In Save Me, Lisa Scottoline opens with a typical suburban scene Friday lunch in the school cafeteria that goes tragically awry, leaving mom Rose McKenna with an impossible choice: To save the life of her own daughter, Melly, or to rescue the girls who have been bullying Melly. Though the plot gets a little tangled and the prose sometimes crawls, narrator Cynthia Nixon best known as Miranda on Sex and the City keeps the story moving and the widespread cast of characters interesting.

When an explosion in the cafeteria kitchen sets the school on fire, Rose attempts to save both the bullies and her daughter and she thinks she’s succeeded, until one of the girls is found in the school, near death, and ends up in the ICU. The other mothers band together to harass the McKennas and a tenacious reporter starts digging into Rose’s background both of which throw Rose’s carefully-constructed suburban life into shambles and inspire her to track down the cause of the explosion.

The story starts out strong, raising smart, thought-provoking questions about how far parents should go to protect other children, the safety procedures in place at schools, and the powerful effect bullies of all ages can have on a family. But as it progresses, plotlines about corporate espionage, lifelong secrets, scandalous affairs, murder, and nut allergies cloud the original focus. Even as the story begins to drag, though, Nixon brings it to life. Her gentle narration draws listeners into the tangled plots, and her range of voices which include a third-grader suffering from smoke inhalation, a fast-talking young teacher, a perky reporter, drawling construction workers, company thugs, outraged mothers, and even a gurgling baby is impressive. She navigates the turning points in Rose’s life with genuine emotion, and leaves listeners with a powerful end product. Blythe Copeland