Book ~ "Third Degree" (2010) Maggie Barbieri

From Amazon ~ On her way to meet her boyfriend’s parents, college professor Alison Bergeron stops by a coffee shop to steel her resolve. It’s a big event. Not only is it the first time she’s met NYPD detective Bobby Crawford’s entire family but it’s coming on the heels of a wedding proposal that she has left unanswered so far.

Then, as she steps into the shop, a brawl breaks out that ends in the death of Carter Wilmott, a merciless and loathed local blogger. The case couldn’t be any simpler, and Alison witnessed the whole thing, but when Wilmott’s car explodes in the aftermath, what looked to be a crime of passion becomes something far more complicated and maybe even premeditate.

With Alison and Bobby involved in the case and with each other, readers are in for a treat. Third Degree, the latest in Maggie Barbieri’s charming mystery series, is one heated mystery with plenty of steamy romance and cunning villains who are about to get burned.

I enjoyed this book. The writing was quick and fast paced with new and old familiar characters.

The plot was interesting and I bought the "who dunnit" at the end.

Alison spends a lot of her time pondering about whether she should married Crawford or not. This comes at a hard time of year for her, the month her mother had died a few years ago.

I'm not a fan of her friend, Max, who wasn't in this book all that much. Yay! A few times Crawford asked Alison why they are friends and she said it's because they'd been through so much together.

Alison's friend, Father Kevin, is in some trouble because he is being accused of getting too close to a student but it doesn't get resolved by the end of the book (sorry for the spoiler). That was a bit frustrating.

Alison is still a bit too nosy ... it doesn't make sense that she would board a boat that doesn't belong to her, not once but twice.