Final Exam (Murder 101 Mysteries) [Hardcover]

Maggie Barbieri's "Final Exam" is the fourth in a series of breezy mysteries featuring Alison Bergeron, a professor of English at St. Thomas, a small college located north of New York City. Alison's penchant for being in the wrong place at the wrong time has gotten her into trouble on more than one occasion. Her best friend at St. Thomas is a maverick priest, Father Ken McManus, who also treads on thin ice with his superiors. Fortunately, Alison frequently gets a chance to let her hair down with her hunky boyfriend, Detective Bobby Crawford.

Much to Alison's displeasure, the college president railroads her into temporarily leaving her home in Dobbs Ferry (where her best girlfriend, Max, is licking her wounds after separating from her husband), and moving into a college dorm. She is to replace Wayne Brookwell, a twenty-six year old Resident Director who has suddenly disappeared. Alison's frenzied protests fall on deaf ears. The only concession she manages to wrangle out of President Etheridge is that Trixie, her beloved golden retriever, will move into the dorm with her. In addition, living on campus will eliminate Alison's tedious commute and give her much needed space from the morose Max. One thing is certain. No matter how many times Bobby warns Alison not to investigate on her own, she will move heaven and earth to find Wayne Brookwell.

"Final Exam" is a light and amusing confection. Alison has a deliciously sarcastic perspective on everything and everyone, and her inability to curb her curiosity gets her into hot water repeatedly. The razor-thin plot is a mishmash in which drugs and a love triangle feature prominently. At one point, Alison impersonates a flight attendant named Coco (don't ask). She gets to spend a great deal of face time with both her dog and her boyfriend, both of whom she adores. All of the silliness is bearable because Barbieri does not take herself too seriously. With her tongue firmly in cheek, the author carries us merrily along as Alison tries to turn her topsy-turvy world right side up once again.

When a dorm's resident director goes missing, English professor Alison Bergeron--who is hoping for tenure and being manipulated by this goal--gets drafted to filling his place. But when she discovers a load of drugs in the missing man's room, she wonders if there's something more complicated going on than an extended vacation. One thing she knows for certain...as long as the missing man remains simply missing, she's stuck doing his job, stuck on a dry campus with no boyfriend visitations, and stuck away from her own home, where her best friend is taking care of her newly semi-single status by going on a decorating tear.

Finding the missing man isn't especially difficult--he seems to pop up all over the campus. But he's a lot faster than Alison, and he doesn't seem to mind a bit of violence if that's what it takes to get away. Meanwhile, dangerous-looking men are showing up, looking for the missing resident director (and maybe for the drugs, too). And then there is the beautiful co-ed who was having an affair with the man. Alison, along with her cop-boyfriend, try to follow every lead, sometimes with discouraging results.

Author Maggie Barbieri writes with light touch that kept me smiling as I read. Alison occasionally does silly things, but she's well-motivated and it's not hard to sympathize with her impulsive decisions. This is the second book I've read in the Murder 101 series and Barbieri shows strong growth from her first effort.

North of New York City lies St. Thomas College where Professor Alison Bergeron teaches. Although she is eligible for tenure, she is denied the opportunity due in part to her penchant for solving mysteries especially murders that reflect badly on the college.

When Resident Director of the Sienna Dorm Wayne Brookwell vanishes, the Dean selects her to replace him over her objections. Being a quick study, she knows she has no choice unless she wants am even more miserable existence. Preparing for Extracurricular Activity of the unwanted student kind, Alison leaves her beloved home to reside in purgatory; understanding the nuking of her privacy especially with her lover Detective Bobby Crawford. Her new abode is more like a monk's isolation cell as even the toilet does not function nor by the looks of it has in eons. Crawford visits her in her new jail cell, but they soon find a major stash of heroin in the blocked toilet and a huge stash of marihuana. Alison seeks Wayne and there have been a zillion sightings, but not by her. Someone watching for Wayne marks Alison to silence her permanently.

This charming piquant romantic amateur sleuth is fun to read due to the strong cast; ACADEMIC and otherwise. Alison crashes the said image of a professor with her antics while the support cast, especially once the heroine is placed in hell, add eccentricity and hyperbole to the Final Exam whodunit. Maggie Barbieri provides another enjoyable Mystery 101 tale as class is in session with Professor Bergeron proctoring.

Harriet Klausner