crazy-in-citizen-insane.html show less

Often in a series there is one that is my favorite however thus far I can say that I love them both. We are welcomed by familiar characters and introduced to a few new ones with the same amount of laughs and unexpected twists and developments in the mystery. Another awesome book!

In this sequel to TAKE THE MONKEYS AND RUN Barbara's got a whole new set of problems. In the last book she found out her husband was a secret FBI agent and now she is being pulled into a problem with the year book that revolves around a PTA meeting. Fun reading.