Book Review: Murder for Choir by Joelle Charbonneau (Glee Club Mysteries #1)

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Great characters and a fast moving plot

Cons: Paige could stand to be a little smarter at times

The Bottom Line:

Competitive choirs

Taken to whole new level

When coach is murdered

Glee Club Competition Can Be Murder

I keep saying that if your particular interest isn’t the subject of a cozy series yet, stick around because it will be soon.  Witness the debut of the Glee Club Mysteries.  Murder for Choir was a fun first volume, and I will now sing its praises.

Paige Marshall is still waiting for her big break as an opera singing.  Until that happens, she’s had to take a job working at a high school coaching the show choir.  While school hasn’t officially opened, all the kids from the area are meeting for a camp that is supposed to foster friendships between the rivals schools.

Just one problem – on the second morning Paige finds Greg Lucas dead.  Greg was the director of the choir that always won, but how he managed that wasn’t always ethical.  In fact, Greg’s list of enemies was quite long.  When the star tenor in Paige’s choir is taken to police headquarters for questioning, Paige begins to poke around.  But everywhere she turns, she finds more suspects.  Can Paige find the killer before she becomes the next victim?

The book starts off quickly, and the pace never really lets up.  Paige is always learning some tidbit or overhearing some conversation that sheds light on a different suspect.  In fact, I believed just about everyone had to have done it at one point or another.  I guess that means I got it right, right?

The characters were also charming and fun.  I liked Paige and I found the rest of the cast endearing as well.  I didn’t want them to be the murderer.  Okay, one or two would have been fine, but they were the exception.

The first person narration was good and the book flowed well.  There were some funny bits along the way that certainly kept me engaged as well.

However, there was something just off about the book.  I think it was the fact that Paige always seemed to jump first and think later.  I’m not quite sure why it bothered me as much here since I expect that in the books I read.  It’s the only way to move the plot forward.  But it got a little tiring as the book went along.

Really, it was a minor sour note, however.  Overall, I enjoyed Murder for Choir and hope the fat lady doesn’t sing on it for a while.  I’ll certainly be back for the encore.