Review—Murder, Mayhem, and a Fine Man by Claudia Mair Burney

I don’t read a lot of chick lits or murder mysteries, so to read a book with both rolled up together was an anomally. But let me tell you, reader, this book captivated me. Bell’s (main character) wit had me laughing out loud. And in between the laughs, Burney dealt with hard issues such as divorce and remarriage, life in the occult (and healing after getting out), interdenominational relations, and a single person’s honest-to-goodness struggles with lust for the person to whom they are attracted. Yes, people, that’s normal, and I love that Burney didn’t shy away from that. And can I say this? While reading this book, I was an African-American woman. And you know what? I loved it. (Being African-American and the book.)

By the way, I never commented on Jodi Picoult’s Harvesting the Heart, which I read previous to this book. In some ways, I was disappointed. It took me a while to get into the book. A couple of writing things got in the way (this being one of her earlier books, I think she’s matured since then). But once I did, I felt the fear of the Paige, the main character, about being a mom. Of course, for those of you who know me and know that I already fear being responsible for another life, you know that it wasn’t a hard leap for me to make!