A Playdate With Death: 05/31/21

A Playdate With Death by Ayelet Waldman is the third mystery in the Mommy-Track mystery series. Juliet has some time to herself where she works out with a personal trainer. On the day of her appointment she finds out that he's dead of a suspected suicide.

In commiserating with his coworkers she discovers that he was Jewish. She learns some other personal things about him and decides things don't add up. He had too many irons in the fire for a man who would kill himself. So she decides to investigate.

What unfolds is one of the saddest, emotionally wrenching mysteries I've read in a long time. It involves adoption, anti-semitism, and a gross misunderstanding of genetics that is used to justify all the other actions.

With this book being nineteen years old, I was also glad I hadn't read it when it was newly published. Bobby was written to be only six months older than I am. Ian and I both had the genetic testing that led to all of Bobby's troubles and for the real reason he ended up a carrier. Juliet's youngest child is two years older than my oldest. 2002 was a stressful and emotional time for me and I think this book would have absolutely devastated me.

The fourth book is Death Gets A Time-Out (2003).

Five stars

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