Friday, April 8, 2016

BOOK REVIEW: "Death By Diploma" by Kelley Kaye


Death by Diploma 
By Kelley Kaye 
Genre: Cozy Mystery 


Emma Lovett leaves herphilandering husbandand crosses the country tobegin her teaching careerata high schoolin Pinewood, Colorado. There, she meetsLeslie Parker,a fellowteacher given to quoting Shakespeare to fit all situations, andthe twobecome fast friends.  
 
Arriving at workearly one morning, Emma discovers the body of the school custodian,a man who reminds her of her late father. When the police struggle to find the killer,the ladies decide tohelpsolve the murder. Their efforts lead them toa myriad of suspects:the schizophrenic librarian, the crude football coach, the mysterious social studies teacher, and even Emma’s new love interest. 
 
As Emma Lovett discovers the perils of teaching high school, she and Leslie learn more than they ever wanted to know about the reasons people kill.  

Author Bio 
Kelley Kaye taught High School English and Drama for twenty years, but her love for storytelling dates back to creating captions for her high school yearbook. Maybe back to the tales she created around her Barbie and Ken — whatever the case, the love’s been around for a long time.   

Kelley is married to this amazing man who cooks for her, and they have two funny and wonderful sons. She lives in Southern California.  

On Twitter: @kelkay1202 
Check out the book trailer for Death by Diploma: https://youtu.be/CAMXkR3kA-8  

MY REVIEW
It looks like cozy mysteries are becoming popular again, which surprises me. I have always enjoyed them, having read Agatha Christie since I was little. Death By Diploma is a refreshing twist on the harsh, oftentimes dull lives of cozy characters. You start with  strong female lead, which these types of stories frequently lack. Emma escapes from a bad marriage and makes her way on her own in life. I liked her immediately, just as I liked her Bard-quoting friend. The best thing about this genre is the wonderfully quirky characters you find within the pages.
The mystery was well written. It made me stop and think, and there was a possibility for multiple endings, making you wonder exactly what would happen. I did guess the end, but that in no way lessened my enjoyment of this whimsical book.

5/5--well done!

3 comments:

  1. Thank you Lily Luchesi for posting your review on KellySmithReviews and to Kelly Smith Reviews for being a stop on my Death by Diploma Blog tour! I really appreciate your support and I thank you for reading. Have a great weekend!

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  2. Thank you so much for being a stop on my Blog Tour, Lily and KellySmithReviews! I really appreciate it!

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  3. Thank you so much KellySmithReviews and Lily Luchesi for being a part of the Blog Tour for my first cozy mystery! I appreciate your support of me and of books! Go, books!

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