DENISE SWANSON – Murder of a Sleeping Beauty. Signet, paperback original; April 2002.

   As far as the recent crop of cozy mysteries goes (since the turn of the century) this may be one of the better written ones. Since Sleeping Beauty is the third of now nineteen in the series of crime-solving adventures of school psychologist Skye Denison, it is certainly among the ones that have run the longest.

   It does not hurt that Denison has a “real” job, not an extension of a hobby turned into a something hopefully more. It also does not hurt that Swanson can write, with plenty of witty asides about the life of a school psychologist, especially in regard to superiors as well as the students themselves — she was one for seventeen years.

   Dead in this book is one of Scumble River’s most popular seniors, a girl who was a cheerleader, had the leading role in the school’s upcoming play, and was the winner of many past beauty pageants. As expected, Swanson does not think well of the latter, especially the mothers who constantly push their children too fast and too far.

   The message is more important than the mystery, or so it seemed to me, but I am not among the target audience for books such as this, nor, I suspect are most regular readers of this blog, who probably are ill-equipped to handle mysteries in which the leading sleuth has had romantic relationships, mostly ill-fated, with the chief of police, the city coroner, and the new teacher on the staff.

   Pluses and minuses, therefore. You’ll just have to figure out which apply to you.