Mother Knows Best

Written by Karen MacInerney

Narrated by Cris Dukehart

Things aren’t going well for private investigator and mom Margie Peterson. Her husband, Blake, is claiming his taste for drag queens is “just a phase.” Her first-grade daughter isn’t fitting in at her new posh elementary school, Holy Oaks Catholic School. And her hippie mother has swept into town and replaced the family’s store of processed foods with seaweed snacks. To top it all off, a late-night phone call from her boss, Peaches Barlowe, has pulled Margie into a very strange murder case, one that involves the Holy Oaks headmaster, George Cavendish. Poor man—he just happened to die in a dominatrix’s pink vinyl wading pool while wearing nothing but Aquaman tights and goggles.

As it turns out, there are a lot of people who might have wanted Mr. Cavendish dead, from his bereaved, betrayed widow to the shady owners of the local strip joint. Not even Margie’s best friend, whose daughter didn’t get into Holy Oaks, is above suspicion. Can the overtaxed PI solve the case before things get even weirder?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio
• Release date: Mar 15, 2016
• ISBN: 9781511363570

Karen MacInerney

Karen MacInerney is the housework-impaired author of fourteen books, including the Gray Whale Inn series, the Urban Werewolf trilogy, the Dewberry Farm Mysteries, and the Margie Peterson Mysteries. She lives in Austin, Texas, with two children, her husband, and a menagerie of animals. For more on Karen and her work, visit www.karenmacinerney.com.

Reviews for Mother Knows Best

[Geeta Patel · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book was humorous and entertaining. I enjoyed the narrative.

[aztwinmom · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Mother Knows Best is not your typical cozy mystery. Margie works as a private investigator for her boss, Peaches. Her husband is gay, her daughter thinks she's a Pekinese, and she finds the headmaster of her daughter's fancy private school murdered under unusual circumstances. Margie's life is definitely not the average suburban mom's life, but it makes for hilarious reading. I was laughing out loud as I read! Looking forward to the next installment featuring Margie and her friends.

[kris_anderson-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Mother Knows Best by Karen MacInerney is the second book in The Margie Peterson Mysteries series. Margie (Marigold) Peterson is an assistant detective at Peachtree Investigations owned by Peaches Barlowe. Margie gets a late night call from Peaches. She needs some assistance and gives Margie an address. The headmaster of Holy Oaks Catholic School (Margie’s daughter, Elsie just started going here), George Cavendish is dead in a wading pool at the apartment of a lady of the evening (get my drift). Peaches needs Margie’s help in moving the body (Peaches owes a favor which is why they are doing this task). Margie is shocked to find George in Aquaman tights and goggles (trust me you do not want to know why). They get the body moved, and Margie hopes that will be the end of it (hope they did not leave anything behind). Unfortunately, Margie’s best friend, Becky Hale becomes a prime suspect (thanks to Margie). Now Margie needs to prove her friend’s innocence or admit to moving the dead guy. This turns out to be the least of Margie’s problems. Her husband, Blake has decided to take a Journey to Manhood course. It helps a man discover his “manhood” (he is attracted to drag queen’s) and wants Margie to participate by joining the female group (I know what my answer would be). Also, Margie’s mother is visiting (surprise). She cleans out Margie’s house of all the foods that are bad for you (the one’s that taste good) and exchanges them for items no child will touch (items with no sugar and are oddly colored). Buckle up and hold on! Margie is in for a lively time.Mother Knows Best reminded me of a screwball comedy. Lucy and Ethel would have been right at home (if you do not get this reference you need to watch more late night television). I just thought there was too much nonsense going on. One example is Margie’s daughter, Elsie acting like a dog (goes by Fifi, wears a collar, drinks water out of a bowl on the floor, and will only eat white food). Husband was caught sleeping with a transvestite named Selena S. Mother Knows Best is just not my type of book. If you enjoy this type of comedy, then you will love reading Mother Knows Best. The mystery was extremely simple and easy to figure out. I give Mother Knows Best 3 out of 5 stars. The novel is an easy and quick read. Mother Knows Best can be enjoyed without having read the first book in the series. I received a complimentary copy of Mother Knows Best from NetGalley (and the publisher) in exchange for an honest evaluation of the novel.

[drebbles · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Margie Peterson is a busy mom to two children, including daughter Elsie who is adjusting to a new school as well as insisting she is a dog which means wearing a dog collar and drinking out of a dog bowl. On top of that, Margie also has a job as a private investigator – a job that sometimes requires kidnapping pigs. And then there is her husband Blake who insists his attraction to drag queens is just a phase he is going through. Oh, and her mother is in town determined to change Margie and her family’s eating habits. As if all of this isn't enough, her boss needs her help moving a dead body. Soon Margie is knee-deep in a murder investigation but her snooping puts her, and her family, in real danger.I have to be honest, I almost didn't take “Mother Knows Best” from Vine to read because the description of the plot involving strip joints, dominatrix, drag queens, and Aquaman seemed way over the top. Yet there was something about the description that got to me, so I read the book and I am glad I did. Yes, parts of the book are over-the-top and other parts are laugh out loud funny. In fact, the beginning of the book reminded me of Janet Evanovich but this was much funnier than Evanovich’s recent books. However, underneath the outlandish humor is the very real story of a woman involved in the merry-go-round that life and parenthood is - barely keeping things together, trying to help her children, get laundry done, deal with a loving but meddlesome mother, and work full-time as a private investigator. All of this while dealing with the fact that her marriage may be falling apart. Author Karen MacInerney does an excellent job of blending the humor, sadness, and danger in this book making it a real page turner. The murder mystery is nicely done with a few surprises. I have not read the first book in the series (“Mother's Day Out”) but I intend to as I am now hooked on this series and characters.

[ethel55_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Way more risqué than the normal ‘cozy’ type fare I read. Margie Peterson has a lot on her plate, with her marriage secretly on the rocks while she tries to normalize life for her kids. It’s a fast paced riot--the detective agency she works at shares a building with a Brazilian Wax spa, her hippie mother is throwing out all their boxed food and her poor daughter is having trouble adjusting to a new private school. Naturally, the private school is where all the hoopla begins and the action doesn’t stop until the end.

[darcia_10 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is a comical read, leaning heavily on bumbling antics. While some of the situations did have me chuckling, overall the content was a little over-the-top for my preference.Margie is a fun character. She's an average woman navigating a crazy personal life, while trying to figure out a career for which she clearly has little natural aptitude. The humorous interplay between Margie and all of the people in her life was entertaining, but also left me rolling my eyes at times. Most of the characters are too stereotypical. None of Margie's friends seem to take anything seriously. Her mother is the classic, air-headed, crazy hippie vegan, and feels too much like a caricature. Everything goes wrong, all the time, yet no one shows much serious concern.The plot is an intriguing mystery, with some twists and thought-provoking material. For the most part, I enjoyed the way the story unfolded. My grumbling point comes with the detective and the lack of police involvement. Given the high-profile status of the murder victim, the police would have been crawling all over that school, questioning staff and parents. Yet, the only police activity we see is the occasional appearance of one detective, only to ask a few questions of Margie on a couple of occasions. She is never even brought to the police station or formally questioned. Also, given our society's propensity toward celebrity news and the way details immediately leak out onto news programs and social media, it was absurd to me that, even after the funeral, no one knew the slightest bit about the circumstances surrounding Cavendish's murder. In fact, some of the school staff and parents didn't even realize he was murdered, but thought he might have died of a heart attack. To me, this is totally unrealistic. It would be impossible to conduct a murder investigation in such a close-knit environment without everyone knowing it was a murder investigation.The book is an easy, fast read, with some shining moments and lots of laughs. If you're looking for a comical distraction, and you don't look too closely at the details, then you'll probably love this book.On a side note, this is the second book in the series. I did not read the first book, but I had no problem at all understanding the characters and their situation. The author does an excellent job of weaving enough information from the first book into this one, so that we don't feel we're missing huge gaps of a character's life.*I received an advance ebook copy from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review.*