Rate this book

Physical Education (2011)

by Maggie Barbieri(Favorite Author)

3.74 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

0312593295 (ISBN13: 9780312593292)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Minotaur Books

series

Murder 101 Mystery

review 1: Professor Bergeron is already running late when the campus security guard stops her to tell her that her car's trunk is ajar ... and it's because of a dead body in the trunk. Great premise for the opening of a story, but the rest of the story didn't hold my attention because much of the nuance in the story is predicated on having read the other Murder 101 Mysteries. I believe either a recap or warning should have appeared before the first chapter, if the story is reliant on the others for context. Here are just two of my problems with this book: why isn't the Professor considered more of a murder suspect; is it just because her husband is a cop? Why would a college make a random professor the basketball coach when the team's coach dies of a sudden heart attack? It's ... morenot as though she's exhibited basketball knowledge, talent or prowess. What kind of leap of faith (no pun intended) does one have to take to accept the tie between the basketball team and the Professor's priest friend's problems? Apparently a big leap.That being said, some of the dialog is well written, as are some of the interactions between characters. However, neither were compelling enough for me to go back and read the first five Murder 101 Mysteries.
review 2: College Professor Alison Bergeron is already running late when the campus security guard stops her to tell her that her car's trunk is ajar. Unfortunately, it's a dead body holding the trunk open... and this isn't the first dead body to turn up in Alison's trunk. Because Alison is involved, her cop-husband can't take the case, but Alison knows the other cops on the case and, for the most part, she's content to think she isn't a suspect. Alison doesn't mind doing a bit of amateur sleuthing, but she'd rather spend her time trying to track down who is destroying the reputation of her favorite priest than sorting out what looks like another mob murder.Alison is still adjusting to life as a married woman, and one of the things she does is attend her step-daughter's basketball games. Which doesn't exactly make her a basketball expert, but when the team's coach dies of a sudden heart attack, Alison is tasked to take over coaching the basketball team. Alison figures it's just as well that she's super-busy, because her husband Bobby Crawford's schedule has suddenly taken a turn for the worse... and he's coming home smelling of another woman's perfume.Author Maggie Barbieri deals with complicated situations (e.g., the Catholic Church's swing toward anti-woman and anti-gay) in a breezy and enjoyable style. Watching Alison try to figure out how to coach a basketball team is also fun and I would have liked to see more of this side of the story. While there is a lot to like about PHYSICAL EDUCATION, for me the plot didn't quite pull together. There is a connection between the murder setting the story into motion and Alison's investigations, but the connection isn't close and Alison's work never really leads anywhere. Likewise, the basketball angle was not really convincing (surely the university could have found someone with a bit of basketball experience to take over the coaching), and the coincidence of the team being connected to her investigation of the priest was a bit hard to swallow.PHYSICAL EDUCATION held my interest and kept me reading, but I really thought the story could have been improved by some judicious editing. less

Download links for: Physical Education

Advertising