Doggone Dead by Dane McCaslin is the first book in the NEW “2 Sisters Pet Valet” cozy mystery series, coming August 25, 2020.
Retired high school teacher Gwen Franklin has a new pet valet business with her BFF, and a whole new leummash on life. But a killer is about to come sniffing around . . .
Gwen Franklin is looking forward to spending her retirement drinking her favorite coffee and reading mystery novels. Those peaceful plans are brought to heel by her best friend, Nora. Sporting stiletto heels, leggings, and a “more is better” makeup routine, fifty-something Nora Goldstein has a penchant for marrying—and divorcing—rich men. Now that Gwen’s got free time, Nora figures they should start a dog-walking and pet-sitting service together.
But it’s far from a walk in the park when the corpse of Linda Fletcher is found in Nora’s kitchen. Linda was Nora’s nemesis, and the large knife protruding from her chest points to murder. With no doubt that her bestie’s being framed, Gwen puts her sleuthing skills—acquired from reading every Agatha Christie mystery—to the test as she digs through suspects, including four disgruntled ex-husbands, ten greedy ex-stepchildren, not to mention all her exes’ exes. But with death threats and another body surfacing, can Gwen curb a killer before her own (dog) days come to an end?
Dru’s Musing:
This was a fun book to read with the introduction of Gwen and Nora. This book quickly became a page-turner as I had to know this will all end. When murder and mayhem strikes, there’s nothing else to do but put on their Agatha Christie hat and solve the case.
This was a well-constructed whodunit with a comfortable tone making it easy to follow along with what the author intended. The staging was nicely done where there were a bevy of suspects with stronger motives and clues buried in all the nooks and crannies uncovered. The author is adept at telling a story pulling me in and creating an atmosphere that made me feel like I was part of the action, as they looked for clues while displaying a few humorous moments. It was enjoyable watching this all play out as one by one, the pool of suspect shrunk and the only person left standing was. . . the killer. I like the portrayals of all the characters showing a few idiosyncrasies and quirkiness that added to my reading pleasure.
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FTC Full Disclosure – I received a digital ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.
Congratulations, Dane. This sounds like a fun book.
Sounds good! I will add it to my TBR list.