(The fact I keep having to change autocorrect from Suburban DUCKS is driving me a little bonkers. This is not a wildlife book.)

⏰ 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫: Andi Stern traded in her life as an up-and-coming FBI profiler for one of SAHM. Except she stumbles on a murder scene and realizes the cops are bungling the scene. Tenaciously, she pursues the case she can NOT let go. She eventually teams up with a former Pulitzer winning journalist, now local ignominious news reporter Ken Lee in order to bring the culprits to justice. Body parts are found. Racism is rampant, and the suburb of New Window, NJ is spun into a tizzy.

💡𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬💡: I love books that are MORE than mysteries… more in a sense of a lesson learned or a historical angle, social issues, etc and this one fits. The “tongue-in-cheek” title is apropos. Having humor (done well) interlaced with a pretty dang capable mystery is a tough accomplishment and here Nicieza deftly weaves the two. Andrea is a mother bear – feisty and feral (though in all honesty she COULD eat one of her cubs, I think, if they annoy her too much). Ken is a bit of a prat and doesn’t care for much except himself and his tarnished reputation.

I enjoyed the ride mostly due to Andrea – her perseverance and pride and refusal to be anything other than what she wanted was admirable. The honesty in her character is downright lovable – that she is in an unhappy marriage because her husband doesn’t support her goals and her desire to be a mom but maintain her intelligence outlet is a battle to which many women will relate. Andrea realizes how she misses her career and mostly that she shouldn’t HAVE to choose. Lots of issues to discuss about the cliche of “having it all” and what that means.

On the flip side I also don’t understand what Andrea is thinking, how she becomes a baby-making machine and then 10 years later wants to flip her life upside down. From that angle, I feel for her husband. Perhaps he never really knew her – these loose ends demand a second novel.

The race/ethnicity social issues in the book were superbly written – realistic to my personal experiences, and I love the moment when Andrea breaks the barrier. It was a pivotal moment and lesson – sometimes simply talking to someone unlike you reveals truths neglected, haven’t experienced, or were completely unaware of. A lesson for everyone I think.

𝗔𝗹𝗹 𝗺𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄𝘀 𝗮𝘃𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝗦𝗰𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗽𝘆𝗠𝗮𝗴𝘀.𝗰𝗼𝗺 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.

🅶🅴🅽🆁🅴: Mystery

😍𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨: It’s a classically well-written mystery so all the peeps in that dept need to holla.

🙅‍♀️ 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨: I suppose if you’re not into the social issues aspect.

ᴛʜᴀɴᴋ ʏᴏᴜ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴀᴜᴛʜᴏʀ, ɴᴇᴛɢᴀʟʟᴇʏ ᴀɴᴅ ɢ.ᴘ. ᴘᴜᴛɴᴀᴍ’ꜱ ꜱᴏɴꜱ ʙᴏᴏᴋꜱ ꜰᴏʀ ᴍʏ ᴀᴅᴠᴀɴᴄᴇᴅ ᴄᴏᴘʏ ɪɴ ᴇxᴄʜᴀɴɢᴇ ꜰᴏʀ ᴍʏ ᴀʟᴡᴀʏꜱ-ʜᴏɴᴇꜱᴛ ʀᴇᴠɪᴇᴡ ᴀɴᴅ ꜰᴏʀ ᴍᴀᴋɪɴɢ ᴍᴇ ʟᴏᴏᴋ ᴏᴜᴛ ᴀᴛ ᴍʏ ʟᴀᴡɴ ᴅɪꜰꜰᴇʀᴇɴᴛʟʏ.