Grace the Hit Mom #2
This is the second book in the deliciously high concept “Hit Mom” series. Knight’s heroine, Grace Adair, only takes out those who truly deserve it. And she does it in an untraceable way. Book one had many details of the way her organization functions; this second book deals more with fallout of actions taken by Grace and her fellow murder-y sisters. While this sounds intense, humor is on tap here.
While Grace is a “hit mom” she’s also a mom-mom, as well as an editor and a sometime practicing lawyer. In other words, she’s extremely busy. She and her husband, who have a solid and affectionately loving marriage, share a fairly low maintenance son but her life still revolves around school drop off and pick up time. It’s truly amazing what she manages to fit in between those times.
In this novel, which is, among other things, a courtroom drama, Grace’s husband asks her to take point on a case. The defendant is a pretty unappealing, privileged and overbearing woman who carries a rare Russian toy terrier around in her purse. Grace’s first mission: to get the purse dog admitted to court as an emotional support animal. Mission achieved; she must now help her husband to defend the woman who is charged with killing her used car dealer husband. The woman insists on her innocence, but things look black for her.
Meanwhile things are not quite right on the hit mom side of things either. As Grace is looking into a kill that may or may not have been righteous, she’s also asked to look into the fiancée of her “handler” who is thrilled about her upcoming later in life wedding and marriage. This part of the book is smaller than the courtroom side of things, but the clues unearthed add to the solution.
Knight also has a deft hand with portraying suburban life. Like all cozy mysteries, community is key, and Grace has a strong, supportive and nicely diverse community of friends and fellow parents. Knight portrays pretty realistically the work that goes into taking care of a child, from school pick ups to meals to homework.
One of the clues is a ’58 Bonneville which seems to be swoon worthy for every man in the book. For a light touch, there’s the tendency of her huge dog to attack blow up lawn decorations (it’s the holiday season, so there are lots of them). Knight is a very gifted storyteller. Her books are tight and the story elements she includes are there for a reason, so pay attention! The way her book ultimately knits together is very satisfying for the reader, and the humor makes it all go down easily. This is a light, funny book, but there’s a brain behind it. This writer is really one of the best cozy writers at work at the moment. — Robin Agnew