Maggie McDonald is one busy lady. She's a wife, mother and business owner. She's a professional organizer and her current client is Stanford Professor Lincoln Sinclair. He's planning to sell his Victorian home when he marries Sarah Palmer, but murder changes all that. Sarah is found dead in Linc's house. Who killed her and why? Maggie won't rest until she finds the truth. I liked her. She's a good person with a loving heart. Her family is the center of her world. Her husband, Max, is always there to help her. I enjoyed their relationship as well as their values. I was drawn into this mystery because I cared for these characters. I thought Orchard View was such a sedate town that I didn't expect so much criminal activity. The action was non stop and there were unexpected twists and turns. I enjoyed catching up with familiar characters from the first book in this series as well as their pets. I must say the ending was a surprise. I never saw it coming. Mary Feliz has a great writing style. Her characters are likeable, the dialogue is natural and the mystery is suspenseful. I'm looking forward to the next book in this series.
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader copy of this book.

Scheduled to Death by Mary Feliz is the second book in A Maggie McDonald Mystery series. Maggie McDonald is a professional organizer. After recently moving to Orchard View with her husband and two kids, Maggie started Simplicity Itself Organizing Services. Her latest client is the very absentminded Professor Lincoln Sinclair, who is marrying local school librarian, Sarah Palmer. Maggie has an early appointment with Linc to finish the decluttering process. Tess Olmos, Linc’s realtor, has tagged along to check the progress Maggie has made. Tess is using Linc’s home for her annual holiday home showcase. Linc arrives late after working all night in his university laboratory on a new idea. They head upstairs to look at Linc’s workroom which is the last room to be completed in the house. The three of them head upstairs and are shocked to find Sarah on the floor. She is laying in a pool of water with her hand clutching a frayed electrical cord. They contact 911 and await the police. Unfortunately, Detective Jason Mueller is out of commission with a broken leg, and Acting Detective Lt. Gordon Apfel is in charge of the investigation. The detective is quick to point the finger at Linc (he is not known for his work ethic or intelligence). Maggie will not let this man railroad the professor. Join Maggie in her search for Sarah’s killer in Scheduled to Death.

Scheduled to Death is easy to read and can easily be a stand-alone book. The author provides the needed background information on the main characters and a summary of what happened in Address to Die For. The mystery was intriguing, but most readers will be able to identify the culprit long before the reveal. I give Scheduled to Death 3.5 out of 5 stars. I have to admit that I did not enjoy Scheduled to Death as much as Address to Die For (first book in series). I was not fond of the addition of Acting Detective Lt. Gordon Apfel. I found him to be rude and inept as well as distracting to the storyline. Maggie was a little manic in this book. She was constantly running around doing tasks, helping others, or making meals (she was always over scheduling herself). I believe that A Maggie McDonald Mystery series has potential. With a little tweaking, it can be a very good cozy mystery series.

Enjoyable cozy mystery. Interesting characters. Only because other reviewers have mentioned the other book will I say that I did prefer the first one. This one is good, but there were things I enjoyed more in Address to Die For. I do look forward to reading more by this author.

**My review will run on my blog at www.myinterdimensionalchaos.blogspot.com on Jan 13th. I will post a link to the review once it goes live. It is already posted to Goodreads.**

As a disorganized person struggling to reform, I feel drawn to the Maggie McDonald Mystery series, mostly because the main character is a professional organizer. The idea of a highly organized person as an amateur detective is intriguing. Plus, I figure I might pick up a few organizational tips while reading.

Scheduled to Death is the 2nd book in the series. I haven't read the first book yet, but there is enough background information sprinkled in with the new plot to easily figure out the different characters and enjoy the mystery. Maggie is building her new professional organizing business. She's helping a professor organize his life. Linc wants to get married, but he's got to clean up his act first. Maggie arrives one bright cheerful morning to help him continue his progress, only to find something much worse than a messy desk. Linc's fiance and Maggie's good friend, Sarah, is dead on the floor. Something isn't quite right about the situation. Maggie finds herself teaming up with local police to find out what caused Sarah's death.

Each chapter of the book opens with an organizational tip from Maggie - a nice extra touch. The pace of the story is spot-on, and the subplots (organization, community gardening, etc) don't overwhelm the mystery. In fact, the organizational background of the main character helps to further the plot, rather than getting in the way of it. Romance is not a distraction in this cozy. Maggie is happily married with teenage children. I like all of the side characters. It's interesting to see how Maggie handles being friends with a suspect and the investigating officers. The way they all come together to help each other solve the case is another refreshing change from formula cozies where the police continually warn or even threaten anyone who tries to investigate. Nice change! While reading, I found myself continually thinking if the characters were real people they would be enormously enjoyable as friends.

All in all, a great cozy mystery! There were plenty of suspects and interesting clues. The idea of community gardening is intriguing. I'm glad that was a subplot intertwined with the mystery. The organization tips were helpful and I'm going to try to implement some of the suggestions.

Scheduled to Death will be released by Kensington on January 17th! Organized or disorganized, cozy mystery lovers will enjoy this one!

A third Maggie McDonald Mystery, Dead Storage, is coming out in July!

**I voluntarily read an Advance Readers Copy of this book provided by Kensington via NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

This second book in the Maggie McDonald Mystery series continues in the great tradition of the first. Mary Feliz has drawn characters that are realistic, likeable and memorable. Maggie's mourning for her dear friend is translated into an unstoppable desire to find out who was responsible for her death. This focus puts Maggie and others in great danger in a believable mystery with a satisfying outcome. I look forward to more in the series with great anticipation.

Mary Feliz's second Maggie McDonald mystery is one that will keep you guessing, even though it's saddled with the ubiquitous vile-tempered, dumb cop. (Luckily, he's shuffled off to the shadows rather quickly.) I'm still very impressed with Maggie. She's calm under fire, she's caring, smart, and level-headed. In other words, she's a "Mom," and the best kind of mother there is.

The author has created a first-rate cast of characters, so much so that-- although I enjoyed getting to know more about Maggie's husband Max-- I missed the interactions with her sons and her best friend. I know everyone in the cast can't be in the spotlight all the time, but these characters are so good that I just get greedy.

Scheduled to Death may have a good mystery, a very good car chase scene, and a fine cast of characters, but Feliz also takes the time to deal sensitively with other issues like homeless children and the world of academia. These topics are woven into the story to give it even more depth and texture.

If you're on the lookout for a good cozy mystery series to read, you know what I'm going to say. Give Mary Feliz's Maggie McDonald series a try with the first book, Address to Die For before you move on to this one. I think you'll enjoy the characters as much as I do.

Book 2 in the series.

I have to be up front and admit I didn't quite like this book as much as I liked the first one. The inept and frankly nasty, police detective who replaced Jason after his accident was completely unlikable and annoying. Not to mention, distracting.

I still enjoyed the story, but Detective Awful pulled me out of it more than he moved the story along and it got to the point where any time he showed up, I skipped ahead.

It was still a fun, fast moving story, with Maggie and Co. figuring out the real killer and tying up a few other interesting little side-plots.

Setting: Orchard View, California; Silicon Valley

Characters: Professional organizer Maggie McDonald and her husband, Max; Professor Lincoln Sinclair and his fiance, Sarah; Community garden organizer Boots and two of her helpers, Santana and Ketifa; Police detectives Gordon Apfel, aka Detective Awful, and Paolo Biancchi

Plot: After meeting Linc at his home to continue their work together, Maggie discovers a horrible sight in the upstairs office: Sarah's body. When it looks like Detective Awful is ready to hang the blame on Linc and call it a day, Maggie dives into an investigation of her own. As she struggles to organize all the pieces of the puzzle, she is pulled into an apparent domestic violence situation with a few of the volunteers at the community garden. The more Maggie investigates, the more danger she is in. But she is determined to find out exactly what happened to Sarah and keep her new young friends safe.

Pacing: Steady. The plot develops at a pace that keeps readers interested.

Predictability: Low. I had my suspicions along the way, but learning the truth of who was behind Sarah's murder - and the motivation to harm her - I was quite surprised.

Wild Card: Loved the inclusion of the issue of youth aging out of foster care. It's one that deserves a lot more attention so that we can support vulnerable youth. I also enjoy the organizing tips included at the open of each chapter.

Hit, Miss, or Draw? Hit!

Scheduled To Die
A Maggie McDonald Mystery, Book #2
Mary Feliz
5 Stars

Synopsis:

Professional organizer Maggie McDonald has a knack for cleaning up other people’s messes. So when the fiancée of her latest client turns up dead, it’s up to her to sort through the untidy list of suspects and identify the real killer.

Maggie McDonald is hoping to raise the profile of her new Orchard View organizing business via her first high-profile client. Professor Lincoln Sinclair may be up for a Nobel Prize, but he’s hopeless when it comes to organizing anything other than his thoughts. For an academic, he’s also amassed more than his share of enemies. When Sinclair’s fiancée is found dead on the floor of his home laboratory — electrocuted in a puddle of water—Maggie takes on the added task of finding the woman’s murderer. To do so, she’ll have to outmaneuver the suspicious, obnoxious police investigator she’s nicknamed “Detective Awful” before a shadowy figure can check off the first item on their personal to-do list — Kill Maggie McDonald. (Goodreads)

Review:

Maggie is a hard worker who has her hands full running her business and raising her family. She really does not have much time for anything else, but when her customer is accused of killing his fiancee, she has to try to solve the crime before an innocent man is sent to jail. It is a good thing that she is so organized.


The writing style flows smoothly and the book is an easy read.
The author is very talented in her descriptive writing and I felt as though I was right there, listening to conversations taking place and watching the action taking place all around me. The mystery was well plotted and carried on throughout the entire book. There are many suspects to consider and enough clues, twists and turns to keep the reader guessing. I did not figure out the killer until it was revealed at the end.

The characters are well developed and well rounded. I thought Maggie and her husband were great people and they have a great marriage. I was a little disappointed that Maggie’s sons were not in the book that much (that was one of my favorite things about book one). The supporting cast of characters added a lot to the story.

I liked the tips that were included at the beginning of each chapter. There were ideas for organizing to ideas for keeping your phone charged to what you should pack in your car for emergencies. I thought these ideas were clever and very helpful.

I would recommend his book to anyone who enjoys a well crafted cozy mystery. I cannot wait to read the next book in the series and see what trouble Maggie finds herself in next.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a honest review. I would like to thank NetGalley and Kensington Books for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This book was amazing, but just a teensy bit darker than I typically like. It was pretty much nonstop action, so the plot never dragged. I haven't read the first book in this series, but I had no trouble following the story.