Tastes can change as a person ages. When I was young, the Doris Day movies when she starred with Rock Hudson or James Garner were okay and good for a laugh or two, and I certainly remember those mid-century modern clothes and interior design (even if I didn't care for them very much). Years passed, and Doris Day was no longer on my radar. Then I read the talented Diane Vallere's "Material Witness" cozy series and thought I'd give another of hers a try. I dove into The Decorator Who Knew Too Much, even though, up to that point, I'd been ignoring the Madison Night/Mad for Mod books because of their "too cute" covers. Now I love the covers that remind me of the McCall's and Simplicity patterns my grandmother used when she made all my clothes. I think Doris Day is an actress who had an amazing range and that she makes a perfect role model. What about the mid-century modern interior design? Well, you're never going to find it in my house, but I now have an appreciation for it, and I can absolutely love it when reading the books in this series.

I enjoyed Teacher's Threat a lot. It takes a good book to make me forget that I'm sitting in an Emergency Room waiting room, and this book did the trick. I didn't find the mystery aspect of the book overly taxing-- there were two secondary characters who stuck out like sore thumbs to me so I knew they were up to something-- but it was more than good enough to hold ER Funk at bay. The mystery also introduced me to two police officers named Ling Tsu and Sue Niedermeyer whose 99% rating on suspect confessions has led to a new saying at the Lakewood Police Department: You've been Sued. I definitely want to see more of these two in future books!

The cast of characters is far from static, and the character who's changed the most is Donna "Nasty" Nast. Well, that's not quite accurate. Nasty hasn't changed, it's just that readers have learned more about her as Madison has. Nasty may be abrasive. She may say exactly what's on her mind. Her conversation may not be littered with please's and thank you's, but that's not what really matters. This is one intelligent woman who's made a life and a successful business all by herself, and when your chips are down, this is one person you want on your side. Neither Nasty or Madison would ever want to admit how similar they are, but readers can just smile at them and feel indulgent.

What can really make me fall in love with these Madison Night mysteries is when Madison's creative juices start flowing. When her natural talents for design, for pulling things together start to percolate, these books can sing. The simple act of creation fires them up, and it doesn't make one molecule's difference that I don't care for mid-century modern design. Madison has the power to make her passion my passion, and that takes the kind of talent that will keep me coming back for more. I was thrilled when things began-- finally!-- to look up for Madison and her business!

Do you think the book covers are too cute? Get over it. Do you think Doris Day is a crazy choice for a role model? Get over it. Do you think mid-century modern clothing and interior design are ugly? Get over it. Because if you don't, you'll be missing out on an excellent, unique cozy mystery series with an intelligent heroine who will never go out of style. Hurry up and write the next one, please! ( )

“Teacher’s Threat” has a cute dog, Rocky, on the cover, so readers know immediately that this will be a fun read. The book is part of the “Mad for Mod Mystery” series featuring fashion and fun, with suspense thrown in for good measure; that is all any new reader needs to know to laugh along. The intrigue begins with the title; it is a “teacher’s threat” that starts people down a dangerous path of no return.
The story unfolds in Madison Night’s first person narrative. Readers learn about her life and her fabulous mid-century modern couture clothing; even her car is a classic blue Alfa Romeo. Night has accomplished a lot, but she has made some mistakes as well. Unfortunately her business is now like a broken-down car on the side of the road; she has to fix it or get a different car. To that end, she goes back to school, business school, to get her MBA where she faces an entirely different set of problems. College is a different world for Night what with students dressed in head-to-toe black Lycra, cropped sweatshirts, and neon pink sneakers, and using a vocabulary not familiar to a fifty-year-old. Events become dangerous and certainly illegal when Night finds her cantankerous professor dead in the college parking lot.
“Teacher’s Threat” is filled with characters who are focused yet spontaneous, funny then deadly serious, and driven but nevertheless adaptable; there is not a bystander in the bunch. Vallere perfectly balances comedy and tension to keep readers laughing and frantically turning the pages. Through all the ups and down in eight books, Madison Night has become a stronger, more confident, more determined person. The books are quick to read with unexpected events, and compelling relationships. Madison Night may wear mid-century modern clothes, but she has a twenty-first century attitude. ( )

Madison Knight has been going through a bit of a rough patch. While her mid-century fashion sense is still sound, her confidence is flagging. She still hasn’t gotten her business back up and running after her legal troubles, and she seems to be spinning in circles trying to figure out what to do. She needs inventory but for that she needs money, and the banks don’t think her unorthodox approach and business history – even though it was profitable from the start - meet their criteria for a loan, so she gets turned down again and again and again. She decides to go to night school and get an MBA – that will show those banks! They’ll realize she’s serious and educated, staying within the box, following the rules.

We realize long before she does that she already pretty much knows everything in these classes, although watching her get dressed for class and gather her accessories is as much fun as any adventure with Madison always is. The comments about how old she is to be a student never stop, and she’s mistaken for an assistant to the professor. Her fellow students aren’t exactly welcoming, and the professor for her Risk class is especially aggressive, using Madison’s business as the case study, humiliating her and goading her into angry retorts to his comments. However, the anger and introspection this Madison feels might be what’s needed to get the other Madison back, the one that created and ran that wildly successful business all on her own.

You know it can’t be that simple, though. When the professor dies practically right before her eyes she’s in the middle again. Her relationship with Tex has just started to come out in the open, but her refusal to back down and stop her amateur investigating puts a wedge between them. And watch out when Tex goes undercover and shows up in class.

Madison is the same, comfortable, familiar Madison we’ve come to know and love. But – she continues to surprise us with her growth, her self-discovery, her insistence on always taking the path she thinks is best, whether it’s the easiest way or not. Her relationship with Tex has continued to grow as well and there are some especially sweet moments between them. And some pretty funny ones, too. Like when she sets up a fake business for the Tex/Rex of Risk class so the students can take a field trip. We see Madison in her element. While it is fun to be transported to mid-century Doris Day Land by Madison’s clothes, accessories and furniture, we realize that while, yes, this mid-century approach is a great hook for her niche business, it is also really the essence of her; this is the real Madison. So of course we have fingers crossed and are chanting little prayers that she’ll get back on track and be happy, confident and her crazy self soon.

Thanks once again to author Diane Vallere for taking me on a wonderful, satisfying journey with Madison Knight. She really is such a likeable, well-developed character (as are all of Vallere’s in all her books) that she pulls me right into her world. The descriptions of her clothes are so vivid you can picture the outfits, and green Banlon top or white Orlon cardigan trimmed with a green leaf motif were looks I hadn’t pictured in years. I think I may have had some of those clothes! The plot moves quickly, dialogue is witty, danger feels real, and every once in a while a sentence like, “Nasty was self-interested in a way that would have made Ayn Rand proud,” makes me smiles and say oh, yes. I received an advance copy of Teacher’s Threat in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. I thoroughly enjoyed it and recommend it without hesitation. ( )