Great Escapes Book Tours Book Review: Checked Out For Murder

Checked Out for Murder: A Haunted Library Mystery by Allison Brook

About Checked Out for Murder

 

Checked Out for Murder: A Haunted Library Mystery 

Cozy Mystery 4th in Series Publisher: Crooked Lane Books (September 8, 2020) 

Hardcover: 320 pages 

ISBN-10: 164385447X

ISBN-13: 978-1643854472 Digital ASIN: B082738ZNV 

Carrie Singleton and Evelyn the ghost sleuth the slayings of a starlet and a star-crossed psychic in Agatha Award nominee Allison Brook's fourth Haunted Library mystery.

 

Daphne Marriott strolls into Clover Ridge and informs librarian Carrie Singleton that she's a psychic. But had she foreseen what fate awaited her, Daphne would have steered clear of the quaint Connecticut town. Evelyn, the library ghost, tells Carrie that there's more to Daphne than she lets on.

 

The mysterious woman grew up in Clover Ridge with her no-good dad, who apparently met his end at the hands of Daphne's brother, Billy. Still, Daphne proves a welcome distraction when Carrie's overbearing mother hits town. Mom's much younger husband, Tom, is in a movie that's lensing locally, and she's there to keep an eye on him: Tom's costar, sultry Ilana Reingold, is also his ex-fiancée, and there's no denying the chemistry is still there. Soon after mingling with the moviemakers at a meet-and-greet, Daphne is found dead.

 

Carrie and Evelyn investigate, assisted by bushy-tailed library cat Smoky Joe. But the suspect list could overflow the library shelves. Has Billy killed another relative? Is their long-missing mother involved? Or Daphne's mean ex-husband? Carrie's sure she knows who committed the crime, but can she bind together the clues before the culprit Dewey-decimates the town?

Review:  This is my first haunted library mystery and I have to say I really enjoyed it. I always love going to a cozy mystery after reading a rather heavy book.

Its got a bit of a paranormal twist with a ghost in the library, kind of like a Casper type ghosts who helps Carrie along with her sleuthing.

Carrie is dealing with her mother and step father who are in town making a movie. Plus her stepfather is staring in the movie with his ex fiancee. So there's a lot of drama there.

Two deaths occur during the making of the movie, one a recent arrival to town and the other one of the films stars.

I was really shocked by how little sleuthing Carrie actually did and how well the murders were connected as the book went on and for awhile how almost everyone was a suspect.

It was also interesting to see Carrie's relationship with her mom and her new husband. I have to say these are people I wouldn't want to claim as relations to me at any point.

I have to admit there was one character that I really wanted to be the killer buy wasn't.

The ending was definitely a twist especially in how the killer was related to one of the victims.

It was a light and enjoyable read.

Rating 4 flowers

 

About Allison Brook

A former Spanish teacher, Marilyn Levinson writes mysteries, romantic suspense, and novels for kids. Her books have received many accolades. As Allison Brook she writes the Haunted Library series. DEATH OVERDUE, the first in the series, was an Agatha nominee for Best Contemporary Novel in 2018. Other mysteries include the Golden Age of Mystery Book Club series and the Twin Lakes series.

Author Links Website: http://www.marilynlevinson.com Amazon: http://bit.ly/Amazon_MarilynLevinson Facebook: http://bit.ly/MarilynLevinson_Facebook Goodreads: http://bit.ly/Goodreads_MarilynLevinson Twitter: @MarilynLevinson; @AllisonBrookML  Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/marilev/ BookBub:   https://www.bookbub.com/profile/allison-brook BookBub:  https://www.bookbub.com/authors/marilyn-levinson Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marilev4/ Purchase Links - Amazon - B&N - Kobo - IndieBound a Rafflecopter giveaway TOUR PARTICIPANTS September 8 – The Avid Reader - REVIEW, INDIVIDUAL GIVEAWAY September 8 – Literary Gold – CHARACTER GUEST POST September 8 – Author Elena Taylor's Blog – SPOTLIGHT September 9 – I'm All About Books – SPOTLIGHT, RECIPE September 9 – Diane Reviews Books – REVIEW September 9 – Cassidy's Bookshelves – SPOTLIGHT September 10 – That's What She's Reading - GUEST POST September 10 – Brooke Blogs – SPOTLIGHT September 10 – Paranormal and Romantic Suspense Reviews – SPOTLIGHT September 11 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT September 11 – My Reading Journeys – REVIEW September 11 – My Journey Back - CHARACTER INTERVIEW September 11 – View from the Birdhouse – REVIEW September 12 – MJB Reviewers – REVIEW September 12 – Here's How It Happened – SPOTLIGHT September 13 – Cozy Up With Kathy - REVIEW, CHARACTER GUEST POST September 13 – Christy's Cozy Corners – REVIEW September 13 – Read Your Writes Book Reviews – AUTHOR INTERVIEW September 14 – Angel's Guilty Pleasures - CHARACTER INTERVIEW September 14 – Maureen's Musings – SPOTLIGHT September 14 – Celticlady's Reviews – SPOTLIGHT September 15 – Books a Plenty Book Reviews - REVIEW, CHARACTER GUEST POST September 15 – Mysteries with Character – AUTHOR INTERVIEW September 15 – Ebook addicts – REVIEW September 16 – Socrates Book Reviews – REVIEW September 16 – Reading Is My SuperPower - REVIEW, INDIVIDUAL GIVEAWAY September 17 – Ruff Drafts – REVIEW September 17 – Reading, Writing & Stitch-Metic – SPOTLIGHT September 17 – A Chick Who Reads – REVIEW September 18 – Ascroft, eh? - AUTHOR INTERVIEW September 18 – I Read What You Write – GUEST POST September 18 – Melina's Book Blog – REVIEW   Have you signed up to be a Tour Host? Click Here Find Details and Sign Up Today!

Great Escapes Book Tours: A Crafter Quilts A Crime

A Crafter Quilts a Crime: A Handcrafted Mystery

by Holly Quinn

About A Crafter Quilts A Crime

A Crafter Quilts a Crime: A Handcrafted Mystery

Cozy Mystery

3rd in Series

Publisher: Crooked Lane Books (February 11, 2020)

Hardcover

ISBN-10: 1643852906

ISBN-13: 978-1643852904

Kindle ASIN: B07RTMXRK8

Perfect for fans of Betty Hechtman and Maggie Sefton, Holly Quinn's third Handcrafted mystery aspires to wrap you in its warmth.

Community Craft proprietor Sammy Kane must piece together a patchwork of clues when a "live" mannequin ends up stone-cold dead.

Snowcapped pines and glittery dusted sidewalks adorn tranquil Heartsford, Wisconsin, while residents cuddle beneath heirloom quilts in front of cozy wood fires. But come the next day, the below-zero temperatures won't keep the locals away from Heartsford's annual Fire & Ice event. To boost customer traffic at Community Craft's one-night-only sale, Samantha "Sammy" Kane persuades a few of the craftspeople who sell their wares at the store to participate in a live mannequin window display contest.

Local quilter Wanda Wadsworth emerges as a favorite to win the contest, as she manages to not move a muscle for an unusual amount of time. Onlookers outside the window try everything to get her to crack--tapping on the glass and making funny faces--but nothing disrupts Wanda's stillness. When the eagle-eyed spectators realize Wanda isn't breathing, a blanket of grief and fear descends upon the wintry town.

Detective Liam Nash can't seem to piece the clues together. Fortunately, Sammy's cousin, Heidi, and her sister, Ellie, are on hand to reconvene their detective team, S.H.E. They set out to solve Wanda's untimely death before the case grows as icy as a sub-zero Wisconsin winter. But they are all too aware that the killer is too close for comfort.

Review: The Handcrafted Mystery series is a new to me series. This is book three in the series which is set in Wisconsin.

I really enjoyed the winter themed mystery, especially since winter in PA has been mostly nonexistent this year.

The group of sleuths includes 2 sisters and a cousin, together the are known as the S.H.E.'s. Sammy, Heidi and Ellie. Too cute.

What I love about cozy mysteries is the same as what I love about romance, its a form of escape because lets face it, if things happened like they do in books, well that wouldn't say much for our law enforcement and it definitely means our crime rates are lousy in all these small towns.

I had a bit of an issue with Sammy's over-reaching the law here. No cop wouldn't have hauled them in for what they did early on.

I love how they stuck together to find out what really happened to Wanda. There were so many different avenues this could have gone down. Ms. Quinn really kept you guessing until the very end.

Oh and some of the food that Ellie makes will have your mouth watering. Thank goodness there are recipes at the end of the book.

All mysteries aside, I love that there is a touch of romance going on here for 2 of the S.H.E.s as well. I don't want to spoil anything but the ending is just wonderful!

I can't wait to read more of this series.

Rating: 4 flowers

About Holly Quinn

Holly Quinn has published two stand-alone fiction novels in another persona. She graduated from Carroll University in Wisconsin with a Bachelor of Science in business and a minor in marketing. This is her second Handcrafted mystery. Visit her @ www.authorhollyquinn.com

Author Links – 

Website – www.authorhollyquinn.com

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/HollyQuinnbooks/

GoodReads – https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7940795.Holly_Quinn

Purchase Links – Amazon – B&N – BAM – IndieBound – Powell’s Books – Walmart 

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Great Escapes Book Tours Book Review: Playing With Bonbon Fire

Playing With Bonbon Fire: A Southern Chocolate Shop Mystery by Dorothy St. James

About the Book

Playing With Bonbon Fire: A Southern Chocolate Shop Mystery 

Cozy Mystery 2nd in Series Crooked Lane Books (March 13, 2018) 

Hardcover: 352 pages 

ISBN-13: 978-1683314684 

Digital ASIN: B074MBXLWX

Chocoholic Charity Penn must smoke out the killer to stop her newly inherited beachside chocolate shop from going up in flames in Dorothy St. James’ decadent follow-up to Asking for Truffle.

Chocolate shop owner Charity Penn is finally settling into life in the quirky South Carolina seaside town of Camellia Beach cooking up chocolate treats. She’s even helped organize the town’s lively beach music festival which has brought rollicking crowds eager to dance the Carolina shag. That is, until one of the band’s lead singers is found dead beside a beach bonfire.

While also trying to balance the amorous attention of music star Bixby Lewis, in town for the festival, and her quest to perfect a new hot flavored bonbon, Charity dives into the investigation. Though it’s more spice than sugar when she discovers a threatening note, comes across decades of age-old secrets, and Bixby comes into the line of fire when a gas grill explodes on the deck of a beachfront house.

Now Charity must turn up the heat and catch the killer before her chance melts away in Playing With Bonbon Fire, the delightful second Southern Chocolate Shop mystery served up just right for fans of JoAnna Carl and Joanne Fluke.

Review: Playing with Bonbon Fire is book two is the second book in the Southern Chocolate Shop Mystery series.

I missed the first book in the series, but I hope to soon rectify that situation. I really liked the premise of this series and Charity aka Penn and her friends are truly fabulous. In this book she is setting up a music festival, but when a singer is found dead Charity starts investigating as the fingers start to point at people that she's close too.

Charity is still trying to find her footing in Camellia Beach and as the book starts, she's still trying to learn her grandmother's chocolate business and not doing well at that part. She's also trying to learn some of the secrets from her own history. That history being, who her mother is. Then there's the matter of her whole family being idiots, with the exception of her half sister, Tina.

Then there's rocker Bixby. All the girl's are in love with him, but wow, he's more than a bit of a jerk and you see more and more of that as the story progresses. He's dated Tina, but now Tina thinks he may be a good guy for Penn to hook up with. Oye vey. He also wants to acquire a song from one of the local bands that are performing, The Embers.

While people close to all the bands, and Penn, seem to be getting closer to being the next victim, Penn is also working on her very own bonbon. (Since she is having trouble with her grandmother's recipes)

The murder mystery and the mystery surrounding Penn's mother intertwine nicely, which really makes for a good story. It also allows Penn to become closer to more people in the town.

I look forward to seeing how this series progresses.

Rating 5 flowers

About the Author

Mystery author Dorothy St. James was born in New York but raised in South Carolina. She makes her home on an artsy island community in South Carolina with her husband, a neurotic dog, and fluffy cat. Though writing has always been a passion for her, she pursued an undergraduate degree in Wildlife Biology and a graduate degree in Public Administration and Urban Planning. She put her educational experience to use, having worked in all branches and all levels of government including local, regional, state, and federal. She even spent time during college working for a non-profit environmental watchdog organization.

Switching from government service and community planning to fiction writing wasn't as big of a change as some might think. Her government work was all about the stories of the people and the places where they live. As an urban planner, Dorothy loved telling the stories of the people she met. And from that, her desire to tell the tales that were so alive in her heart grew until she could not ignore it any longer. In 2001, she took a leap of faith and pursued her dream of writing fiction full-time.

Known for the White House Gardener Mystery series, Dorothy is going back to her roots and setting a mystery series in a Southern beach town much like the one she’s called home for the past 20 years. The Southern Chocolate Shop Mysteries combine her love of fine chocolates, quirky Southern charm, with a dash of danger.

* Dorothy St. James is the alter-ego of the award-winning multi-published author, Dorothy McFalls. She enjoys writing in several different genres. Her works have been nominated for many awards including Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award, Reviewers International Organization Award, National Reader's Choice Award, CataRomance Reviewers' Choice Award, and The Romance Reviews Today Perfect 10! Award. Reviewers have called her work: "amazing", "perfect", "filled with emotion", and "lined with danger."

Author Links Website: www.dorothystjames.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/dorothystjames Twitter: www.twitter.com/dorothymcfalls Purchase Links Indie Bound Amazon Kobo Google Play Barnes & Noble a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book Review: A Deadly Eclair

Author: Daryl Wood Gerber
Title: A Deadly Eclair
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
Publish Date: November 7, 2017
Buy: Amazon
Book Blurb: It’s always been Mimi Rousseau’s dream to open her own bistro, but it seems beyond her grasp since she’s been chased back home to Nouvelle Vie in Napa Valley by her late husband’s tremendous debt. Until her best friend Jorianne James introduces her to entrepreneur Bryan Baker who invests in promising prospects. Now, working the bistro and inn until she’s able to pay it off and call it her own, Mimi is throwing the inn’s first wedding ever.

The wedding will be the talk of the town, as famous talk show host Angelica Edmonton, daughter of Bryan’s half-brother, Edison, has chosen the inn as her perfect venue. Anxious, Mimi is sure things are going to turn south, especially when Edison gets drunk and rowdy at the out-of-towners’ dinner, but by the evening, things begin to look up again. That is until six AM rolls around, and Bryan is found dead at the bistro with an éclair stuffed in his mouth. And the fingers point at Mimi, whose entire loan is forgiven in Bryan’s will.

Now it’s up to Mimi to clear her name and get to the bottom of things before the killer turns up the heat again in A Deadly Éclair, the scrumptious series debut by Agatha Award-winning author Daryl Wood Gerber.


Review: A Deadly Eclair is the first book in a new series by Daryl Wood Gerber. It gets two thumbs up from me.  The setting is a bed and breakfast and bistro in the Napa Valley. The description of the area makes you long to be there and eat all the glorious food.

Mimi is a great cozy heroine. She's smart and curious and she seems to find trouble at every turn. The wedding that is the focal point of the start of the novel sees Mimi's friend and mentor dead outside the bistro.

There are so many characters that easily could have been the killer, and for awhile, Mimi is a suspect too.  I've never read a story where so many people that were family had so little trust in one another. Angelica's fiance's family really had some issues. Lots and lots of issues.

Mimi also has a possible love interest in the hunky Nash, who has women all over him including an ex-wife that doesn't want to be an ex-wife. I'm not sure how I feel about him, but there are definitely sparks between the two of them.

The book combines a great mystery with an even better introduction to all the characters that you'll be seeing more of in future books.

The resolution to the mystery was an interesting twist that I didn't totally see coming.

I can't wait to see how this series develops

Rating: 5 flowers

Great Escapes Book Tours Book Review: Cat Got Your Secrets

Cat Got Your Secrets: A Kitty Couture Mystery by Julie Chase

 

Cat Got Your Secrets: A Kitty Couture Mystery Cozy Mystery 3rd in Series Crooked Lane Books (September 12, 2017) Hardcover: 320 pages ISBN-13: 978-1683312833 E-Book ASIN: B06XVWR8Q9

Lacy Marie Crocker has settled into a comfortable groove back home in New Orleans, and with Valentine’s Day right around the corner, she’s busier than ever running a thriving pet boutique, helping her mother organize the upcoming National Pet Pageant, and untangling her complicated love life. But when delivering a king-sized order of dreidel-shaped doggy biscuits for a Saint Berdoodle’s bark-mitzvah, Lacy stumbles into yet another murder scene—and the last person to see the victim alive was her own father.

It’s up to Lacy to clear her dad’s name from the suspect list before Detective Jack Oliver has to cage him for good. But just when she starts pawing at the truth, she receives a threatening letter from a mysterious blackmailer bent on silencing her with her own secrets. And Lacy’s not the only one with bones in her closet.

Review: Cat Got Your Secrets is the third Kitty Couture book. This series really gets better with each book. This is one of the few series that I've been able to follow from the start, and I'm really glad I have.

Things are a little better with Lacy and her mom. They have a very interesting relationship and even if you haven't read books one and two in the series, you'll see that in the first few pages.  Mom definitely wants Lacy to be something she's not, a society lady. She can be very annoying and its easy to see why Lacy had left home

This time Lacy is working to keep her Dad out of jail, when he becomes the prime suspect in the murder of his friend. Her dad is definitely not the type you'd expect to be a suspect in a killing. He's very mild mannered, in fact, it is hard to believe that he's married to her mom.

Lacy is doing everything to try to find the killer, and it is landing her in trouble too.  She almost ends up with a restraining order and then there are the blackmail letters. (She's not the only one getting them either)

Her relationship with Chase seems to be growing too and the same goes for Jack. I'm not a huge fan of love triangles in cozy mystery series, especially when both guys are great, but I do like Chase and Jack. Its three books in and I can't really say whose team I'm on, I like both guys.

There were so many people that could have killed Walter Becker. I liked the fact that sleuthing didn't exactly get the case solved.

This is a fabulous addition to this series!

Rating: 5 flowers

About The Author

Julie Chase is a mystery-loving pet enthusiast who hopes to make readers smile. She lives in rural Ohio with her husband and three spunky children. Julie is a member of the International Thriller Writers, Romance Writers of America, and Sisters in Crime. She is represented by Jill Marsal of Marsal Lyon Literary Agency.Julie also writes as Julie Anne Lindsey. Learn more about Julie Anne Lindsey here.
Webpage: http://juliechasebooks.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JulieChaseAuthor/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14957369.Julie_Chase
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JulieALindsey

Purchase Links: Amazon     B&N     BAM!    IndieBound a Rafflecopter giveaway




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 September 12 – My Reading Journeys – REVIEW

September 12 – A Cozy Experience – REVIEW

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September 14 – Girl with Book Lungs - REVIEW

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September 15 – Celticlady's Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

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September 16 – Reading Is My SuperPower – REVIEW

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September 17 – 3 Partners in Shopping, Nana, Mommy, &, Sissy, Too! – SPOTLIGHT

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September 19 – The Pulp and Mystery Shelf – INTERVIEW

September 19 – The Montana Bookaholic – REVIEW

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September 20 – Bookworm Cafe - REVIEW, INTERVIEW

September 20 – A Holland Reads - SPOTLIGHT

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September 21 – Valerie's Musings - REVIEW

September 21 – Cassidy's Bookshelves - INTERVIEW

September 22 – Jane Reads - REVIEW, GUEST POST

September 22 – Bibliophile Reviews -  REVIEW, CHARACTER GUEST POST

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Great Escapes Book Tours Book Review: Cat Got Your Cash

Author: Julie Chase
Title: Cat Got Your Cash
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
Publish Date: April 11, 2017
Buy: Amazon
Book Blurb: Lacy Marie Crocker’s whimsical pet couture has gained a following in New Orleans’s cozy Garden District, and word of mouth has traveled all the way to her favorite fashion designer, Annie Lane. Lacy’s thrilled when Annie schedules a private session at her home to discuss a companion line for her evening wear, but when Lacy arrives for the appointment, she enters the kitchen to two mewling Siamese cats--and one very dead Annie.

Lacy takes the kittens home to care for them until they can be properly claimed by Annie's family or friends, but after a busy day of work, she returns home to find them missing. And when Lacy learns the cats are set to inherit Annie's fortune, she begins to wonder if the killer was after the kittens all along. Now Lacy will stop at nothing to save the Siamese and find justice for Annie--if the killer doesn’t sink his claws into her first.

Luckily, Lacy has the help of handsome NOLA PD homicide detective Jack Oliver to help her catch the cat-napper before its too late in Cat Got Your Cash, the endearing second Kitty Couture mystery from Julie Chase.

Review: First of all, this book's cover is adorable The kitty reminds me of a stray that I forced my sister to take in, Ifuplz.

I read the first Kitty Couture mystery and loved it, so I was more than ready to jump into this one. I wasn't disappointed at all.

A dead client, catnapped Siamese kitties that are set to inherit a fortune and a little bit of romance make this a fabulous read, and one you won't want to put down.

Then there's the love triangle going on, between Annie, Jack and Chase. Both guys are so lovable in their own ways that you will likely have a hard time deciding which guy you ultimately want Lacy to end up with.

Lacy has a wonderfully fun way of insinuating herself into the case. I love how she feels she has to help out because Annie was her idol.

Her relationship with her mother is getting a bit better, but there is still some strain, because Lacy wants to be independent and Lacy's mom is a society lady. Add the feud between the Llama Mama's and her Jazzy chicks and things there get a bit crazy too.

Most of the case involves Anne's two kittens that have a rather sizable trust fund. There are so many people that have ties to these animals and Annie. It keeps you guessing at who wanted her dead and why.

When all is finally revealed, I was really surprised.

This is a sweet cozy that you won't want to miss.  This is fast becoming one of my favorite series.

Rating: 5 flowers

Great Escapes Book Tours Book Review: Cat Got Your Diamonds

Author:  Julie Chase
Title:Cat Got Your Diamonds: A Kitty Couture Mystery
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books (November 15, 2016)
Hardcover: 304 pages
ISBN-13: 978-1629538426
E-Book ASIN: B01H082DOU
Synopsis:
Grandeur and opulence are everything in the famed New Orleans Garden District where pets are family and no bling is too big. Opening Furry Godmother, pet boutique and organic treat bakery, is Lacy Marie Crocker’s dream come true--until the glitter gun used to make her Shih Tzu tutus becomes a murder weapon. And Lacy becomes public enemy #1.

Now Detective Jack Oliver is hounding Lacy, and her Furry Godmother investor wants out before his name is tarnished by association. To make matters worse, a string of jewel heists with suspicious ties to the murder case has New Orleans residents on edge. To save her dream, Lacy must take a stand, put her keen eyes to work, and unravel what really happened at her shop that night. But can Lacy sniff out the killer cat burglar in time to get her tail-raising designs on the catwalk?

Witty and whimsical, Cat Got Your Diamonds, the first in a new cozy series by Julie Chase, will be the cat's meow for fans of Rita Mae Brown and Miranda James.

Review: Cat Got Your Diamonds is the first book in a new series. I'm always so excited when I get on board a new series with the first book. That very seldom happens to me.

This is definitely an animal lover's type of mystery. Lacy owns a boutique for pets called Furry Godmother. That is so awesome. Until someone ends up dead and Lacy becomes the prime suspect because her prints are on the murder weapon.

Lacy is a fun character and totally lovable. She has two possible love interests Jack, the hot detective and Chase, a wealthy friend of a friend. They are both good guys too, but I have to say, I'm Team Jack all the way, but I will give Chase props for getting Lacy's cat back from her sleazy ex in Virginia. I'm not a fan of love triangles in cozy mysteries, as they are over done for the most part, but since these guys are so great, I can deal with it, and I'm anxious to see who she chooses. (Team Jack, Team Jack).

I enjoyed how Jack and Lacy worked together in a round about way to get clues. Not exactly proper police procedure, but it was fun and it got Jack and Lacy together.

I have to say, I never guessed who killed Miguel, but I knew who was going to be the one going after Lacy. There was a point in the book where something happened regarding her shop and a little light went off in my head and said, "He's a bad guy."

This was a quick fun read and I adore stories with animals and this one has a focus on how pets can really become pampered little ones.

This is definitely a series I hope to contine!

Rating: 5 flowers

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