Deadly Politics
A Molly Malone Mystery #1
Maggie Sefton

Midnight Ink Books
August 8, 2012 / ISBN 978-0738731285
Mystery
Amazon

Reviewed by Cheryl Green

Daughter of a Senator and wife of a Congressman, Molly Malone knows her way around Washington, DC. The suicide death and related scandal of her beloved husband sends her back to her Colorado home for more than 20 years. She returns to the Washington. DC area to accept a job that will allow her aged mother to continue to live in the retirement home she is accustomed to with a paid companion to help her.

The job falls through and her niece Karen (who is more like another daughter) gets her a job with a Senator as a consultant. This is a hard decision for Molly, who has vowed to remain out of politics with its scandal and backstabbing. She would be an accounting consultant for Senator Russell, who is an Independent from her home state of Colorado.

Molly's niece Karen is having an affair with her boss Jed, who is the Chief of Staff for the Senator from Nebraska. Molly advises Karen to break off the affair. Karen also tells her she is looking into campaign funds from a group called the Epsilon Group, something just doesn't add up.

Karen quits her job and breaks it off with Jed, and there is an altercation at a reception at Senator Russell's home. Karen tells Molly she will be making calls in her car to line up a new job and will meet her after the party. Molly is enjoying herself and does not feel like such an outsider. When she goes to meet Karen, she finds her dead in her car. The police feel it is a mugging gone wrong. Molly keeps digging into the murder with the help of an old high school friend and a co-worker of her niece Karen. Will Molly get in too deep and will there be a high price to pay to find the killer?

This was a very fast read for me, a real pager turner. I stayed up very late to finish this book --- I just needed to know what happened. Part mystery and part thriller - this is what I hope will be the first in a new series by Maggie Sefton. She knows Washington, DC and brought it to life for me. Molly is a very interesting character and I am sure that Ms. Sefton will be able to find some more murders for Molly to solve.