Great first book in a new series. I liked how the two main sleuths didn't appear like they would work well together and yet I enjoyed their chemistry. I liked how online rumors fueled the story and I liked how the author described all the characters and the setting. I recommend this book and look forward to future books in this series

Lee Hollis is a new to me author and i loved this book! I highly recommend this author. He is now at the top of my TBR pile!!

Murder at the PTA by Lee Hollis is the first book in the cozy Maya and Sandra Mystery series. As with most cozy mysteries the Maya and Sandra Mystery series is one that has a fully solved murder within the book so it can be read as a standalone if choosing to do so. There will be of course character development that carries over from book to book if reading from the beginning.

The Maya and Sandra Mystery series is a little different than your average cozy in the fact it has two lead characters and changes the point of view between them to give both sides to the story. Sandra Wallage is a housewife and the PTA president that is married to a scandalous politician. Maya Kendrick is a private investigator that has a huge workload with her partner being pregnant and close to giving birth.

Sandra’s husband is the latest victim of a gossipy website called Dirty Laundry outing him as a cheater. As Sandra is trying to pull herself together from the news she runs into Maya at the school and wonders why she is there so she follows her. Both women then discover the body of the woman running the Dirty Laundry website and find themselves caught up in just who killed her.

After beginning the Maya and Sandra Mystery series I thought to myself this is going to be one that is either a hit or miss with readers. The series is a cozy with some humor but along with having two characters it’s also a little different in being a little darker than your normal cozy. Personally I did enjoy the changes to the norm and liked reading this first book of the series. With one character your regular joe jumping into investigations and the other a trained detective I found this a great combo and look forward to returning.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

I am a huge cozy mystery fan, but this one was not the best. The premise was interesting, but all of the characters felt very haphazardly thrown together to me. I think that the pairing of Maya and Sandra has a lot of promise, and I would be interested to see what future books bring.

This was a nice start to a new series. I liked the school/PTA setting as something I could relate to. It's not just kids that run private websites full of rumors, but PTA president Sandra finds herself the target this time. With the help of fellow mom Maya, the two discover the body of the rumor monger, the mystery begins.

This is a cozy mystery, and it is the first book in the Maya and Sandra Mystery series. This book was really about how Maya and Sandra became friends. I feel this book was just a lot of character building which is what a lot of first books in a series are. I felt the mystery part was ok, and I did not guess the big twist. I think the second book can be really good. I give it 3 stars because I do not love books that mainly about building characters friends and developing characters. Again I know first books are like that. I see great things coming for this series. I will carry on reading this series. I was kindly provided an e-copy of this book by the publisher (Kensington) or author (Lee Hollis) via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review about how I feel about this book, and I want to send a big Thank you to them for that.

Just as Sandra is about to step up to the podium and preform her first task as Pta president a scandal rocks her world. He Senator husband is accused of having an affair in the schools underground newsletter. She enlists the help of a a former classmate, Maya to find the person behind the poison pen. When they go to confront the the culprit they find her dead body.

The police declare the death a suicide. Maya however believes that it is murder. Maya does not need or want Sandra's help. Sandra needs to be a part of the investigation as she deals with the fall pout from her troubled marriage. Both of these ladies have marriage issues which allows them to bond.

The couple find more common ground as they run the clues to ground. It is a simple story which is quick read. Think beach read.

I absolutely love cozy mysteries but unfortunately I didn't enjoy this one. I found the writing to be too simplistic (even for a cozy.)

Sandra is used to politicking as the wife of a junior senator, what she is not used to is public speaking which she must do as the president of the PTA. Just as she is about to be done with her speech the entire room looks down at their phone to get an alert from the salacious gossip site Dirty Laundry SoPo HS, which keeps all the town up to date on the South Portland's High School's most nefarious members. To make matters worse the gossip for that day's alert has to do with Sandra's own husband. Maya is a struggling private detective whose daughter goes to SoPo high, when cases dry up Maya get hired by her daughter to investigate who exactly is proprietor of the website since it is negatively impacting her secret boyfriend's life. Both Maya, through contacts from her time at the police department, and Sandra, through serendipity... okay from following Maya, are able to track down The Dirty Laundry's owner, the only problem now is that person is dead.

Murder at the PTA is a really good contemporary cozy mystery replete with relatable characters with interesting backstories and a good murder mystery. If you are a traditional cozy mystery lover where the novel takes place in a quaint bucolic countryside with eccentric characters, and protagonist who never experience the dangers of sluething then this Murder at the PTA may not be your cup of tea. But if you are open to a modern spin on a timeless mystery sub-genre with likable characters, discussion of mature topics (such as drug use, teen sex, and police corruption) as well as a solid storyline, then I strongly suggest picking this one up, it is the first book in the Maya & Sandra mystery series. I really enjoyed it 4.25 stars.

This is such a fun series, and I had a great time with this cozy mystery. I loved the plot, the twists and turns, and the characters! Lee Hollis is a fantastic cozy author, and I recommend her books to so many readers.

Sandra Wallage, the wife of United States Senator Stephen Wallage, has been elected the President of the PTA at the high school where her two sons attend, however, there doesn't appear to be smooth sailing ahead since not only has the local scandal sheet, The Dirty Laundry, targeted the Senator, but there seems to have been a murder at the school as well.

Sandra teams up with Maya, a former high school classmate/retired cop, to try to get to the bottom of who and why the Dirty Laundry is attacking.

The pace was very slow at the beginning, not sure if it was related to introduction of the characters or connecting everyone involved. A few fewer characters may have helped.

This is not the first Lee Hollis book I have read, but I now have another series to follow. I enjoyed the characters in this book. Just when I thought I figured out the mystery, a twist threw me for a loop!

Murder at the PTA: A Maya and Sandra Mystery

By Lee Hollis

Kensington

September 2019



Review by Cynthia Chow



Newly elected South Portland High School PTA President Sandra Wallage doesn’t even manage to finish her inaugural meeting before it is interrupted by a barrage of phone alerts from the school gossip site Dirty Laundry. As much as Sandra would want to serve as an example by ignoring the lurid, innuendo-filled site, that’s going to be impossible considering the latest post announcing a U.S. senator’s sex scandal cover-up. A senator who happens to be Sandra’s very own husband, Stephen Wallage. While he is adamant that the accusation is false and that everything will all blow over soon, Sandra can sense looks of suspicion cast her way while her teenaged sons get into fights at school defending the family honor. As luck would have it, one of Sandra’s own former high school classmates is also on the trail of the online trouble-maker, and as a former police officer-turned-private investigator, Maya Kendrick is close to tracking down the source. Too bad that Maya’s suspect is dead before a confrontation can be made, especially when it is Sandra who coincidently stumbles into the discovery of the body. Both Sandra and Maya question the investigating detective’s proclamation of an open-and-closed case, but the last thing Maya wants at this point is Sandra’s help. Maya already has a partner in their private investigation business, although Frances Turner’s eighth month of pregnancy means that she’s not the best candidate for night-long stakeouts. Maya realizes that taking along her teenaged daughter instead isn’t much of a better option, but at least it allows them to have a little mother-daughter bonding time as they wait out cheating spouses together.



Hired by the victim’s sister to prove that the death was not a suicide, Maya convinces a very reluctant Frances that Sandra has the social connections to give them inside access to the case. Sandra is determined to take on a more hands-on approach than they would like, considering that she is willing to use an inappropriate Halloween costume to confirm alibis by infiltrating some Ladies of the Night. When not embarrassing their children or preventing possible teenaged pregnancies, Sandra and Maya tentatively agree to share information to solve the murder of an Internet vigilante.



Not since Lethal Weapon’s Riggs and Murtaugh – or perhaps Turner and Hooch – has there been such a delightfully different detecting duo. During high school Sandra was a ponytailed cheerleader, the good-girl whom the cigarette-smoking Maya cheated off of during their Chemistry class. What they both share are husbands whose misdeeds disrupt and jeopardize the future of their families. Maya’s career with the police was cut short when her husband was convicted of corruption within the department, while the Senator’s salacious scandal has reporters clamoring at their doorstep and school administration pressuring her to resign. This new series by the brother and sister writing team of Rick Copp and Holly Simason delivers so many unexpected plot twists and turns that readers will be kept at the edge of their seat and anticipating the next hilarious surprise. Maya and Sandra each must deal with sexism and misogyny, along with the normal challenges facing the parents of hormonally-driven teenaged children. That they do so with humor, cleverness, and love only makes them more relatable and eminently likable. These authors continue to be at the top of their game as they introduce these strong, vulnerable, and very funny women.

I really loved this first book in a new to my series and author. I can't wait to read the next one. The characters and location really add to the plot. This book keeps you guessing until the end.

Murder at the PTA by Lee Hollis
Book #1: Maya and Sandra Mystery
Source: NetGalley and Kensington
Rating: 3/5 stars

**MINI REVIEW**

The Bottom Line: With as many series out there as there are within the cozy mystery genre, a book has to really jump out and grab me in order to keep me coming back for more. I can’t say I disliked this book, but it also didn’t offer me much that I can’t get from other authors that I, quite frankly like more. Neither Maya nor Sandra are particularly stand-out characters and while that may change over the course of the series, I don’t think this book, or these characters are going to stick with me long enough to warrant picking up the next book. If you’re an old pro at this genre and are just looking for something new, give this a go. However, if you are new to the genre, I wouldn’t recommend starting here as there are other series out there that are stronger and far more enjoyable.

This series introduces readers to Sandra, senator's wife and PTA president, and Maya, former cop and current PI. This cozy mystery has a mix of several things - murder, unlikely partners, gossip, and scandal. I think this is a great start to a new series. I loved the mix of Sandra and Maya as the lead characters. The mystery lacked a bit, but first books are often more character focused. I look forward to reading more from this series.

Lee Hollis, a brother sister team, is well-known for the bestselling Haley Powell cozy mysteries. Murder at the PTA is a new series which takes place in the same town, but deals with different characters. Maya Kendrick is a private detective and her partner is pregnant, so Maya is on her own for a while. Maya’s daughter wants her detective mother to find out who is behind a terrible website at her school, Dirty Laundry, so Maya gets involved. Maya finds who is behind the website and when she goes to confront the person, meets Sandra Wallage, a housewife who is married to a politician, and has been newly elected as the PTA president (apparently a powerful and important position in this small town). When Sandra and Maya discover the body of the woman at Portland High who was the author of the scandalous website, Sandra volunteers to help Maya find the murderer.

Hollis knows how to tell a viable story that holds the interest of readers, and the new characters are quite well-developed. They are very different from the Haley Powell characters, but are believable and seem like real persons. Maya and Sandra are likable and make these cozy novels worth reading. It’s always nice when the body in a cozy is someone who is despicable or evil, and the victim in this case is just that, so readers won’t feel too bad.

For readers who are looking for a new cozy series, this one is fun; the novel is a fast read and there are surprises around every corner.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

I have to say I wasn’t sure about this book in the beginning. I felt like It started out a little Slow. I am really glad that I stuck it out. I really enjoyed this book.

Someone had killed the vice principal of the high school the night that Sandra has her first PTA meeting as president, and the woman's sister hired ex classmate Maya's PI firm to prove that it was murder not suicide. What a crazy web of deception and secrets this all led to. The wrap-up was great and whatever wasn't already explained got mentioned as to the outcome. What a fun ending! Now I can't wait for the next book!

The characters are well rounded. Maya and Sandra were the two most unlikely candidates for partners, but they worked together really well once Maya adjusted to Sandra not being the typical prissy trophy wife but someone who was very committed to a new friendship and possibly sleuthing partnership. Sandra was pretty smart and able to read people well too.

Great new series!

I loved this book. I love Sandra, the senator's wife as she dives into solving the mystery of the death of the vice principal who was putting out an anonymous blog that was telling salacious secrets (real or innuendo) about people connected with a high school. She becomes involved with the murder when Maya (a private detective who's daughter goes to the school and "hired" her to find out who is behind the blog) and Sandra find the vice principal hanged in her office with a "suicide note." Neither of them buys it, but the police rule it a suicide. Maya is a former cop who left the force after her (now ex) husband and supervisor was sent to prison for corruption. The officer in charge of the investigation doesn't want to listen to her theory that it was murder.

Maya and Sandra team up in a suspenseful story that unmasks the murderer. There are plenty of suspects and interesting characters. It kept me reading and guessing up to the end. I'll definitely read the next installment.

Rating: 4+ Stars

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a review e-book. All opinions are my own.

What a high voltage cozy, it got the dirty down pat with cheating husbands in high places, corrupted cops also in high places. Sandra was a fighter who refused to stay down, while Maya did not let her hurt stopped her from finding the truth. This book had a lot of bite to it, more like a police crime mystery. It was captivating, intriguing, and engaging.