Housewife Assassin’s Handbook by Josie Brown

The Housewife Assassin’s Handbook was such a good idea for a short Saturday Night Live skit that I grabbed it, and enjoyed the quixotic juxtaposition of the two sacred callings (motherhood and murder).  I mean, how often do you see the two together as they should be? Not nearly often enough, it turns out: there are eight books in the series (eight?  SERIES?) and no, I’m not kidding.  No, not even a little:

The Housewife Assassin’s Killer Christmas Tips
The Housewife Assassin’s Relationship Survival Guide
The Housewife Assassin’s Vacation to Die For
The Housewife Assassin’s Recipes for Disaster
The Housewife Assassin’s Hollywood Scream Play
The Housewife Assassin’s Deadly Dossier

I do get it, based upon the first book.  It’s the perfect fantasy for any suburban mom: sexy(!) mom with time to kill(!!), a mystery or two, handsome men vying for her affections (complete with steamy sex scenes) and successful mothering of near-perfect children. 

You know, I could have bought the whole premise right up until then.