Love this series very much. The story is great and the characters are fun and realistic. I enjoyed the myustery very much and I love this author.

What a fun book! I loved everything about it!
Margie is raising two little kids (one who thinks she's a dog) while managing a marriage on the rocks and a new career as a P.I. and babysitting a wayward pig. If that isn't enough, there's a streaker running around the neighborhood wearing a unicorn mask, a handful of drag queens and car explosions, and of course - a dead body.

Funny and well written. It was a pleasure to read each word. Can't wait for more.

I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review

I have to say that this book was a well written book that was a fast read. Margie Peterson is a single mother and a private investigator who is faces everyday problems. Her current assignment is to find out who is stealing the PTA funds at her daughter's school. She has to navigate her boss setting her up on bad blind dates, in-laws, her heath nut mother and her ex-husband and his Madonna cross-dressing lover.

If you want a traditional mystery then this is not the book for you because this book is a laugh out loud mystery. I won't post any spoilers but I will say that the if you want to know if Margie solves the case then you need to read this book.

Mother’s Little Helper is the third book in the Margie Petersen series. Margie went from being a stay at home mom to part time private investigator. In spite of her messy personal life (her husband left her for his madonna impersonator boyfriend, her daughter is struggling with school, her mother has moved in and banned junk food.) Margie shines in the P. I. field. In Mother’s Little Helper, Margie must deal with a streaker, the pitfalls of the PTA at her daughter’s new school and the murder of a personal trainer at the house of one of the PTA moms. Join Margie for another wild ride in this story that is by turns suspenseful, bittersweet and laugh out loud funny.

A fun installment in a unique cozy series featuring Margie Peterson- who has a LOT on her plate. As with all cozies, sometimes events stretch credulity and here sometimes the madcap is a bit much but this is the sort of novel you'll like as a diversion. It's entertainment. Margie's family with all their quirks are very real (who doesn't know a kid like hers?) as are the PTA problems. THanks to Netgalley for the ARC. If you haven't read MacInerney before, this is a good place to start and you'll be fine with this as a standalone.

This is a book that had me laughing out loud as Margie works on her latest case. Only Margie would be looking for a guy wearing only a sock, working on a PTA case, solving a murder and going on dates that Peaches has set up for her.

This is a fast-reading book that I didn't want to put down. I enjoy the way the 'family' dynamics are evolving with Margie's mom and the in-laws.

I'm already looking forward to the next time that I get to 'visit' Margie.

Wacky adult cozy mystery. When you think it is as crazy as it could possibly be, don't take a drink. That liquid will be shooting out your mouth or nose as you read what occurs next. Yes, there are children, pets, PTA, soccer, but also a gay, soon to be ex-husband with a drag queen boyfriend, a streaker, and more that takes this beyond the typical cozy. An entertaining series.

Mother's Little Helper is the latest, and I think greatest, addition to this series. Margie has come to terms with the fact that her soon to be ex-husband is in love with a female impersonator and is ready to move on. Unfortunately it appears that internet dating and friend recommendations might just not be the change she's looking for. Sure adds entertainment for the reader though.

On the mystery side, Margie gets embroiled in several. The first being the sock clad streaker at the senior center which leads to Margie's daughter's pet pig going missing, and the second being the sudden death of a personal trainer in the bedroom of a fellow PTA member.

Karen MacInerney writes funny cozy mysteries. Her characters are hilarious and react as you or I might if put into the situations that come their way. I always root for Margie and her two kids and hope the kids will soon escape from the organic food preparing grandma. I look forward to each new book as I am hoping Margie will find love or perhaps just have a successful date.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

Margie has an extremely full life. Reeling from a pending divorce from her decidedly gay husband, she is slowly coming to terms with her new single mom status. With the help of a, albeit good-natured, friend who creates a Match.com profile, she is thrust into the dating world, leading to all sorts of problems. Adding fuel to an already skyrocketing flame, her pig-loving daughter has begun to identify with canis lupus familiaris. Margie, quite the resilient one, trudges forward.

Masquerading as a both a bottler and a salon employee, Margie is a private investigator for Peachtree Investigations. It gets quite interesting! Imagine having to track down a flasher with a rainbow tattoo, solve a PTA embezzlement case, AND try to figure out who murdered the hot personal trainer with whom you spent a little too much time with in the bathtub? Did I mention he was dead while you were in the bathtub?

This is truly my kind of cozy mystery! Never have I laughed out loud while reading!

Though this is a cozy mystery, it isn’t your typical one. Sure, there aren’t any gruesome crime scenes; but, there are plenty of adult situations: drag queens, infidelity, and a few sexual insinuations. However, there is a somber takeaway, which is quite timely considering out current political climate. Tolerance and acceptance must become our backbone if we are going to enjoy our short time here and take pleasure in all that life has to offer.

MacInerney created strong, round characters, each of whom literally come to life! With a cleverly developed plot, and plenty of comedy, Mother’s Litter Helper is a winner!

Unfortunately I have met many of the characters in Mother's Little Helper by Karen MacInerney. I laughed out loud in places, yes, it was ridiculous in places, but so is life in upwardly mobile suburbia.. A world where grammar school kids a prepping for the SAT and every soccer player is destined for nationals. Margie Peterson is doing the best she can coping with separation from her cross dressing husband, working as a private investigator, managing home, kids, a wayward pet pig., and the PTA moms. Add a murder, a streaker, battling grandparents, Madonna impersonator, poison diets drinks...well you get the picture. I read this book in exchange for a review and laughed my way through it.

I loved this book. Margie is portrayed as a typical mom, attempting to make every day life as easy as possible.
Unfortunately, Margie's typical day involves family pig Twinkles and a missing fry phone.

Throw in some missing PTA money and a couple of dead bodies and you have the makings of another fabulous book in this well written, original series.

It took a couple of chapters to get into the characters and story of this book but by the end I was keen to read on to see what happened in the end. I liked the humour and the different plot lines within one story. The pig was an amusing add-on! I wonder whether PTAs are really like this in the US? (From a UK reader!)

This is a hysterically funny mystery featuring a single mom who is a PI. I loved the quirky characters and the story line. Very well written.

This book had in me in stitches. The sly humor is a refreshing change. A humorous mystery or a funny mystery, works either way. Will be looking for the other two books in the series.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview the book.

Humorous and Fun Read
Mother's Little Helper is the third book in Karen MacInerney’s Margie Peterson Mysteries series. I enjoyed the author’s humorous and entertaining writing style. The storyline is well plotted and the characters well developed, quirky, and colorful. This is not your typical cozy mystery (some adult language and situations) but it certainly is a fun read.

Margie Peterson lives in Austin, Texas with her two children and mother. She works as an uncertified private investigator but is rather inept, her soon to be ex-husband is gay, her daughter thinks she's a dog and usually will only eat white food but at least she’s no longer drinking and eating from bowls served on the floor, and they have a pet pig. Margie’s employer, Peaches Barlow of Peachtree Investigations, has assigned her to identify a streaker who’s flashing the garden club. Peaches made a profile for Margie on an online dating service and the dates are hilarious disasters. Pansy Parker, Austin Heights PTA president, hires her to investigate missing PTA funds and asks her to join the Austin Heights Elementary school’s PTA and manage the sale of carnival tickets and organize the supply cabinet. Pansy calls in a panic and Margie finds her tied up, and dangling upside down from a Nautilus machine and Tristen Prescott, her ‘personal trainer’, is dead. Mark, her husband, comes home unexpectedly and they move Tristen’s naked body to the guest bathroom. They later transfer him to Pansy’s van so she can “dispose” him somewhere. This isn’t the first time Margie has helped a client get rid of a body. She goes undercover at one of the Pretty Kitten’s waxing salons, to help figure out why it’s suddenly not turning a profit and as an energy drink bottler to find out more information about who might have murdered Tristen. Margie loses her daughter’s McDonald’s fry phone and Twinkles, their pet pig, and Frances Pfeffer holds the fry phone hostage for pro bono PI work.

I received an Advance Reader Copy of this book from NetGalley and voluntarily reviewed it.

Margie Peterson is a Mom, bumbling PI and soon to be ex wife. She has problems on top of problems, but handles everything life throws her way. She's trying to find the person embezzling PTA funds and find a murderer. Margie goes undercover as a body waxer and factory worker trying to find a killer with Lucy Ricardo moments. She also is trying to find a streaker with hilarious results.

Her boss has set her up a dating profile, much to Margie's chagrin. She goes on two dates with disastrous yet hysterical outcomes. Think aging jerk and a sock puppet named Marshmallow. Plus, getting stuck with the check.

She loses her daughters fry phone, that ends up being held hostage, then she loses her daughters pig, Twinkles tying to catch the streaker. To add insult to injury, she runs into her husbands new boyfriend while undercover at a waxing salon.

This book is very entertaining, characters are very real life and down to earth. I was hooked from page 1 and read it in one sitting.

I love the humor in these mystery books. She makes me feel like we're all a work in progress with our own issues. Fun read and mystery.

Mother's Little Helper is the hilarious third book in the Margie Peterson series written by author Karen MacInerney. Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer for the advance copy.