Carnival Chaos: Mom’s Whodunit Club
About
School fundraisers are supposed to be harmless… right?
Tess Casey signed up for the Ridgeville Elementary PTO to support her son, not to survive power-hungry committee presidents, designer-clad rival moms, and a week of carnival chaos. Between sticky cotton candy duty, petty politics, and her lifelong nemesis Catherine making every meeting miserable, Tess is already at her limit.
Then a fellow PTO mom turns up dead.
What started as small-town drama explodes into a full-blown murder investigation when Tess stumbles over the body at the carnival setup. Now the new sheriff is asking questions, the gossip mill is in overdrive, and every smiling parent suddenly looks like a potential suspect.
With her sharp-tongued best friends Gretchen and Val at her side, Tess can’t help poking her nose where it doesn’t belong. After all, in a town like Ridgeville, secrets don’t stay buried, and neither do grudges. As the “Mom’s Whodunit Club” begins untangling lies, flirtations, and long-simmering rivalries, Tess realizes the killer might be closer than anyone thinks… and the next PTA meeting could be murder.
Perfect for fans of funny, fast-paced cozy mysteries with strong female friendships, small-town secrets, and a dash of romance, Carnival Chaos is the charming and twisty start to a delightful new mystery series.
Praise for this book
Heather R. Maydak’s CARNIVAL CHAOS: Mom's Whodunit Club delivers a lively small-town mystery that blends comedy, friendship, and amateur sleuthing into a fast-paced whodunit. Set against the backdrop of a community school carnival, the novel follows Tess Casey and her friends Val and Gretchen as they stumble into a murder investigation that quickly entangles their town, reputation, and curiosity.
Maydak’s greatest strength lies in her ability to capture the tone of small-town life—complete with gossip, long-standing rivalries, and the complicated social hierarchy of school-parent organizations. Tess’s sarcastic voice anchors the narrative, particularly when describing her long-standing feud with the PTO president Catherine: “The only thing I had in common with Catherine was our mutual dislike of each other.” The line reflects the novel’s playful tone and establishes the sharp humor that runs throughout the story.