When the nice people over at Harper Collins asked if I was interested in reading Jane O'Connor's first foray into the world of adult fiction, I responded with the following email:
As a fan of the Fancy Nancy series, I would greatly appreciate a review copy of Dangerous Admissions... as a fan on mysteries, I look forward to a thriller and as the mother of a child who was on the waiting list for the "right" preschool at the tender age of 3 months, I can relate!
And I meant every word.
Surely the woman who brought us the wonderful and glittery Fancy Nancy would deliver something full of the little details which elevate a book from good and enjoyable to great and full of characters you can truly care about and be invested in.
And she delivered.
Let me just give you a wee taste of the synopsis -
Her career as a copyeditor is down the toilet (she makes one little slip - a missing "l" from the last word in the title of the Nancy Drew classic The Secret of the Old Clock - and suddenly she's publishing enemy #1!)
Oh, Rannie Bookman, I love you already!
Taking place against the backdrop of an incredibly privileged Manhattan private school (think Gossip Girl), the story follows Rannie (a self proclaimed closet sleuth) as she investigates the murder of the school's Dean of College Admissions...
The story (the case?) is a good one with enough twists and red herrings to keep you enthralled... but, what O'Connor does so very well is to make us care about Rannie, her college bound son and Yalie daughter. We even find ourselves taken with her ex-mother in law and ex-husband... Rannie, it seems, is one of those women who just sort of gets on with it and has made a successful life for herself.
And when she gets a little Bow Chicka Wow Wow, you're happy for her (it's also nice to have a 40 something female with a sex drive).
I like Rannie enough to hope that she makes another appearance... I sort of need to know what happens between her and Tim.
