Murder on the Class Trip (Maya and Sandra Mystery, #3) by Lee Hollis #bookreview #mystery

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Title: Murder on the Class Trip

Author:  Lee Hollis

Publisher: Kensington Books 

Publication Date: Nov 29, 2022

Page Count:  338

My rating: 3 stars

About the book:

It’s goodbye Maine and hello Washington, D.C. as Maya, a private investigator, and Sandra, a pampered housewife and P.I. in training, play chaperone on a high school class trip to D.C. with their kids. The last thing they expect to encounter is another murder!

Friends, moms, and P.I. partners Maya and Sandra have left their hometown of Portland, Maine, on a school trip to Washington, D.C.—where a killer has just added murder to the itinerary. . .

Drafted as chaperones, Maya Kendrick and PTA president Sandra Wallage are accompanying the SoPo High seniors to the nation’s capital—much to the embarrassment of Maya’s daughter Vanessa and Sandra’s son Ryan. Now both moms are about to find out which is harder—shepherding unruly high schoolers or solving a murder. The last sight they expected to see on this trip is a female intern who works for Sandra’s soon-to-be-ex-husband, Senator Stephen Wallage, in a fatally compromising position.
 
Desperate to avoid scandal, Stephen begs Maya and Sandra to solve the case. But their FBI counterparts—tough-as-nails agents Markey and Rhodes—are far less enthusiastic about the meddling of two “amateurs.” With suspects ranging from senators to students to stalkers, Maya and Sandra must follow a twisty trail of clues so they can catch a killer and survive to make the return trip . . .

Murder on the Class Trip by Lee Hollis is the third book in the cozy Maya and Sandra Mystery series. As with most cozy mysteries the Maya and Sandra Mystery series is one that has a fully solved murder within each book so they can be read as a standalone or in any order if choosing to do so. There will be of course be character development that carries over from book to book for those reading from the beginning.

The Maya and Sandra Mystery series is a little different than your average cozy in the fact it has two lead characters and changes the point of view between them to give both sides to the story. Sandra Wallage is a housewife and the PTA president that is married to a scandalous politician. Maya Kendrick is a an ex cop whose husband went to prison and now had become a private investigator that has a huge workload with her partner being pregnant and close to giving birth.

When Sandra’s husband became a victim of a gossipy website called Dirty Laundry outing him as a cheater and then the woman running the Dirty Laundry website was murdered it brought Sandra and Maya together to work the case. After that was solved Sandra found she enjoyed helping Maya and proposed being her new partner. Now the ladies are taking on another new case when Sandra and Maya are drafted as chaperones to the school trip to Washington, D.C.. Sandra’s soon to be ex-husband, Stephen, is in need of help yet again when one of his female interns is found murdered and he along with those around him are suspects in her death.

I have been enjoying the Maya and Sandra Mystery series from the beginning and was totally onboard with this one even with it being a bit different than your normal cozy. I really like that there is a real investigator as one of the major characters solving the crimes right along with the other protagonist who is the fish out of water in this case. This third book however was my least favorite of the series so far with the setting being completely political which is something I would normally try to avoid in books. I’m sure others will enjoy it more than me and I will still continue on with the series but this one is only a three star for me.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Find this book online:

Goodreads  /  Amazon

About the author:

Lee Hollis is the pen name for a brother and sister writing team. Rick Copp is a veteran film and television writer and producer and also the author of two mystery novel series. Holly Simason is an award-winning food and cocktails columnist.