About the Book
Published by (Entangled Ignite)
Cozy Mystery – 320 Pages
Genre: Cozy Mystery, #1 A Doggie Day Spa Mystery
Release Date: May 27, 2014
Synopsis from Goodreads
Can a murder investigation keep these opposites from attracting?
Cara Rogers wants a fresh start after a slew of bad luck in Washington DC. Moving to Virginia to help her aunt run La Maison de Chien, a doggie spa, is just the peace of mind she needs. No stress. Just her aunt, the dogs, and wide-open country.
But when she finds Aunt Marian floating in the doggie swimming pool, the rest she so desperately needs flies out the window. The only witness to the death is Rex, an apricot maltipoo, and while he may not be able to talk, he’s communicating the only way he knows how—one paw at a time. And Rex’s clues lead to murder.
Can Cara keep the doggie spa afloat, convince Middleburg homicide detective Cole Sampson that Aunt Marian’s death was no accident, and keep Rex from the killer’s clutches before they all end up as dead as dogs?
My Review
This book hooked me from page one. In the first few pages we are introduced to our amateur sleuth, veterinarian Cara Rogers, and we are given a glimpse of the turmoil her life has taken at only twenty-seven years old. From being cheated by her accountant to losing her veterinary license, to being broke, and to breaking up with her boyfriend of two years. That’s more than any one person should live through in a lifetime and this all happens to Cara in her twenties. Your heart breaks for her right from the start. She appears to be a genuinely nice person.
Things only get worse when she arrives at her Great Aunt Marian’s doggie spa to find her beloved aunt dead in the swimming pool. We then take a wild ride with Cara as she tries to convince the police that this was no accident or illness, but a gruesome murder. Cara can’t help but find the lead detective to be very attractive, but Cole Sampson has one major fault. He suspects her of killing her own aunt. Along with her mother, Cara tries to uncover what’s really going on at the doggie spa and what really happened to Aunt Marian. They are desperate to prove Cara’s innocence.
This is a fast-paced, easy-to-follow mystery and romance. The author does a good job of giving us just the right amount of mystery and romance blended into one story. I even enjoyed the setting of Middleburg, Virginia. While the mystery is nicely wrapped up – I didn’t see the ending coming at all – there is a hint that there will be another book as the romance between Cara and Cole is just beginning.
As a lover of animals, I’m always looking for new animal-related cozy mysteries and this has the makings of being a hit with readers.
For reading challenges:
2014 ARC Reading Challenge
2014 My Kind of Mystery Reading Challenge
2014 What An Animal Reading Challenge
FTC Disclosure: The author provided me with a copy of this book to review for this blog tour. This did not influence my thoughts and opinions in any way. All opinions expressed are my own.
About the Author
Jacqueline Corcoran and Lane Stone have teamed up to write about some of their favorite topics – dogs, mysteries, and Middleburg, Virginia, which is known as the nation’s horse and hunt capital. MALTIPOOS ARE MURDER is the first in their doggie day spa romantic suspense series.
Jacqueline Corcoran lives in Arlington, Virginia with her rescue animals, husband, and two children. She holds a Ph.D. in social work and is on faculty at the Virginia Commonwealth University. She has published numerous professional academic articles and fourteen books in her field. Her mysteries include Maiming of the Shrew (Cozy Cat Press), A Month of Sundays (Whimsical Publications), Backlit (Etopia Press), and Memoir of Death (Etopia Press). See her website athttp://www.jacquelinecorcoran.com/
Lane Stone and her husband, Larry Korb, divide their time between Sugar Hill, Georgia and Alexandria, Virginia. She’s the author of the Tiara Investigations Mystery series. When not writing, she’s usually playing golf. Her volunteer work includes raising money for women political candidates and conducting home visits for A Forever Home, a dog foster organization. She is on the Political Science Advisory Board for Georgia State University, and she serves on Sugar Hill’s 75th Anniversary Planning Committee. www.LaneStoneBooks.com
Author Links
Author Website: http://jacquilanebooks.com/
Author Twitter: http://twitter.com/JacquiCLaneS
Author Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JacquCorcoraniLaneStone
Purchase Links
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It sounds like a fun book and I enjoy books set in VA; I went to college there.
ReplyDeleteI would read it :)
ReplyDeletewould love to read this!!
ReplyDeletethank you for the giveaway!!
Miss Lane I just can't golf! I'm glad to see that you can and to be truthful, I'm a little jealous!
ReplyDeleteSounds good, and takes place right near where I live which always makes things more interesting!
ReplyDelete