Big Nap

Smart, witty mystery from the author of Bad Mother and Love and Treasure...Juliet Applebaum is smart, fearless, and completely candid about life as a full-time mom with a penchant for part-time detective work.Sue GraftonEver since her four-month-old son was born, Juliet hasnt slept for more than fifteen minutes at a stretch. (Has she given birth to some sort of mutant vampire? Shes beginning to wonder.) Its been ages since she took her three-year-old daughter to the park. (Just one more reason why shes a front-runner for the Worst Mother of the Year award.) Her workaholic husband is spending way too much time with his perky, oh-so-pretty producing partner. (Juliets sure her own post-pregnancy pounds are at least partly to blame.) Shes started answering the door topless. (Dont even ask.) And now her sons babysittera beautiful young Chasidic womanhas vanished.Juliet cant help wondering if Fraydle was fleeing something even scarier than her screaming, squalling charge. Like her upcoming arranged marriage, maybe? Its certainly possible. Especially since Juliet saw her furtively chatting with a non-Chasidic man shortly before she disappeared. Or perhaps something much more sinister has occurred. Why else would Fraydles family be so reluctant to call in the police? To find out the truth, Juliet, with her over-tired kids in tow, will have to travel from her havoc-filled home in Los Angeles to a Chasidic encalve in Brooklyn. In search of answers. In pursuit of justice. And in desperate need of a big, long napAyelet Waldman is the author of Love and Other Impossible Pursuits and other acclaimed works of both fiction and nonfiction, as well as the Mommy-Track Mysteries, including such titles as Nursery Crimes and A Playdate with Death.