Sara Rosett, Staying Home Is a Killer

Staying Home Is a Killer

Sara Rosett

Kensington, April 2007, $22.00, 288 pp.

ISBN 0758213387

On her way to see her husband who is with the 52nd Air Refueling squadron, stay-at-home mom Ellie Avery meets her daughter's babysitter Penny Follette. Instead of fading into the woodwork, she is all aglow, promising to tell Ellie her secret later. She gives Ellie a bag of chocolate covered coffee beans and she promptly sets it down in the area where the squadron has its drinks and food.

Later that day Ellie receives a phone call from a friend saying that Penny committed suicide. When a stunned Ellie listens to her phone messages, Penny's is full of vigor as she informs her that she is pregnant. Ellie is certain that her friend didn't kill herself as the enthusiasm is too great. A tox screen shows she was poisoned. Georgia, who is part of the squadron, drinks the coffee Ellie left behind and is rushed to the hospital because she was poisoned. Ellie soon becomes a suspect as she is the only link between the two women. Things get worse when she finds a third body, the general's wife who was also murdered. In between poisonings, Ellie is the victim of serious malicious pranks by someone who wants her to turn over "it" to him; since she doesn't know what it is, she begins sleuthing in earnest to prevent anyone else, especially her and her family, from becoming victim number four.

Anyone who is a stay-at-home mom with a husband in the service who goes TDY frequently will empathize with Ellie who has to deal with all the family problems by herself. Sara Rosett is a great storyteller as she creates a magnificent protagonist who is a bloodhound once she gets the scent. The author infuses her delightful cozy with humor as a tension-relieving technique that works so well that readers will eagerly await the next installment in this special Washington State cozy.

Harriet Klausner