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Rating: 
Summary: Nope. . .too depressing.. .
Review: I was in my mid-30s when I read this one the first time. I thought then that maybe since I hadn't turned 40 myself, that I didn't understand why Susan was crying in the tub or flinching every time someone said something about Volvos being more her style than a sports car. But now that I'm over 40 myself, I really think that she was reacting more to the reappearance of a former rival for her husband's affections than the idea of no longer being 30-something. I do think that Valerie Wolzien did a great job of spreading the guilt and suspicion around. . .but to be honest, the murderer's identity seemed to have come out of left field. I had a hard time seeing where she planted the clues when I read this the second time. It also bothered me that, this being a series, and knowing we'll see these people again, she left so much unsaid and unresolved between Susan and Jed. In the end, when she goes and buys the car that SHE wants rather than the one "he" picked out for her, is that supposed to be the payback for his having hurt her by stepping out with the town tramp? In some ways, not knowing how they dealt with this kind of taints him for me in the subsequent books. When he's all loving and can't do enough for her in some of the later installments, I'm thinking, "You snake. Are you behaving badly again?" So. . .all in all, I just try to pretend this book was never written and enjoy the other ones for the pure fantastic pleasure they are. Don't bother looking for this one if it goes out of print.
Rating: 
Summary: The real cheat is the ending
Review: I wouldn't put this author in my top ten favourite mystery authors, but I enjoyed a couple of her other books. Her prose isn't sparkling, but they're pretty good in-the-tub reading. However, when I reached the conclusion of this one, I nearly dropped it in the bubble bath: the piece of information used to solve the crime is something that the author SPECIFICALLY tells us nobody knew. Because, if anyone had known this piece of information, the story would have ended right there. I re-read the crucial passage three times and every time it was there in black and white: the person who claims at the end to have spotted something is someone who specifically DID NOT.This is otherwise not a bad mystery, and I like the way the author makes you get to like the victim a little, but it's very hard to get past that impossible solution.
Rating: 
Summary: Unlikely ending
Review: Susan Henshaw is back with her friend Kathleen, who was a police investigator in the first book of the series and is now a friend and neighbor, married to a widower named Jerry. Kathleen lets it slip that Susan's husband Jed is preparing for a surprise party for Susan's 40th. birthday. Susan is already depressed by her approaching middle age and the fact that a woman named Dawn, who has had affairs with most of the men in the neighborhood, is back in town. The party becomes really depressing when a dead body shows up and Susan and Jed become murder suspects. There are no end of other people with motives, but the final conclusion is a weak one and the motive is pretty questionable. There are some nice touches, such as Susan's son Chad becoming a hero because of his knowledge of cars, but basically the book falls a bit flat at the end.
Rating:
Summary: Unlikely ending
Review: Susan Henshaw is back with her friend Kathleen, who was a police investigator in the first book of the series and is now a friend and neighbor, married to a widower named Jerry. Kathleen lets it slip that Susan's husband Jed is preparing for a surprise party for Susan's 40th. birthday. Susan is already depressed by her approaching middle age and the fact that a woman named Dawn, who has had affairs with most of the men in the neighborhood, is back in town. The party becomes really depressing when a dead body shows up and Susan and Jed become murder suspects. There are no end of other people with motives, but the final conclusion is a weak one and the motive is pretty questionable. There are some nice touches, such as Susan's son Chad becoming a hero because of his knowledge of cars, but basically the book falls a bit flat at the end.
Rating:
Summary: A fun read
Review: Susan Henshaw's fortieth birthday rapidly approaches and Jed plans a "surprise" party for her with a new car as a gift. Unfortunately the local tramp is found dead in the front seat. Everyone who had an affair with her in the town of Hancock is a suspect including Jed. Susan and Kathleen have to do their best to clear him. Ms. Wolzien has alot to live up to in her novels and this is not up to her usual standards. Her attempted red herrings just turn out to be loose ends. Susan and Jed never once discuss the affair--why--it almost gets him arrested and everyone else in town has told the police and Kathleen about it. This novel seems just sort of tossed together. It is however enjoyable for all that and I am slowly working my way through all her novels.
Rating:
Summary: A fun read
Review: Susan Henshaw's fortieth birthday rapidly approaches and Jed plans a "surprise" party for her with a new car as a gift. Unfortunately the local tramp is found dead in the front seat. Everyone who had an affair with her in the town of Hancock is a suspect including Jed. Susan and Kathleen have to do their best to clear him. Ms. Wolzien has alot to live up to in her novels and this is not up to her usual standards. Her attempted red herrings just turn out to be loose ends. Susan and Jed never once discuss the affair--why--it almost gets him arrested and everyone else in town has told the police and Kathleen about it. This novel seems just sort of tossed together. It is however enjoyable for all that and I am slowly working my way through all her novels.
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