Dead Storage: A Maggie McDonald Mystery

Thank you for stopping by today.  Cindy Woodsmall writes The Amish of Summer Grove series.  The third and final book will be published on August 15. It is called Gathering the Threads.  If you have not started the series, check out this BOGO offer from the publisher.  Mary Feliz is the author of A Maggie McDonald Mystery series.  The books in the series are Address to Die For, Scheduled to Death, and Dead Storage.  

Dead Storage by Mary Feliz is the third installment in A Maggie McDonald Mystery series.  Maggie McDonald lives in Orchard View, California with her husband and two sons.  She owns Simplicity Itself Organizing Services.  Maggie is ready to start her new job decluttering Stephen Laird and Jason Mueller’s beautiful Victorian home before they embark on their remodel project.  Jason has been deployed to Texas on an important assignment, but he wants Stephen and Maggie to proceed as planned.  The next morning Maggie arrives and Stephen is not at home.  She notices Stephen’s dog, Munchkin limping towards home without his owner (and they are always together).  While at the vet with Munchkin, Maggie receives a call from Paolo Bianchi, Jason’s partner on the force.  Stephen is in jail and will only speak with Maggie.  After promising to not tell Jason, Stephen tells Maggie the story.  Stephen stumbled upon a murder at the Golden Dragon, and he is considered the prime suspect in the death of Mr. Xiang, the owner.  He has a good reason, though, for not talking to the police.  Stephen needs Maggie to find the culprit before the local prison becomes his permanent home.

Dead Storage is nicely written, has a good pace and easy to read.  I like the author’s writing style.  While it is the third book in the series, it can be read alone.  The details on Maggie’s background and family are in Dead Storage.  Maggie is a good character with an understanding family.  I particularly enjoyed Maggie’s tips at the beginning of each chapter (on storage, organizing, decluttering—i.e. taking care of your junk).  My rating for Dead Storage is 3 out of 5 stars.  The mystery was straightforward (some readers will be surprised).  Avid mystery readers should be able to solve the whodunit before they hit the halfway mark (at the latest).  The ending is a little anticlimactic (disappointing).  It was wrapped up a little too neatly and easily.  While the cozy element is enjoyable, I wanted a more complicated mystery.  It would be nice if it was hard to solve and, maybe, had a good twist (has more meat to it).  The author addressed some serious issues in Dead Storage (PTSD among veterans and the plight of the homeless).   Dead Storage is a good “escape from reality” book.  The type to snuggle up with on a wet afternoon.  

I will be reviewing Two Nights by Kathy Reichs on Monday. I hope that you have a satisfying day. Take care and Happy Reading!

Kris

The Avid Reader