Living With Your Kids is Murder

by: Mike Befeler

Published by: Five Star

Reviewed by Shawn Remfrey

In Retirement Homes are Murder, we meet Paul Jacobson, a codgy old fellow of 84. Paul has a serious short-term memory problem, and every time he falls asleep he forgets everything we knew since the year 2000 began. He awakens every day with no idea of where he is and what he’s doing there. He doesn’t let that get him down though.

In this second book, we find Paul on his way to live with his son’s family in Colorado. On the flight there, the man in the seat next to him is murdered, and of course Paul becomes the prime suspect. When the police come to question him the next day, he has no idea what they’re talking about. One murder leads to another and Paul becomes the prime suspect for both murders. Just when you think thinks couldn’t get much worse for poor old Paul, he is accused of several various crimes and ends up in serious romantic trouble!
Paul and his spunky granddaughter set out to clear his name on all accounts. How hard can it be for an octogenarian with little memory and a twelve-year old girl?

Author Mike Befeler is a genius. Paul Jacobson is written with such skill and grace that I found myself wanting to bake him the best darn cake I could. He’s witty, engaging, and full of the lamest jokes you could imagine. The fact that he keeps re-meeting people only adds to his charm. And the romantic entanglements! How a man can get so many hot young women hankering after him when he can’t even remember meeting them, totally eludes me. I found it absolutely fascinating!

Most of the mystery part of the story is pretty easy to figure out, which is usually a huge turnoff in a book for me. In this book, however, I found that I didn’t even care that I had solved the crimes. They were so varied and preposterous that I gladly gobbled them up.

Armchair Interviews says: This mystery is all character based, and wonderful characters to boot.

Author’s Web site: http://www.MikeBefeler.com