Murdering Mr. Monti

by Judith Viorst

This is a romp - the comic, over-the-top story of Brenda Kovner, a middle-aged, middle-class married woman who tells us, in the first paragraph and in the first person, that, though she is not the murdering kind, "I am planning to kill Mr. Monti because he is doing harm to my family." Unlikely? Well, she also tells us she isn't the kind to sleep with three different men within twenty-four hours. "And since I indeed did do that, I might indeed be able to murder Mr. Monti.". Murder, mayhem, and motherhood are hilariously woven together in this novel by bestselling author Judith Viorst. Brenda (a syndicated newspaper columnist, compulsive advice-giver, and possessor of what she likes to call "a profound grasp of the human condition") lives in Washington, D.C., with her pediatric-surgeon husband Jake, possessor of great thighs, a gorilla suit, and a mounting irritation with Brenda's "helpful" intrusions. Other characters include the burly, bullying Joseph Monti; his neurotic daughter Josep