Author: Chelsea Thomas
Genre: Mystery
Trade Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #: 9798525612709
Independently Published
228 Pages
$12.99; $5.99 Amazon
June 23, 2021
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Amy opened a pet salon in her quaint hometown, just outside of Hollywood, and she's cleaned up every dog in the village.
Well, almost every dog.
There's a Hollywood mogul living up in the hills who refuses to have her little chihuahua groomed. The woman says she doesn't trust anyone with her precious fur baby, buy Amy wears her down, and schedules an in-home grooming appointment.
Amy expects that the lady is going to be nicer than people say, and she looks forward to the appointment. But when Amy arrives for the grooming...
...the woman is dead.
When the cops arrive, the body of the Hollywood mogul is nowhere to be found! Amy realizes she's going to have to solve this murder or no one else will, so she and her grumpy Granny take the case.
Will our heroes catch the killer on time, or will they be victims number two and three?
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When Amy opens her salon one morning, a man comes in with his bulldog Jonathan to be groomed, and starts talking about his employer. He tells her that the woman he works for has never had her Afghan hound groomed, and Amy volunteers to do it. Jasper, the man, tells that that Margo Edmonds wouldn't let her if she tried. But Amy is determined, and she and her assistant Betsy show up at Margo's gate the next day. When Margo's other employee, Francine, tries to tell them to leave, Margo overhears and decides that she wants her hound groomed. So she tells Amy to show up the next day at 8 am.
But when Amy and Betsy show up, no one answers. So Amy goes investigating, and finds Margo fighting for her life in her home. When Margo dies, Amy calls the police, who respond. But when they get there, there is no body and the detective thinks that Amy is pulling a prank. But Amy knows what she saw, and wants to go back and find out where Margo has been moved to. And there begins the mystery of the disappearing body and Amy, Betsy, and Amy's granny, Petunia, on the trail of a murderer...
I will tell you that I haven't read the first in this series, so I'm starting with this one. It was a very cute tale of a dog groomer/amateur sleuth who decided that she was going to solve the murder of Margo Edmonds. The things I didn't care for is the fact that when she found a clue, she was in no way going to share it with the police. I much prefer that they work together, not against each other. Then, she and her friend Betsy had a habit of just breaking into peoples' homes, which probably isn't a good idea. I like to say that unless you're writing sci-fi or fantasy, if it wouldn't happen in real life it shouldn't happen in a book.
I know it seems as if I'm being harsh, but I'm not. I notice details that a lot of other people wouldn't. Small details matter as much as big details. And while I liked the fact that Amy was a dog groomer, I thought Betsy was really over the top and Granny was way too concerned with gambling. Other than that, I liked that fact that Amy mulled over what she was going to do next instead of just doing it. She did love her pets (as I love mine) and was just trying to set things right and find Margo's killer.
There were plenty of descriptions of where Amy was and any surrounding areas (including a lovely one of the hotel), so that was a plus. It's always nice to have plenty of descriptions so you can picture them in your mind while reading. The author was very good at this. Watching Amy and Betsy try and solve the murder was a lot of fun, enough so that I am planning to go back and read the first in this series.
I did like the plot, and I liked the banter between the main characters, and I really liked Fluffy. His little thoughts were rather cute. I also enjoyed the fact that the murderer came as rather a surprise, and the ending was definitely interesting enough for me to want to read the next, and isn't that what the book is all about?
More on Chelsea Thomas's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/t/chelsea-thomas/
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