Source: Publisher
Description: Holly Miller is on her way home from a visit with the mayor of Wagtail, Virginia who also happens to be her grandma, when she spots something hiding out in the grass not far from her car. It turns out to be an adorable black Labrador in a cage with a note attached to his collar, dubbing him Squishy and asking the finder to care for him. Holly takes Squishy home to the Sugar Maple Inn and soon finds the lovely hotel in chaos and another surprise waiting for her. Holly’s ex-boyfriend Ben is set to check-in with a group of his attorney colleagues who all seem to think he and Holly are still an item.
When one of Ben’s fellow attorneys dies in a fall, it could be chalked up to an unfortunate accident but when a second lawyer is murdered, Holly wonders if it could all be tied to Squishy’s mysterious appearance in Wagtail. Along with her beloved furry friends Trixie and Twinkletoes, Holly has to put the pieces together to find the killer before the fiend causes another fatality.
Genre: Mystery - Cozy
Why I Picked This Book: I have really enjoyed the previous books in the series that I've read.
My Impression: I like this series and really enjoy the community and all the pet goodness. Holly's family and the other people who make up the community that fill out the world this book exists in. I loved the addition of Squishy and the labrador joy he adds to the pages. The mystery was an interesting one as the victim is pretty much a stranger to Wagtail and it seems impossible that anyone would want to kill them. Throw in the return of a convicted murderer who is returning home after serving his time and things definitely get interesting.
Even our favorite series have a book that just doesn't work for a reader and unfortunately this was one of those for me. Ben has never been a favorite character and Holly's relationship with him has always annoyed me. In this book Ben has a lot of page time and while I do enjoy Oma and the staff at the hotel referring to him as "The Ben" it was a lot more of Ben than I enjoy. What really drove me up the wall was Holly's interactions with him. It's good to be a nice and considerate person but she was well past that and into the "get a backbone" side of things. I was happy with how everything resolved and it did make sense for the plot but it was just too much Ben.
Despite the Ben issue, I did enjoy this book. The writing style is nicely paced and I really enjoy spending time in Wagtail. The mystery kept me guessing at a few things and fully invested even when I wanted to scream through the pages at Holly. I'm looking forward to reading more of the series.
Would I Read More of this Series/Author? Yes! Even though this wasn't my favorite of the series I did enjoy it and am looking forward to reading more from this series and catching up with the earlier books in the series.
Would I Recommend this Book? If you enjoy cozy mysteries I would definitely recommend this series though I recommend starting with an earlier book as there are a lot of relationships to figure out in the series.
* I received this book in exchange for an honest review. As always my opinions and impressions are completely my own. *
Would I Recommend this Book? If you enjoy cozy mysteries I would definitely recommend this series though I recommend starting with an earlier book as there are a lot of relationships to figure out in the series.
* I received this book in exchange for an honest review. As always my opinions and impressions are completely my own. *
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