Author: Laurien Berenson
Genre: Mystery
Hardcover; Digital Book (Audiobook Available)
ISBN #: 9781496750624
Kensington Cozies
192 Pages
$22.95; $9.99 Amazon
August 20, 2024
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It's autumn in Connecticut and there's a chill in the air, the fall leaves are a riot of color, and pumpkin spice is the flavor of the season. Melanie Travis is perennially busy, of course -- but when the owner of a local pet supply shop is found murdered. sleuthing tops her To Do list...
Between taking care of her family and assorted Standard Poodles, Melanie is also working as a special needs tutor for Howard Academy, a private school in Greenwich, where her younger son attends kindergarten. This year, the headmaster has come up with an idea for a school fundraiser. all students will participate in a town-wide treasure hunt, with grades competing against each other..
Tokens shaped like pumpkin spice muffins have been hidden in downtown stores. Students will scramble to collect as many as they can in exchange for prizes. At first all goes smoothly, and the uptick in foot traffic to the stores is a win-win...Until the pet shop supply owner lodges a complaint. When Melanie stops by to smooth things over, she instead finds the man dead, a knife in his back, and his loyal, ever-vigilant Chow Chow locked in the storeroom.
Over the headmaster's objections, Melanie is once again drawn into an investigation. It doesn't take her long to gather a list of suspects, from neighbors balking about the number of rescue Chows the man was fostering in his home, to the landlord who'd filed an eviction notice against him, to the bitter ex-wife who is happy he's gone. With the fundraiser soon drawing to a close and celebrations imminent, Melanie will have to follow every clue -- before the biggest prize is staying alive...
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Melanie Travis is a mother, a teacher, and loves dogs -- especially her beloved Standard poodles, which she has 'shown' in the past and encourages her son David to continue. But in her role as teacher at prestigious Howard Academy, she plans to begin her day as a special needs tutor when she is stopped by the headmaster's secretary, Harriet. There's a fundraiser for the academy that local businesses are helping with, and one of the shop's owners has a problem. Mr. Willet, the owner of a local pet supply business, has lodged a complaint, and Harriet has asked Melanie to look into it. Of course, Melanie acquiesces.
When she arrives at the shop, the door is open but no one is around. She sees the office door open ajar and soon wishes she didn't. Mr. Willet has been stabbed in the back. His beloved Chow, Cider, is penned in another room and trying to escape. All Melanie can do is call the police. She thinks that's the end of it. But when Harriet asks her to investigate on the down-low, she can't refuse. The academy's reputation is at stake. So Melanie puts on her sleuthing cap again and hopes for the best...
In this latest installment of the series, it's autumn in Connecticut and the leaves have changed, but not the fact that there's another murder. Melanie trusts her instincts once more to get her the information she needs. But is everyone telling the truth? And if not, who is the person with the best motive to want Mr. Willet dead? And, of course, what about Cider? We all know Melanie is going to be worried for his dog. Not to mention, the dog might be the only person who can identify the killer. Too bad he can't talk.
When Melanie starts asking questions she finds that Willet wasn't endeared by neither his personal nor business neighbors. Certainly not by his philanthropic ex-wife. The only one who seemed to like him was his daughter. But even she could have had a motive. So who did the deed? Sifting through the clues, Melanie feels she's up against a wall of lies and secrets. But someone killed him. She just needs to figure out who.
I will say that I pretty much knew who the murderer was when they entered the book. But only because I tend to read tons of mysteries, so I usually don't have a problem figuring it out. But still, I love to know the motive, and that's never given until toward the end of the book. There's never a limit on what crazy people will do to achieve their ends...if they ever do.
The mystery is another well-written one by Ms. Berenson, and a worthy addition to the series. It made me want to sit with a cup of pumpkin spice coffee (too soon!) and think about cooler days (where I live, there aren't a whole lot of them). You're drawn into the mystery and Melanie's busy life and end up wondering how she does it. Two kids, a job, dogs, an overbearing aunt (that she loves), and sleuthing for a living. Whew!
The clues are there, but you need to look for them. I was so caught up in the tale that I almost missed the final one. But was I supposed to? Hmmm...In the end, it all came together nicely and everything worked out (as it should). I really enjoyed this mystery and look forward to the next in the series. Recommended.
I was given an advance copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley but this in no way influenced my review.
More on Laurien Berenson's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/b/laurien-berenson/
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