Saturday, January 21, 2017

Review: Literally Murder by Ali Brandon


Genre:
Cozy Mystery

Format:
E-Book

Publisher:
Berkley

Release Date:
September 30, 2014







Synopsis from Goodreads:

From her Brooklyn bookstore, Darla Pettistone not only sells mysteries, but solves them, aided by her big-boned black cat, Hamlet—who has suddenly pounced into the spotlight after unleashing his fists of furry…

After a video of Darla and Hamlet performing at a martial arts tournament goes viral, the Florida chapter of the Feline Society of America invites the “Karate Kitty” to be the guest of honor at their championship cat show in Fort Lauderdale.

Upon arrival, Darla discovers that not everyone in the Sunshine State has a sunny disposition. Animal rights activists are on the march, and a cat show contestant stages his own angry protest when his special breed Minx—half Sphynx, half Manx—doesn’t win. Then Hamlet disappears—only to be found next a dead man's body. Now it’s up to Darla and Hamlet to take best in show and collar the killer…

My Review

Hamlet and Darla have their hands full this time. Hamlet is the guest of honor at the Feline Society of American’s conference in Florida. Darla and her friend Jake escort the kitty to the event, but trouble starts from the very beginning.

Between animal rights activists protesting and angry cat owners not getting their way, a dead body shows up. Then, Hamlet vanishes. Darla and Jake search the town for the missing cat. Darla fears she will never see him again.

Hamlet is one of my favorite fictional kitty sleuths. The majority of this book is set in Florida, away from the series usual setting of Brooklyn, New York. It is a very nice change of pace. This is one series where the cat remains front and center through most of the book. He even uses books to help Darla crack the mysteries.

There were some additional secondary characters such as Jake’s mother which added more fun to the story.

The author does a great job of making each book a great adventure. Ali Brandon really kept me on my toes – I didn’t see the end coming at all. Nicely done!




For reading challenges:
Alphabet Soup Reading Challenge 2017
Cruisin’ thru the Cozies Reading Challenge 2017 (Animal based)
What An Animal Reading Challenge 2017
The Purrfect Reading Challenge 2017

Disclosure: I borrowed the e-book from the library. All opinions expressed are my own.

3 comments:

  1. Always nice to have cat when you solve crimes

    ReplyDelete
  2. This sounds great, anything with cats sounds good.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yvonne,
    Hamlet sounds like a terrific protagonist! This sounds like a fun cat cozy.

    ReplyDelete

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