Disorderly Conduct

Mary Feliz

Jul 2018 · A Maggie McDonald Mystery Book 4 · Lyrical Press

About this ebook

“[A] whip-smart amateur detective . . . An enticing fourth series installment thanks to an engaging cast” from the author of Dead Storage (Kirkus Reviews).
 
Professional organizer Maggie McDonald manages to balance a fastidious career with friends, family, and a spunky Golden Retriever. But add a fiery murder mystery to the mix, and Maggie wonders if she’s finally found a mess even she can’t tidy up . . .
 
With a devastating wildfire spreading to Silicon Valley, Maggie preps her family for a rapid evacuation. The heat rises when firefighters discover the body of her best friend Tess Olmos’s athletic husband—whose untimely death was anything but accidental. And as Tess agonizes over the whereabouts of her spouse’s drop-dead gorgeous running mate, she becomes the prime suspect in what’s shaping up to become a double murder case. Determined to set the record straight, Maggie sorts through clues in an investigation more dangerous than the flames approaching her home. But when her own loved ones are threatened, can she catch the meticulous killer before everything falls apart?
 
Praise for the Maggie McDonald Mysteries
 
“Abundant with friendly canine companions, from-the-hearth cooking, and banter between long-time friends, this novel serves up a chilling mystery warmed by likable characters and enviable setting.” —KRL News & Reviews
 
“Bay Area residents will enjoy the heavy local angle.” —San Jose Mercury News
 
“The setting is delightful . . . Maggie herself, in my opinion, is a major selling point for this new series, aside from the added value of her organizational advice.” —MiddleSisterReviews.com

Ratings and reviews

Disorderly Conduct by Mary Feliz is the fourth installment in A Maggie McDonald Mystery series. Devastating wild fires are ravaging through the hills above Silicon Valley close to where Maggie McDonald and her family live on their farm. They are preparing to evacuate when Maggie receives a call from her best friend, Tess Olmos. Tess’s husband, Patrick had not been in touch which is not unusual (he gets caught up in his work). But, then she is contacted by the police stating they believe they found her husband in the hills and they need her identify the body. Tess and her son, Teddy are devastated by the news and have trouble believing Patrick’s death was accidental. They soon discover that Patrick was murdered when the police arrive to search her home and arrest Tess. The evidence the police find in Tess’s house seals her fate. Maggie needs to sort through the clues and question the suspects to pinpoint Patrick’s killer before Teddy loses both of his parents. I found Disorderly Conduct to be nicely written and to have a quick pace. The mystery becomes complex when it is discovered that criminals are growing marijuana illegally on the public land in the hills above their farm. It happened to be where Patrick ran frequently. However, the mystery takes up a small portion of the book. I wish the author had made Patrick’s murder the focus. The story talks about the fires that are ravaging through the Santa Cruz mountains destroying the vegetation and forcing wildlife along with humans to flee. There are helpful tips at the beginning of each chapter on how people can prepare for emergencies (fires, hurricanes). The items we should have available in our home and car along with planning where you would go. It is important to remember your pets in your plans. There are great characters in A Maggie McDonald Mystery series. Maggie is a smart, strong woman who can handle any situation thrown at her. The kids and the animals add humor to the story (and it makes me very happy that I had a daughter instead of a son). The various families are close and help each other in times of crisis (like Tess taking in the McDonald family). While Disorderly Conduct could be read alone, I recommend reading Address to Die For first. My rating for Disorderly Conduct is 3 out of 5 stars. Disorderly Conduct addresses some tough topics in a different way. Return to Orchard View and join Maggie as she sets out to catch a murderer and save her best friend.

Fourth in the Maggie McDonald Mystery series, Disorderly Conduct is different from the earlier mysteries. Each chapter begins with a quote from Maggie’s notebook regarding preparing for disasters. Living in California where the risk of sweeping fires is of great concern to the residents, Maggie, as a Professional Organizer, includes details about planning for evacuation of family and pets. This time, she is faced with putting those tasks into orderly practice for her own loved ones. Raging fire threatens to jump the ridge to the McDonald home, one that has withstood California challenges for a century. As Maggie and her family prepare to take their needs and their pets to best friend Tess’s house, Tess calls with a bizarre request. She received a call regarding her husband, Patrick, who had not come home from work the night before. An engineer working on classified projects, he sometimes gets caught up in a project and loses track of time. The police believe that a body they found where Patrick often went running, in range of the fire, is Patrick. Tess has been asked to go to the medical examiner’s office to identify him. Maggie’s husband Max, her sons, and pets go to Tess’s home, and will stay with Teddy, her teenage son and close friend of Maggie’s teens. Tess believes it is not Patrick, she will go to the ME’s just to prove it. Paolo, a young man with the local police department, drives her and Maggie there and tries to prepare Tess for the process. Nothing could have prepared Tess, however, for the horror of seeing a photo of the remains of her husband. Nothing could ever prepare a family for a husband’s death. Or learning that Patrick had been murdered, and Tess herself being arrested for the murder. Maggie wasn’t going to get involved with helping solve any more murders, but when 14-year-old Teddy asks her to find the truth, she cannot refuse. Tess is her best friend, and Patrick is the guy everybody liked who helped anyone in need. Few authors could write this mystery with the compassion and skill that Mary Feliz has. Her characters could walk, run, or wheel out of the pages, so well-defined they are. In some ways it was hard to read – it was so personal, I wanted to jump into the pages and find whoever ripped apart this family’s very essence! Amidst gossips and newscasters, Maggie strived to help maintain the background order of her best friend’s home even while asking questions from those who knew Patrick. One of the most heartwarming things was how friends of the two families came together to help Tess and Teddy through the trauma of Patrick’s murder and Tess being in jail. Just as Patrick would have helped any of them with similar circumstances. The plot twists definitely kept me engaged in the mystery, and I simply wasn’t sure who really was the bad guy. The resolution brought unexpected surprises. It is tough when it is so personal to the characters this reader has come to appreciate – temporary evacuation, murder, and false arrest. It is personal to those who realistically lose loved ones every day, whether through accidents or murder, or those who struggle with fires, hurricanes, or other storms. Because of how the author has portrayed her characters and the subjects, I highly recommend this mystery. It is very well-written with a mystery that was a challenge to solve. From a grateful heart: I received a copy of this e-arc from the publisher and NetGalley, and was not obligated to provide a review.

About the author

Mary Feliz writes the Maggie McDonald Mysteries featuring a Silicon Valley professional organizer and her sidekick golden retriever. She’s worked for Fortune 500 firms and mom and pop enterprises, competed in whale boat races and done synchronized swimming. She attends organizing conferences in her character's stead, but Maggie's skills leave her in the dust. Visit Mary online at MaryFeliz.com.