Rating: 
Summary: Cheap mind candy
Review: The "Mommy-Track" mysteries are less than lightweight entertainment. Like butter-flavored popcorn and orange soda at the movie theater, they seem to taste good going down, but they inevitably lead to a stomachache. The writing is uninspired and downright sloppy in places, and Juliet Applebaum is just not that likeable. I'm guessing that Waldman expects to find a niche with female readers who share some of her protagonist's ambivalence about stay-at-home-motherhood. But when the public defender turned reluctant stay-at-home mom turned amateur sleuth settled her preschool daughter in front of PBS for the umpteenth time while she called former colleagues, surfed the net, and visited convicts (all in the name of solving the murder of a woman she had met exactly once!), Waldman lost me.In The Big Nap, Juliet breaks down in a Jewish grocery store, the hapless victim of sleep deprivation. The store tender suggests that her niece babysit for the distraught mother a few hours each morning. The beautiful young babysitter performs her duties exactly once, then disappears. Of course, Juliet is compelled to solve the mystery of the girl's disappearance - with her four-month-old son and preschool daughter in tow. Bleah. Too many scenes of Juliet "struggling into black leggings." Too many scenes in which the former lawyer leaves her young children in the car (!) while she talks to her leads. Too much television-as-babysitter. And the dialogue between the protagonist and her husband left me wondering how we were to believe this fictional couple made their children. I love a little mind candy now and then, just love it. But this wasn't M&Ms, folks. It was the stuff that the neighbors you don't like give out on Halloween - cheap, stale, hardly worth opening.
Rating: 
Summary: A Fast and Entertaining Read
Review: The Big Nap is the second novel in Waldman's Mommy-Track mysteries, and is as cute as the first one. Juliet Applebaum, former public defender, Harvard Law school graduate, full-time mom and part-time detective finds herself entangled in yet another adventure. After her new babysitter disappears, Juliet attempts to find some answers, while juggling her two kids, her possibly errant husband, and her insecurities about herself and motherhood. The book races from one scene to the next, making for a fast and amusing read and leaving no time for boredom. The book ends with a rather shocking and poignant finale, with all the loose ends neatly tied together. Alongside the mystery at the heart of the book, Waldman touches on serious themes including arranged marriages, conservative Judaism, and homosexuality. She still manages to retain the light-heartedness of the book, and she neither gets too preachy nor turns the novel into a morality play. She manages, mostly successfully, to intersperse humour alongside some of the more serious issues dealt with in the novel. If you're looking for a fast-paced mystery, with lots of comic relief, yet still dealing with important themes (if a little superficially), this is definitely the book for you.
Rating: 
Summary: Adorable and fun
Review: The other reviews give you a fairly good taste of the plot, so I'll not bore you with that. I came to this book from the other side of things -- while I've never been a mystery reader, I'm a nursing mommy, so of course I was immediately attracted to Juliet, who nurses, mothers and sleuths with wit and style, despite the occasional sleep-deprived faux pas (like opening the door for the Fed Ex man wearing nothing from the waist up but a nursing bra with the flaps open). This is tasty, fun stuff, a fast-paced quick read with a surprise ending. Just the thing for a mommy who's trying to actually read a book despite the infant and the toddler snapping at her heels.
Rating:
Summary: Adorable and fun
Review: The other reviews give you a fairly good taste of the plot, so I'll not bore you with that. I came to this book from the other side of things -- while I've never been a mystery reader, I'm a nursing mommy, so of course I was immediately attracted to Juliet, who nurses, mothers and sleuths with wit and style, despite the occasional sleep-deprived faux pas (like opening the door for the Fed Ex man wearing nothing from the waist up but a nursing bra with the flaps open). This is tasty, fun stuff, a fast-paced quick read with a surprise ending. Just the thing for a mommy who's trying to actually read a book despite the infant and the toddler snapping at her heels.
Rating:
Summary: Funny and entertaining "Mommy-Track" mystery
Review: The protagonist of Ayelet Waldman's "The Big Nap" is Juliet Applebaum, a graduate of Harvard Law and a former public defender. After marrying the love of her life, Peter, she moves to Los Angeles. Unfortunately, Juliet rarely sees Peter anymore, since he is busy most of the time developing a television pilot. Juliet is now a stay-at-home mom, who dearly loves her adorable three-year-old daughter, Ruby, and her four-month-old son, Isaac. However, Juliet is suffering from acute sleep deprivation, leaking nipples and a lack of adult conversation. So what's an overtired and understimulated mother to do? Butt into other people's business, of course! Juliet delves into the diappearance of an eighteen-year-old Chasidic girl named Fraydle Finkelstein, who baby sat for Juliet's kids on one occasion, and who then disappeared without a trace. Juliet uses her investigative powers, her contacts from her working days as a lawyer, and her innate nosiness to solve the question of what happened to Fraydle. Did the girl run away to avoid an arranged marriage she didn't want? Or did something more sinister happen to her? Since her parents refuse to report Freydle's disappearance to the police, Juliet feels that it is her duty to investigate. When Juliet visits her mother and father in New Jersey, she even takes a side trip to Borough Park, Brooklyn. She interviews Freydle's prospective bridegroom, and little by little, she fits the pieces together until, voila, she solves the crime. Waldman has a wry and clever sense of humor, and there are many laugh-out-loud passages in "The Big Nap." In fact, the first page has such a funny scene that I laughed out loud on a public bus and drew puzzled looks from my fellow passengers. Waldman's takes on breastfeeding, sleep-and-husband deprivation, weight gain after pregnancy and a mother's love-hate relationship with her small children are not only funny but real. The mystery is not too believable, nor is it realistic that any Chasid would give Juliet the time of day, much less reveal any inside information to her. However, the conceit of mysteries like this is that people talk to the investigator, even if she has no business asking any questions in the first place. However, Waldman nicely describes some of the dynamics of the Chasidic community from the vantage point of a non-Orthodox Jew. The mystery is engrossing, if somewhat far-fetched, and you could do worse than spend an afternoon with the amusing Juliet Applebaum, mommy and sleuth.
Rating:
Summary: Funny and entertaining "Mommy-Track" mystery
Review: The protagonist of Ayelet Waldman's "The Big Nap" is Juliet Applebaum, a graduate of Harvard Law and a former public defender. After marrying the love of her life, Peter, she moves to Los Angeles. Unfortunately, Juliet rarely sees Peter anymore, since he is busy most of the time developing a television pilot. Juliet is now a stay-at-home mom, who dearly loves her adorable three-year-old daughter, Ruby, and her four-month-old son, Isaac. However, Juliet is suffering from acute sleep deprivation, leaking nipples and a lack of adult conversation. So what's an overtired and understimulated mother to do? Butt into other people's business, of course! Juliet delves into the diappearance of an eighteen-year-old Chasidic girl named Fraydle Finkelstein, who baby sat for Juliet's kids on one occasion, and who then disappeared without a trace. Juliet uses her investigative powers, her contacts from her working days as a lawyer, and her innate nosiness to solve the question of what happened to Fraydle. Did the girl run away to avoid an arranged marriage she didn't want? Or did something more sinister happen to her? Since her parents refuse to report Freydle's disappearance to the police, Juliet feels that it is her duty to investigate. When Juliet visits her mother and father in New Jersey, she even takes a side trip to Borough Park, Brooklyn. She interviews Freydle's prospective bridegroom, and little by little, she fits the pieces together until, voila, she solves the crime. Waldman has a wry and clever sense of humor, and there are many laugh-out-loud passages in "The Big Nap." In fact, the first page has such a funny scene that I laughed out loud on a public bus and drew puzzled looks from my fellow passengers. Waldman's takes on breastfeeding, sleep-and-husband deprivation, weight gain after pregnancy and a mother's love-hate relationship with her small children are not only funny but real. The mystery is not too believable, nor is it realistic that any Chasid would give Juliet the time of day, much less reveal any inside information to her. However, the conceit of mysteries like this is that people talk to the investigator, even if she has no business asking any questions in the first place. However, Waldman nicely describes some of the dynamics of the Chasidic community from the vantage point of a non-Orthodox Jew. The mystery is engrossing, if somewhat far-fetched, and you could do worse than spend an afternoon with the amusing Juliet Applebaum, mommy and sleuth.
Rating:
Summary: Whodunnit !
Review: This book caught my eye because it somwhat delves into the Chasidic communities of L.A and New York. The book was a fast moving,light read. I did find myself compelled to read on to find out who killed the young Chasidic babysitter. My only complaint is I agree some other reviewers, most of it was unbelievable ( all the characters were SO willing to help our sleuth out, all detectives should be so lucky) and the ending left me thinking it even more unrealistic. But I guess sometimes unrealistic things can happen in real life too. Too much of it just feel into place too easily, it got rather hokey. But all in all I would have to say its worth my rating.
Rating: 
Summary: Short mystery for "Mommie interuptis"
Review: This tiny paperback is perfect for someone who finds themselves interrupted constantly, having to drop the book in the middle of a three-page chapter to attend to a boo boo or to mend a teddy. That said, this book could easily be read in one sitting. The character is likable, even when she shines the spotlight so harshly on her insecurities (being fat in LA four months after giving birth to the baby that won't sleep.) The mystery itself has to be taken with a grain of salt - you can almost here the author at one point debating, "now how can I get her to go down in the basement all by herself," and some plot devices are pretty convoluted. But even if you don't like the book, you won't have to devote a lot of time to it.
Rating:
Summary: I loved this book!
Review: This was a perfect blend of motherhood, mystery, and humor. I started giggling on the first page and just enjoyed it all the way through. Looking forward to more mysteries by this author!
Rating:
Summary: Cute Who Done It!
Review: Waldman writes an enjoyable soft mystery. It is an easy read and a lot of fun. She can truly describe how overwhelming and exasperating it can be to be a young mother, while, at the same time, weave a good mystery. Thanks!
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