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Professor Molly Mysteries #5
The Blessed Event
Marriage is hard. In-laws can be murder.
"You might wonder what my least-favorite student was doing in my living room. In a twist of fate that might seem hilarious if it happened to someone else, Davison was now my stepson." Professor Molly Barda is looking forward to a quiet summer in Mahina, Hawai`i working on her research and adjusting to married life. But when a visit from her new husband's relatives coincides with a murder, Molly wonders what she's married into -- and realizes she might have a killer under her roof.
"You might wonder what my least-favorite student was doing in my living room. In a twist of fate that might seem hilarious if it happened to someone else, Davison was now my stepson." Professor Molly Barda is looking forward to a quiet summer in Mahina, Hawai`i working on her research and adjusting to married life. But when a visit from her new husband's relatives coincides with a murder, Molly wonders what she's married into -- and realizes she might have a killer under her roof.
- GenresMystery
302 pages, Paperback
Published June 30, 2016
33 people are currently reading
678 people want to read
About the author
Frankie Bow
63 books316 followersLike Professor Molly, Frankie Bow works in higher education. Unlike her protagonist, she is blessed with delightful students, sane colleagues, and an adequate office chair. Frankie writes the Professor Molly Mysteries and licensed novellas in Jana DeLeon’s Miss Fortune World.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 4, 2017
The Blessed Event is a murder mystery with very quirky characters, most of them got under my skin. Part of it was a fun read and part of it was a bit annoying. Worth the read overall.
November 10, 2017
This review can also be found on my blog https://pagesflyingfree.wordpress.com.
Please note I received a free copy of this book through Amazon's Kindle Scout program.
In the fifth installment of the Professor Molly Mysteries series, Molly Barda is a new wife and stepmother to one of her former students. As summer starts at the beginning of this cozy mystery, Molly has big plans for the next three months, none of which involve her new in-laws visiting, missing jewelry, and a murder. As she attempts to navigate these new relations and figure out who left a body behind, she decides it's time to have a baby, soon finding out her stepson has beaten her to the punch. With a house full of new relatives and a baby, a constantly busy new husband, and the task of teaching a bunch of police officers for free, how will Molly have time to figure out who killed her new sister-in-law's ex?
Okay, this is a mystery so let's discuss that first. Wait. Seriously, wait. You wait until about 35% into the book for a dead body to appear. That's right. Over a quarter into the book. Sure, there's a somewhat intriguing theft that occurs earlier on, which is cleared up way too easily and way too late into the book for my tastes. It helps introduce us to the police and Molly's less than happy relationship with her husband's son, but, honestly, I forgot about it until it was solved much, much later. Then, when the real mystery starts, Molly is more interested in navigating around and avoiding her new relatives. I didn't feel there was much detective work going on. Some questions here, some snooping there, but nothing too involved. Sadly, this was a little too light on mystery for me, even for a cozy. I even had to double check the genre, and was simultaneously confused to learn this was book 5, but, sure enough, it is part of a mystery series. I expected Molly to be more invested in the mystery and a little less obsessed with escaping her visitors in order to accomplish her own summer goals. Honestly, by the end, I felt the mystery had been dragged out way too long and the wrap up too sudden and convenient. But maybe I'm missing something. After all, this is book 5 and I skipped the first 4.
Ignoring the mystery, The Blessed Event is the story of a newly married college professor trying to navigate personal and professional relationships and responsibilities. While trying to conceive. With a perpetually busy and exhausted husband. I'll get to THAT later. In particular, I loved the emails from her students. Being married to someone who used to teach college students, I found them to be hilarious and, sadly, not too far off the mark. Molly's life clearly keeps her busy and I don't blame her for wanting to escape. Despite her great friendships with people ready to be there for her, her new relationships with her husband's family are anything but peachy. They are eccentric and I would want to leave, too, but they are her family now and I would expect her to make more of an effort. I was disappointed that these new relationships never really seemed to evolve and Molly never really worked to cultivate them, instead spending too much of the book suspicious of her stepson and trying to escape her husband's family. I did appreciate the impact her profession had on her life and that her relationships and the mystery were framed around it.
For a story that focuses so much on relationships, I expected the characters to be well developed. While they were each unique and distinguishable from each other, they were generally one dimensional. Molly only seemed interested in escaping. Her husband only ever seemed to work. Her friend Emma only served to help Molly whenever Molly needed her. The characters lacked depth and felt stagnant. Which means the relationships lacked depth and felt stagnant. Again, I may be missing quite a lot since I did not read the first 4 books. That aside, I found the characterization of Molly to be particularly annoying. For a professor whose job generally requires effective communication, I expected effective communication. However, she doesn't even communicate well with her husband, snooping into her husband's past instead of asking him about it! Her intense dislike of her stepson also impedes her communication with him, thereby doing nothing to help their relationship. Molly also ends up teaching a group of police officers and has no idea what she is supposed to be doing. On the bright side, Molly is a fast thinker, capable of getting herself out of sticky situations. Finally, Molly is a very passive amateur detective, as though she is only there to tell the story, not going out of her way to solve the crime and fleeing her chaotic home instead of standing her ground. Perhaps this is the author's intent, but , personally, an not a fan.
Another thing that bothered me was the whole pregnancy thing. Having been pregnant with my second child while reading this book, I found much of Molly's efforts to be absurd. For one thing, it all felt a little too rushed. Molly went to see a doctor regarding her inability to conceive way too early. Even at her age women are counseled to try for at least 6 months. There would also be no reason to schedule future appointments unless Molly has some physiological issues that might impact conception. If so, it might have been nice if Bow had written that in. Also, many women choose to wait at least 12 weeks to announce they're pregnant, when the rusk of miscarriage is significantly lowered. People were just asking if she was way too early. I get it may have been a reminder to the reader Molly was trying, but surely Molly herself could have done that, like by not drinking so much while trying to conceive and actually spending time with an awesome husband at night. Her husband always seemed to be sleeping or too tired when he was home. So I ask: how on Earth did Molly get pregnant? And what kind of mother will she be considering her stepson's child only seemed to annoy her?
While it seems like I hated this book, it was actually saved by its setting. Hello, Hawaii? And not touristy Hawaii. No, Now took us to the Hawaii the residents know. I admit I had a hard time visualizing a lot of it, but I appreciated the authenticity. The language, while it could have used some translation, felt authentic and was used naturally. The food sounded delicious. It felt like it could have been anyone's home anywhere in the States, but there are constant reminders that this is Hawaii, the side you see when you live there or go off the beaten path. I loved that it was Hawaii, but did not read like a traveler's guide.
I was very pleased that the writing was nice sand clean. There were a few errors, but nothing that really detracted. It got a little confusing a few times about who said what, but I got over it. There was a nice blend of story and information that needed to be related to the reader. Overall, it was a very pleasant book I was able to read aloud to my toddler at bedtime. The generally error-free writing also helped bump this book up to a 3, otherwise I clearly had problems with the story and characters.
Bottom line: read the first 4 books first, otherwise this was an okay book and I'm pretty sure I was missing out on some important information that was not provided in this book. Since this book is actually listed as being a satire, I suppose everything makes sense, but it makes the mystery weak, the relationships ridiculous and annoying, and Molly herself a caricature of a female amateur sleuth who could have been stronger and more interesting (and liked by this reader).
Please note I received a free copy of this book through Amazon's Kindle Scout program.
In the fifth installment of the Professor Molly Mysteries series, Molly Barda is a new wife and stepmother to one of her former students. As summer starts at the beginning of this cozy mystery, Molly has big plans for the next three months, none of which involve her new in-laws visiting, missing jewelry, and a murder. As she attempts to navigate these new relations and figure out who left a body behind, she decides it's time to have a baby, soon finding out her stepson has beaten her to the punch. With a house full of new relatives and a baby, a constantly busy new husband, and the task of teaching a bunch of police officers for free, how will Molly have time to figure out who killed her new sister-in-law's ex?
Okay, this is a mystery so let's discuss that first. Wait. Seriously, wait. You wait until about 35% into the book for a dead body to appear. That's right. Over a quarter into the book. Sure, there's a somewhat intriguing theft that occurs earlier on, which is cleared up way too easily and way too late into the book for my tastes. It helps introduce us to the police and Molly's less than happy relationship with her husband's son, but, honestly, I forgot about it until it was solved much, much later. Then, when the real mystery starts, Molly is more interested in navigating around and avoiding her new relatives. I didn't feel there was much detective work going on. Some questions here, some snooping there, but nothing too involved. Sadly, this was a little too light on mystery for me, even for a cozy. I even had to double check the genre, and was simultaneously confused to learn this was book 5, but, sure enough, it is part of a mystery series. I expected Molly to be more invested in the mystery and a little less obsessed with escaping her visitors in order to accomplish her own summer goals. Honestly, by the end, I felt the mystery had been dragged out way too long and the wrap up too sudden and convenient. But maybe I'm missing something. After all, this is book 5 and I skipped the first 4.
Ignoring the mystery, The Blessed Event is the story of a newly married college professor trying to navigate personal and professional relationships and responsibilities. While trying to conceive. With a perpetually busy and exhausted husband. I'll get to THAT later. In particular, I loved the emails from her students. Being married to someone who used to teach college students, I found them to be hilarious and, sadly, not too far off the mark. Molly's life clearly keeps her busy and I don't blame her for wanting to escape. Despite her great friendships with people ready to be there for her, her new relationships with her husband's family are anything but peachy. They are eccentric and I would want to leave, too, but they are her family now and I would expect her to make more of an effort. I was disappointed that these new relationships never really seemed to evolve and Molly never really worked to cultivate them, instead spending too much of the book suspicious of her stepson and trying to escape her husband's family. I did appreciate the impact her profession had on her life and that her relationships and the mystery were framed around it.
For a story that focuses so much on relationships, I expected the characters to be well developed. While they were each unique and distinguishable from each other, they were generally one dimensional. Molly only seemed interested in escaping. Her husband only ever seemed to work. Her friend Emma only served to help Molly whenever Molly needed her. The characters lacked depth and felt stagnant. Which means the relationships lacked depth and felt stagnant. Again, I may be missing quite a lot since I did not read the first 4 books. That aside, I found the characterization of Molly to be particularly annoying. For a professor whose job generally requires effective communication, I expected effective communication. However, she doesn't even communicate well with her husband, snooping into her husband's past instead of asking him about it! Her intense dislike of her stepson also impedes her communication with him, thereby doing nothing to help their relationship. Molly also ends up teaching a group of police officers and has no idea what she is supposed to be doing. On the bright side, Molly is a fast thinker, capable of getting herself out of sticky situations. Finally, Molly is a very passive amateur detective, as though she is only there to tell the story, not going out of her way to solve the crime and fleeing her chaotic home instead of standing her ground. Perhaps this is the author's intent, but , personally, an not a fan.
Another thing that bothered me was the whole pregnancy thing. Having been pregnant with my second child while reading this book, I found much of Molly's efforts to be absurd. For one thing, it all felt a little too rushed. Molly went to see a doctor regarding her inability to conceive way too early. Even at her age women are counseled to try for at least 6 months. There would also be no reason to schedule future appointments unless Molly has some physiological issues that might impact conception. If so, it might have been nice if Bow had written that in. Also, many women choose to wait at least 12 weeks to announce they're pregnant, when the rusk of miscarriage is significantly lowered. People were just asking if she was way too early. I get it may have been a reminder to the reader Molly was trying, but surely Molly herself could have done that, like by not drinking so much while trying to conceive and actually spending time with an awesome husband at night. Her husband always seemed to be sleeping or too tired when he was home. So I ask: how on Earth did Molly get pregnant? And what kind of mother will she be considering her stepson's child only seemed to annoy her?
While it seems like I hated this book, it was actually saved by its setting. Hello, Hawaii? And not touristy Hawaii. No, Now took us to the Hawaii the residents know. I admit I had a hard time visualizing a lot of it, but I appreciated the authenticity. The language, while it could have used some translation, felt authentic and was used naturally. The food sounded delicious. It felt like it could have been anyone's home anywhere in the States, but there are constant reminders that this is Hawaii, the side you see when you live there or go off the beaten path. I loved that it was Hawaii, but did not read like a traveler's guide.
I was very pleased that the writing was nice sand clean. There were a few errors, but nothing that really detracted. It got a little confusing a few times about who said what, but I got over it. There was a nice blend of story and information that needed to be related to the reader. Overall, it was a very pleasant book I was able to read aloud to my toddler at bedtime. The generally error-free writing also helped bump this book up to a 3, otherwise I clearly had problems with the story and characters.
Bottom line: read the first 4 books first, otherwise this was an okay book and I'm pretty sure I was missing out on some important information that was not provided in this book. Since this book is actually listed as being a satire, I suppose everything makes sense, but it makes the mystery weak, the relationships ridiculous and annoying, and Molly herself a caricature of a female amateur sleuth who could have been stronger and more interesting (and liked by this reader).
May 14, 2017
Baby Making in chaos
Summer is here. Relaxation and starting their family go out the window when step-son/nephew, brother-in-law, sister-in-law and murder all descend on Mahina, Hawai'i. Molly comes home to write and relax after teaching business at the local college all fall and spring, but family problems come crashing down to roost. Gloria's ex escapes jail, stalks Molly and stepson/nephew before falling out a window to his death. This soap opera worth write really pack drama in a funny story that keeps you trapped in the craziness to the end. Great author!
Summer is here. Relaxation and starting their family go out the window when step-son/nephew, brother-in-law, sister-in-law and murder all descend on Mahina, Hawai'i. Molly comes home to write and relax after teaching business at the local college all fall and spring, but family problems come crashing down to roost. Gloria's ex escapes jail, stalks Molly and stepson/nephew before falling out a window to his death. This soap opera worth write really pack drama in a funny story that keeps you trapped in the craziness to the end. Great author!
November 1, 2017
A fun read with quirky characters. I thought it was going to be more of a romance from the title and cover, but it's a murder mystery as well. Molly, an associate professor, bumbles her way through an investigation as an amateur sleuth. It feels more like a comedy than a hard-core mystery; that's not a criticism, just an observation. I liked the change of pace and laughed (or shook my head) at the characters' antics.
June 19, 2018
Another enjoyable book in the Molly Barda series. Although this one had the usual good dialog and quirky, amusing characters, Molly's friends Pat and Emma did not play as substantial a role as usual, and I missed them.
February 6, 2017
This is book 5 of the Professor Molly series of cozy mysteries.
Molly has a new husband that she adores. She also has a new stepson that was one of her worst students ever. So her summer vacation has its ups and downs. It just gets more complicated as more of new husband's family turns up at her house. Plus her stepson announces his engagement. Then things get really weird when a dead body is found and the best suspects are all staying under Molly's roof.
I had a disadvantage reading this story. I had not read any of the earlier books and didn't know any of the characters. It was like going to a party where everyone else has known each other for a few years. No one makes you feel unwelcome but you also feel like you don't really belong either as they share an easy interaction that they have formed over their years of knowing each other. As I read, I felt I was missing something. It also made me have time making a connection with Molly so I can't say I ever grew to like her that much.
The mystery was fairly weak. The body wasn't even found until halfway through the book. Molly did only a minimal investigation. Basically, she kept jumping to conclusions and making wild guesses until she finally hit upon the solution. Even then, her conclusions were based on some faulty reasoning.
While this wasn't a great find for me, I wouldn't go so far as discouraging anyone from trying it. I would recommend starting with the first book in the series though so you can avoid that feeling of having missed something and so you can get to know the characters better.
Molly has a new husband that she adores. She also has a new stepson that was one of her worst students ever. So her summer vacation has its ups and downs. It just gets more complicated as more of new husband's family turns up at her house. Plus her stepson announces his engagement. Then things get really weird when a dead body is found and the best suspects are all staying under Molly's roof.
I had a disadvantage reading this story. I had not read any of the earlier books and didn't know any of the characters. It was like going to a party where everyone else has known each other for a few years. No one makes you feel unwelcome but you also feel like you don't really belong either as they share an easy interaction that they have formed over their years of knowing each other. As I read, I felt I was missing something. It also made me have time making a connection with Molly so I can't say I ever grew to like her that much.
The mystery was fairly weak. The body wasn't even found until halfway through the book. Molly did only a minimal investigation. Basically, she kept jumping to conclusions and making wild guesses until she finally hit upon the solution. Even then, her conclusions were based on some faulty reasoning.
While this wasn't a great find for me, I wouldn't go so far as discouraging anyone from trying it. I would recommend starting with the first book in the series though so you can avoid that feeling of having missed something and so you can get to know the characters better.
July 24, 2016
Mystery wrapped up in laughs, red herrings and craziness! Loved IT!
Laugh out loud, crazy fun with twists and turns. I thoroughly loved Molly and all her quirks! With the summer off from her university teaching position she thought she'd have a fun, relaxing time doing research for her book - publish or perish as the saying goes in academia, enjoying her friendship with Emma another professor at the college who keeps Molly grounded and her handsome husband who wants her to have a baby. YIKES! And then there is her husband's family, her step-son who she has a hard time with, especially when he moves his girlfriend and his baby in with her. AND if that is not enough, her sister-in-law and brother-in-law decide to visit and arrive separately, and stay for a while getting embroiled in a murder investigation which Molly tries to figure out to get her sister-in-law off the hook and here come the red herrings and the twists and turns and craziness together with a lack of sleep from the household, wow are we on a ride!
Laugh out loud, crazy fun with twists and turns. I thoroughly loved Molly and all her quirks! With the summer off from her university teaching position she thought she'd have a fun, relaxing time doing research for her book - publish or perish as the saying goes in academia, enjoying her friendship with Emma another professor at the college who keeps Molly grounded and her handsome husband who wants her to have a baby. YIKES! And then there is her husband's family, her step-son who she has a hard time with, especially when he moves his girlfriend and his baby in with her. AND if that is not enough, her sister-in-law and brother-in-law decide to visit and arrive separately, and stay for a while getting embroiled in a murder investigation which Molly tries to figure out to get her sister-in-law off the hook and here come the red herrings and the twists and turns and craziness together with a lack of sleep from the household, wow are we on a ride!
July 23, 2016
Meet Professor Molly Barda, recently married and on summer break from her tenured teaching position at Mahina State University in Hawaii. The honeymoon is over. The almost grown stepson has moved in, complete with his girlfriend and their new baby. Then her husband's brother-in-law arrives looking for his missing wife, who soon shows up to also be a guest. Before Molly can catch her breath & some sleep, she id's a murder victim who turns out to have ties to her sister-in-law and stepson. This was a fun read with an engrossing plot that had many twists before the final reveal. Molly adores her husband but is a little snarky about the rest of the family members. I enjoyed the characters tremendously and will be going back to read the previous books in this series. Academic life at the college level is always a pitched battle and this is no exception. Combined with the new family members, life is short on sleep!
I received this book from the Kindle Scout Program.
I received this book from the Kindle Scout Program.
December 21, 2019
I confess, I love Molly and Emma. The two friends are quirky and fun. Somehow, they always mange to find themselves in strange and challenging circumstances. Once again, Molly's stepson complicates her life beyond what she could ever imagine. Hawaii plays an important role in this series, and this one is no exception. So, join Molly Barda for another fun adventure.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews