Maggie Sefton – Poisoned Politics

The second book in the Molly Malone Mystery series, published August 1, 2013.
Genre: mystery
Cover: shiny



Beltway doyenne Samantha Calhoun has learned many lessons in a lifetime of politics, and she relishes teaching certain young congressmen everything she knows. But when her latest fling, married U.S. Rep. Quentin Wilson, is found dead in Samantha’s home, she turns to longtime friend Molly Malone for support.
Putting to use her many well-positioned connections, Molly learns that Wilson had been researching a financial bill sponsored by a veiled coalition of politicians – the same bill that her niece Karen Grayson was investigating when she was murdered. Picking up the trail where Grayson and Wilson left off, Molly fears she will be the next victim of the shadowy cabal’s insatiable appetite for power.


This second book in the series takes place a few weeks after the first one, continuing with Molly Malone’s career as Senator Russell’s accountant and social hostess. Unfortunately, the book is not nearly as thrilling as the blurb makes us believe.

Molly’s best friend Samatha Calhoun, or Miss Thing as Molly calls her, is in trouble. She is having an affair with Quentin Wilson, and now some revealing pictures have been delivered to both their homes. Without a blackmail notice though, so they suspect Quentin’s wife is behind it. She is the one with the connections and the money, without her, he has no hope of being re-elected. And so they will have to break up their affair. Which is hard for Samantha, as this time her feelings are involved.
But when she finds Quentin’s dead body in her house the next morning (she spent the night elsewhere, while he would be collecting his things), trouble starts brewing for Samantha. She has made many enemies in the last decades, being the powerful woman in politics that she is. And they are now gloating about her downfall, and gossiping about her. Molly tries to do whatever she can to help her friend though, but she just won’t tell who she was spending the night with.

And the widow Wilson is not going easy either, trashing Samantha without naming her, but of course, the innuendo is enough. She is going for her husband’s seat, which is her right as his widow. But his staffers really dislike her, so they are looking for employment elsewhere in a hurry, like his right hand, Natasha Jorgenson, who was snatched up by Congresswoman Sally Chertoff.

Natasha tells Molly that Quentin was working on something that was not part of his job at all, something monetary. Loretta of the Congressional Research Service tells Molly that it was the same stuff her niece Karen was working on, before she was murdered, and this does make Molly start her own research again.


Still, not for one minute does Molly or any of her friends suspect murder in the death of the congressman, or the young man who supplied his drugs. Let alone the cabal she ran into in the first book. We do get lots of peeks into the thoughts and actions of the bad guys, but nothing is resolved or discovered in this book, so at the end I was thinking: why write this book when it gives no solutions or answers or discoveries plot wise? It is just filler. And although the drama with Samantha and the workings of American politics are intriguing to follow, I was missing a plot, something important, which I kept hoping would come.

Molly’s personal life is improving though, as her relationship with Danny goes to the next stage. Molly is a lot like Maggie Sefton’s other main character in the Knitting Mysteries though: they are both hardworking accountants who love numbers, they are addicted to coffee, and are cautious with their heart. And there is a lot of drinking beer and alcohol in this book.

And even though I did enjoy the book, I feel like this is only half a book. At this moment, feeling disappointed, I am not sure I will buy the next book, as those are twice as expensive as cozy mysteries.

6 stars.

© 2013 Reviews by Aurian