‘I Murdered the PTA’ a quirky, funny mystery

If you’ve ever sat through an excruciatingly boring PTA meeting, you’ll be able to relate to author Wendy Dager’s debut novel, “I Murdered the PTA — A Daphne Lee-Lee Misadventure.”

Daphne Lee-Lee is not your typical PTA mom. She is something of a social misfit who prefers vintage bowling shirts and boots to typical housewife sweatpants and sneakers. The 32-year-old Chinese-American has recently lost her husband, Jack, and now is doing the best she can to get by and raise her two daughters.

Daphne's a rocker chick who loves singing with her punk band, Bob’s Brain Freeze, but she tries to conform occasionally, for her daughters’ sakes, and attends a PTA meeting or two — mostly to prove to the snooty women in town that she is a good mom.

But there was one PTA meeting that Daphne probably would have been better off missing — the one where an explosion in the cafetorium takes out the entire PTA board, except for Daphne. As the only survivor (and main suspect), Daphne now has to scramble to clear her name and it’s up to her, her kooky family and friends to find the killer before she is the next victim.

This novel is a quirky and funny cozy mystery populated by a group of characters that many will find endearing and charming. I love strong female heroines, and Daphne Lee-Lee — rock ’n’ roll mom extraordinaire — is an absolute joy. This gal has sass, attitude and a heart of gold.

The mystery of the story is lively and intriguing, and the scrapes that Daphne finds herself in are breathtaking and guaranteed to keep readers on the edge of their seats.

I can’t wait to see more of Daphne's misadventures and hope Wendy Dager will gift her readers with more fun and mischief soon.