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Book 22, 2018
Mar. 9th, 2018 07:23 pmOn Wednesday night, I finished reading Death by Chocolate Lab, by Bethany Blake. It's the first book in the "Lucky Paws Petsitting" mystery series, featuring amateur sleuth and pet sitter, Daphne Templeton, who happens to hold a PhD in philosophy.
Daphne is free-spirited and fun loving, but she has no soft spot in her heart for Steve Beamus, the town manwhore who broke her sister's heart. When Beamus turns up dead on Piper's farm, Daphne is concerned that her sister may now be the primary suspect in his murder. She cautions Piper not to tell the police about arguing with Beamus the night before. Unfortunately for Daphne, Detective Jonathan Black just happens to overhear her advice, and he isn't happy with her interference. Anxious to make amends and clear Piper's name, Daphne throws herself into the investigation, which she conducts with a lot of enthusiasm, a little luck, and no investigating skills whatsoever. Detective Black is not amused with her meddling, especially when Daphne lands in danger herself.
This was a fun story. I loved Daphne's character. She's a sort of mix between Trixie Belden, Luna Lovegood, Patti Randall (Hayley Mills' character from 'That Darn Cat!'), and Calamity Jane. She drives an ancient VW van, lives with her sister, makes a little money with her pet sitting and dog walking business, and her sorta-kinda boyfriend, Dylan, is a surfer dude. Of course. Ha ha! Accompanied by her recalcitrant basset hound, Socrates, and a manic, foster Chihuahua named Artie, Daphne bumbles into both clues and misadventures that the handsome detective invariably ends up saving her from. Daphne has a way about her that encourages people to talk to her, which gives her an edge over Detective Black.
Favorite lines:
♣ What could be more romantic than two sensible property owners discussing their mortgage rates on a first date? It would be a match made, if not in heaven, at least in the Recorder of Deeds office.
♣ I thought he was going to interrupt me for one of his public-service-announcement lectures about the dangers of meddling in murder, but he didn't, so I kept talking.
Good story, intriguing plot, characters were portrayed well, and I was able to suss out the killer before the big reveal. Will definitely be reading more in this series. Four stars:
****
Daphne is free-spirited and fun loving, but she has no soft spot in her heart for Steve Beamus, the town manwhore who broke her sister's heart. When Beamus turns up dead on Piper's farm, Daphne is concerned that her sister may now be the primary suspect in his murder. She cautions Piper not to tell the police about arguing with Beamus the night before. Unfortunately for Daphne, Detective Jonathan Black just happens to overhear her advice, and he isn't happy with her interference. Anxious to make amends and clear Piper's name, Daphne throws herself into the investigation, which she conducts with a lot of enthusiasm, a little luck, and no investigating skills whatsoever. Detective Black is not amused with her meddling, especially when Daphne lands in danger herself.
This was a fun story. I loved Daphne's character. She's a sort of mix between Trixie Belden, Luna Lovegood, Patti Randall (Hayley Mills' character from 'That Darn Cat!'), and Calamity Jane. She drives an ancient VW van, lives with her sister, makes a little money with her pet sitting and dog walking business, and her sorta-kinda boyfriend, Dylan, is a surfer dude. Of course. Ha ha! Accompanied by her recalcitrant basset hound, Socrates, and a manic, foster Chihuahua named Artie, Daphne bumbles into both clues and misadventures that the handsome detective invariably ends up saving her from. Daphne has a way about her that encourages people to talk to her, which gives her an edge over Detective Black.
Favorite lines:
♣ What could be more romantic than two sensible property owners discussing their mortgage rates on a first date? It would be a match made, if not in heaven, at least in the Recorder of Deeds office.
♣ I thought he was going to interrupt me for one of his public-service-announcement lectures about the dangers of meddling in murder, but he didn't, so I kept talking.
Good story, intriguing plot, characters were portrayed well, and I was able to suss out the killer before the big reveal. Will definitely be reading more in this series. Four stars:
****
