Murder as a Second Language: A Claire Malloy Mystery (Claire Malloy Mysteries)
With her bookstore, the Book Depot, being run by a competent graduate student, Claire Malloy is at loose ends. Her attempt to learn French cooking meets with dismay, so when her daughter, Caron, and Caron’s friend Inez sign up to tutor English-as-a-second-language students to beef up their college applications, Claire offers to help tutor. After being turned down as a tutor since she missed the training session, Claire is roped into becoming a board member of the Farberville Literacy Council. She soon learns there are problems with the council’s books, and then an elderly Polish student, Ludmilla, is murdered at the council’s office. The unpleasant Ludmilla’s death is not even mourned by her own grandson, so there are plenty of suspects. As Claire investigates, she uncovers other nefarious deeds that have transpired among the employees of the literacy council, and she becomes a target. Claire’s investigation leads to the resolution of several crimes in this satisfying cozy that contains humor, sympathetic characters, and well-drawn family relationships. --Sue OBrien