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Bind
A watch goes missing from a changeroom at a gym – an expensive watch with a loud, arrogant owner. The theft connects three yogis in a way full lotus never could. As the search for a thief unfolds, so do seemingly unrelated questions. Why does Lexie have such an intense interest in a much-younger trainer at the gym? Who is the unnamed, unknown man who keeps leaving Charlene messages? Why does no one know Woo Woo lives in a mansion?
Ultimately Bind is like coming home to a steaming bowl of tomato soup on a cold winter day. Comfortable and delicious. Like a perfect downward dog.
Editorial Review – Nancy M. Bell
Bind 5 Stars
What do an eclectic group of women, a yoga studio and a missing watch have in common? You'll have to read Bind to find out. Bind refers to form of yoga torture apparently where participants hold contorted poses. Who knew? Moulton weaves an interesting and comical mystery with lots of intrigue and twists. Throw in a cute detective and voila! A great read either for the beach or a snowy afternoon.
Ultimately Bind is like coming home to a steaming bowl of tomato soup on a cold winter day. Comfortable and delicious. Like a perfect downward dog.
Editorial Review – Nancy M. Bell
Bind 5 Stars
What do an eclectic group of women, a yoga studio and a missing watch have in common? You'll have to read Bind to find out. Bind refers to form of yoga torture apparently where participants hold contorted poses. Who knew? Moulton weaves an interesting and comical mystery with lots of intrigue and twists. Throw in a cute detective and voila! A great read either for the beach or a snowy afternoon.
- GenresMystery
303 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 1, 2025
About the author
Donalee Moulton
31 books15 followersdonalee is a professional writer and freelance journalist from Halifax, Nova Scotia. Her byline has appeared in over 100 publications across North America, including Canadian Business, Chatelaine, Equinox, Ford Times, Maclean’s, and The Globe and Mail.
Her most recent book Cardinal is part of a Canadian Paranormal Mystery Series. Private detective Em Montgomery is hunting for a missing woman. She expected dead ends. She did not expect a dead girl who refuses to stay buried. Now Em is knee-deep in fog, small-town secrets, and the uneasy sense she’s being watched by more than just wildlife.
Her book Conflagration! — part of a Canadian Historical Mystery Series — won the 2024 Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Historical Mystery Suspense. This gripping historical novel is woven around the trial of Marie-Joseph Angélique, an enslaved black woman accused of deliberately setting the devastating fire that destroyed much of Montreal's merchant quarters in 1734.
Her other books include two mysteries involving three yogis with a penchant for solving crime, a murder mystery based in Nova Scotia, and three non-fiction books: one about effective communications, one about media relations, and another about organizational policy.
donalee is also a longtime educator. She's taught communications and writing-related courses at several universities as well as for all levels of government, the private sector, and nonprofits in Canada and the United States. She currently offers a variety of editorial services and workshops to help authors hone their writing and get published.
Her most recent book Cardinal is part of a Canadian Paranormal Mystery Series. Private detective Em Montgomery is hunting for a missing woman. She expected dead ends. She did not expect a dead girl who refuses to stay buried. Now Em is knee-deep in fog, small-town secrets, and the uneasy sense she’s being watched by more than just wildlife.
Her book Conflagration! — part of a Canadian Historical Mystery Series — won the 2024 Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Historical Mystery Suspense. This gripping historical novel is woven around the trial of Marie-Joseph Angélique, an enslaved black woman accused of deliberately setting the devastating fire that destroyed much of Montreal's merchant quarters in 1734.
Her other books include two mysteries involving three yogis with a penchant for solving crime, a murder mystery based in Nova Scotia, and three non-fiction books: one about effective communications, one about media relations, and another about organizational policy.
donalee is also a longtime educator. She's taught communications and writing-related courses at several universities as well as for all levels of government, the private sector, and nonprofits in Canada and the United States. She currently offers a variety of editorial services and workshops to help authors hone their writing and get published.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
March 1, 2026
This review was first posted at https://miramichireader.ca/author/sue... on March 17th- 2026
Bind is the first book in donalee Moulton’s new cozy mystery series, Lotus Detective.
Kristi Yee is part-owner of Vitality+, a gym overlooking the Bedford Basin in Halifax. Inside the gym is the Asana Yoga Studio, where she holds yoga classes. Her business partner, Jaxx Taylor, runs the gym and handles the finances, while Kristi operates the yoga studio and handles the administration. They both handle the marketing, which amounts to updating their Facebook page.
“Asana Yoga is located inside a gym, Vitality+. Members join the gym and can take classes at no cost. Despite the financial and physical interconnection, the two worlds rarely meet. Gym goers grunt and sweat, look at themselves in the mirrors that line three of the gym’s four walls. They pump and preen. The yoga participants, who usually walk quickly through the gym and breathe a sigh of relief when the studio doors shut gently behind them, move quietly through poses looking for balance and, ultimately, grace.”
Kristi has several students who regularly attend her classes. There is Charlene, a retired auditor, who loves her PowerPoint presentations and whiteboards; and Lexie, who has been a comedian for more than 20 years, and started a podcast called Punchlines in 2024. She says it’s easier than stand-up and much more lucrative. Then there is Shondra Aeron, but everyone calls her Woo Woo. She is a reflexologist, Reiki practitioner, a tarot card reader, and a little… well, Woo Woo. Each morning after class, the yogis gather and socialize at the coffee shop called Java the Hutt.
During class one morning, Byron Newhouse’s $60,000 Patek Philippe watch was stolen out of a locked locker in the men’s locker room. Detective First Class Michael Terrell, a detective with the Halifax Police Department (HPD), gets assigned to the case. Was it stolen by one of the staff? Byron Newhouse’s son? Or could it have been his son’s Value Village-second-hand-clothes-wearing girlfriend?
To help out Kristi and Terrill, the yogi tribe tries to figure out who stole the watch by first figuring out how it was stolen. The only way to access the locker room is if you have a membership. The locker room is pretty busy, and the locker is locked by a key that only the arrogant and overbearing owner has. The three yogis take turns trying to get into the Men’s locker room unseen and to stay long enough to unlock a locker, take the watch, and flee.
The yogis also volunteer to help Kristi to find out what her business partner may be hiding. Whenever Kristi makes any inquiries into the business’s finances, Jaxx keeps brushing her off.
In between doing yoga poses, the yogis use their individual strengths and unique abilities to help investigate the crime. In the process, they create and form bonds of friendship and partnership.
I applaud donalee Moulton’s creative writing style. She had the yoga instructor, Kristi, assign the class an October monthly task. Each of the yogis was tasked to write their “Daily Thoughts” for the month. In this, the reader gets to see each of their thought processes and the problem-solving tactics used to form their conclusions regarding the case. I was pleased that the next book in the series, Melt, had already been released, and was able to continue reading about the three yogis.
Bind is the first book in donalee Moulton’s new cozy mystery series, Lotus Detective.
Kristi Yee is part-owner of Vitality+, a gym overlooking the Bedford Basin in Halifax. Inside the gym is the Asana Yoga Studio, where she holds yoga classes. Her business partner, Jaxx Taylor, runs the gym and handles the finances, while Kristi operates the yoga studio and handles the administration. They both handle the marketing, which amounts to updating their Facebook page.
“Asana Yoga is located inside a gym, Vitality+. Members join the gym and can take classes at no cost. Despite the financial and physical interconnection, the two worlds rarely meet. Gym goers grunt and sweat, look at themselves in the mirrors that line three of the gym’s four walls. They pump and preen. The yoga participants, who usually walk quickly through the gym and breathe a sigh of relief when the studio doors shut gently behind them, move quietly through poses looking for balance and, ultimately, grace.”
Kristi has several students who regularly attend her classes. There is Charlene, a retired auditor, who loves her PowerPoint presentations and whiteboards; and Lexie, who has been a comedian for more than 20 years, and started a podcast called Punchlines in 2024. She says it’s easier than stand-up and much more lucrative. Then there is Shondra Aeron, but everyone calls her Woo Woo. She is a reflexologist, Reiki practitioner, a tarot card reader, and a little… well, Woo Woo. Each morning after class, the yogis gather and socialize at the coffee shop called Java the Hutt.
During class one morning, Byron Newhouse’s $60,000 Patek Philippe watch was stolen out of a locked locker in the men’s locker room. Detective First Class Michael Terrell, a detective with the Halifax Police Department (HPD), gets assigned to the case. Was it stolen by one of the staff? Byron Newhouse’s son? Or could it have been his son’s Value Village-second-hand-clothes-wearing girlfriend?
To help out Kristi and Terrill, the yogi tribe tries to figure out who stole the watch by first figuring out how it was stolen. The only way to access the locker room is if you have a membership. The locker room is pretty busy, and the locker is locked by a key that only the arrogant and overbearing owner has. The three yogis take turns trying to get into the Men’s locker room unseen and to stay long enough to unlock a locker, take the watch, and flee.
The yogis also volunteer to help Kristi to find out what her business partner may be hiding. Whenever Kristi makes any inquiries into the business’s finances, Jaxx keeps brushing her off.
In between doing yoga poses, the yogis use their individual strengths and unique abilities to help investigate the crime. In the process, they create and form bonds of friendship and partnership.
I applaud donalee Moulton’s creative writing style. She had the yoga instructor, Kristi, assign the class an October monthly task. Each of the yogis was tasked to write their “Daily Thoughts” for the month. In this, the reader gets to see each of their thought processes and the problem-solving tactics used to form their conclusions regarding the case. I was pleased that the next book in the series, Melt, had already been released, and was able to continue reading about the three yogis.
March 16, 2026
4.5 stars rounded to 5
An entertaining adventure into a theft at a local gym/yoga studio that is patronized by some very well-off clients. When an expensive watch goes missing from the men’s changeroom, Detective Michael Terrell is called in to investigate. He will have to interview anyone who was at the gym and yoga studio at the time the watch went missing. But is he ready for the cast of characters that he encounters both at the gym and yoga studio? The yoga group is a buzz with the entrance of Detective Terrell. Tall, dark, and handsome, the ladies can’t wait to invite the Detective to their after-class get-togethers. With characters like Woo Woo, and Honey, a dog named Madoff and yoga poses too hard to pronounce and accomplish, donalee, with her trademark humour and wit, has given us another delightful read.
An entertaining adventure into a theft at a local gym/yoga studio that is patronized by some very well-off clients. When an expensive watch goes missing from the men’s changeroom, Detective Michael Terrell is called in to investigate. He will have to interview anyone who was at the gym and yoga studio at the time the watch went missing. But is he ready for the cast of characters that he encounters both at the gym and yoga studio? The yoga group is a buzz with the entrance of Detective Terrell. Tall, dark, and handsome, the ladies can’t wait to invite the Detective to their after-class get-togethers. With characters like Woo Woo, and Honey, a dog named Madoff and yoga poses too hard to pronounce and accomplish, donalee, with her trademark humour and wit, has given us another delightful read.
September 15, 2026
In BIND, donalee Moulton has created a bloodless, cozy mystery, with relatable characters, a jaunty plot, and language that is pure donalee: in a class all her own.
Wonderful. Touching. Poignant. And fun.
donalee Moulton's character development is gentle and beautifully nuanced. The relationships within the relationships are a clever spin. As a reader, I felt like I knew most of the characters fairly well, and the day after I'd finished the book, I wondered what they were all doing.
The plot is fun, moves quickly, and the mystery remains until the very end.
A great whodunnit.
Marci Lin Melvin
Winner of Reader Views 2025 International Grand Gold Prize Fiction Award
Wonderful. Touching. Poignant. And fun.
donalee Moulton's character development is gentle and beautifully nuanced. The relationships within the relationships are a clever spin. As a reader, I felt like I knew most of the characters fairly well, and the day after I'd finished the book, I wondered what they were all doing.
The plot is fun, moves quickly, and the mystery remains until the very end.
A great whodunnit.
Marci Lin Melvin
Winner of Reader Views 2025 International Grand Gold Prize Fiction Award
March 4, 2025
An enjoyable, fun read!
I just finished Bind after a marathon reading session. I could not put it down until I found out how it ended. I loved getting to know the main characters and hope to see them again in future books. I enjoyed reading about the relationships that are developing — and those that are ending. As a beginner yogi, I appreciated all the yoga references, and especially the vivid images the author’s words conjured up of being twisted into a pretzel-like shape and tipping over. I’ve lived that!
I just finished Bind after a marathon reading session. I could not put it down until I found out how it ended. I loved getting to know the main characters and hope to see them again in future books. I enjoyed reading about the relationships that are developing — and those that are ending. As a beginner yogi, I appreciated all the yoga references, and especially the vivid images the author’s words conjured up of being twisted into a pretzel-like shape and tipping over. I’ve lived that!
April 21, 2025
This delightful mystery immediately captured my interest and my heart. I'm an avid yoga practitioner and Moulton invites you into the yoga studio with her wit and charming characters. This fascinating mystery will not put you in a Bind. On the contrary, reading Bind was pure enjoyment and relaxation.
Like a sixty thousand dollar watch, this book is a guilty pleasure.
Like a sixty thousand dollar watch, this book is a guilty pleasure.
November 20, 2025
This book would make a good sitcom for TV. If you like yoga, you may appreciate the humour in the book; I don’t and I didn’t. What is a bind anyway?
I quite liked some of the characters, they were even entertaining. And the mystery was ‘cozy’.
But I found the resolution of the story very confused. But maybe that’s because I don’t like yoga.
I quite liked some of the characters, they were even entertaining. And the mystery was ‘cozy’.
But I found the resolution of the story very confused. But maybe that’s because I don’t like yoga.
August 26, 2025
Super cute light and fun whodunit. As a girl who lives in halifax, I loved reading a local author and all the references!!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews