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jenn

Murder by Death

I read cozy and historical mysteries, a bit of Paranormal/UF, and to mix it up, I read science and gardening books on occasion.

A Chorus Line-up (Glee Club Mystery, #3)

A Chorus Line-Up - Joelle Charbonneau

Once I got past the whole "Glee Club Mystery" theme of this series and picked up the first book, I found a light, entertaining, well written cozy mystery and I've looked forward to the release of each book, in spite of the "Glee Club Mystery" series title.  :)

 

A Chorus Line-up didn't start off strong for me; I had difficulty getting invested in the story.  Mostly, I think, because this is an "away" plot - the whole thing takes place at the Show Choir National Competition in Nashville.  Partly because there's been a love triangle brewing over the previous two books and I hate love triangles.  Not liking one of the romantic interests in this series didn't even help. 

 

The good news is if you don't mind "away" plots this won't be a problem for you at all, and the love triangle gets sorted out by the end of the story.  Thank heavens.

 

Paige is an aspiring opera singer working as a high school show choir coach while she auditions and tries to find her place on the opera scene.  The author does a great job of starting with a bunch of bratty, self-involved kids at the beginning of the series and showing the growth and evolution of those teens, as well as Paige herself, as she realises teaching is not an acknowledgement of failure, but rather something to take pride in.  This realisation does not dampen her scathing snark, thank goodness.  The books are full of great characters and I love how the author has channeled the required over-the-top antagonist into a standard poodle named "Killer".

 

In the midst of this group personal growth, dead bodies abound.  This book is no different, although I'll point out that the author's manipulation of events to involve Paige in the mystery was not her strongest writing moment.  But the murder mystery itself is really well done and I wasn't able to guess the killer.

 

I enjoy this series and it's an example of why you shouldn't judge a book by just what you see on the cover (although I still do exactly that).  I'm glad I gave the series a chance and I'm looking forward to #4, especially as the triangle is no longer!