Book Review: The School Board Murders

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

The School Board Murders     Amazon US PB Amazon Canada PB
Leslie O'Kane
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Amateur Sleuth
Series: Molly Masters # 5
Fawcett, Jun 2000, $6.50, 240 pp.

After living in Colorado for numerous years, the Masters family return home to Carlton, New York. The matriarch Molly decides to stay at home to raise her two school aged children while running a business that sends any occasion cards via a fax. Though her business is not doing quite well, Molly is more concerned with school issues, especially since her father Charlie joined the school board.

The school budget is under siege as there is only enough funds to support either the arts curriculum or the sports program. Board president Sylvia Greene runs a vicious campaign using blackmail to force her peers to commit the money to the sports program. For instance, she threatens to reveal a nasty secret from Charlie’s past if he fails to vote for her side. During the vote itself, someone poisons Sylvia with the main suspicion falling on Charlie. Unable to believe her father would kill someone, Molly places herself at risk to flush out a murderer.

Just like a FAX OF LIFE, most fans of the Molly Masters mysteries know that the novels are some of the best remedies for lifting weary individuals out of their slump. Leslie O’Kane has a wicked sense of humor that especially surfaces when Molly designs a greeting card. THE SCHOOL BOARD MURDERS is a good juicy mystery filled with red herrings that turns the unexpected story line into an excellent hard to figure out puzzler. Like JUST THE FAX, this tale is a fun book that enhances an entertaining series that leaves readers contented, but wanting more works from Ms. O’Kane.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner