Author: Emmie Lyn
Genre: Mystery
Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #: 9781964703220
Tule Publishing
258 Pages
$11.99; $4.99 Amazon
August 5, 2024
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Turning thirty can be murder!
When a body is discovered next to the Little Dog Diner on her milestone birthday, Dani Mackenzie finds herself scooping up a scandal instead of cutting cake.
The prime suspect is the new owner of the Blueberry Bay Grapevine, but the victim's stepbrother and ex-girlfriend also have means, motive, and opportunity.
With this trio of suspects, it will take a good nose to uncover whodunnit. At least Dani has her best friend -- her Jack Russell, Pip -- at her side to help sniff out the killer! But in the meantime, her kick-off to her thirties is turning into more of an upside-down cake than a celebration as she uncovers money, a business scandal, and thwarted love at the core of this crime.
It will take the victim's black Labrador and finding a winning lottery ticket to solve this mystery, but Dani never throws in the towel! Will she and Pip once again use their experience at solving mysteries to bring justice to Misty Harbor, Maine, or will they be caught in the crosshairs of the killer?
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Dani Mackenzie is awakened early one morning by a call from Cam, who owns the local newspaper, the Grapevine. Cam tells her that someone is trying to break into Dani's restaurant, The Little Dog Diner. But when Dani arrives, she gets a different surprise -- it's her thirtieth birthday and her friends and family have planned a celebratory breakfast for her. But there's another surprise waiting -- the body of Thorne Waite is in Cam's office, and she claims she has no idea how it got there or who killed him.
Now Cam, along with others who knew Thorne, are suspects in the murder, and Dani's right in the middle of it. Will she be able to find a killer? Will she survive her birthday? Not to mention her best friend Maggie has fallen in love with the dead man's dog and refuses to give it back to the breeder, who isn't happy about it. Dani doesn't know what's going on, but when she receives an unexpected surprise on her birthday -- from an unexpected source -- she begins to figure out that she might be the next target of a killer....
This is the seventh book in the series, and I am sad to say that I have not read them all. But I found this so delightful that I fully intend to correct that and read the ones I missed. Poor Dani only wants a quiet birthday, but that's not going to happen; and she's stuck in the middle of another murder investigation, much to the dismay of Detective AJ Crenshaw.
Then there's the victim's lab, whom both Maggie and the breeder want. Which one will get the dog? And why does the victim's brother hang around town after the murder, acting suspiciously? Or the ex-girlfriend annoying everyone she comes across?
Dani has her hands full, not only with her diner, (which she's not able to spend a lot of time in, but that's okay, she has her grandmother Rose saving the day there), so worrying about the diner is at least on the back burner for awhile.
Needless to say, this mystery is full of twists and turns, full of people who aren't the nicest, and questions about why the dead man was in Cam's office. Dani dives full on into the murder, and we watch as she gathers and deciphers clues along the way. It's a lot of fun with a lot of intrigue, a few secrets being unveiled, and an ending that was and wasn't unexpected (you'll find out!). All in all, I really enjoyed this and hope you will, too. Highly recommended.
I received a copy of this book from the author and BookSprout but this in no way influenced my review.
More on Emmie Lyn's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/l/emmie-lyn/
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