What do you think?
Rate this book
Holidays Are Murder #1
Poison and Party Hats: New Year's Eve
A grumpy true crime editor sets out to solve her aunt’s murder with the help of a troublesome but adorable canine companion in small-town Louisiana.
When Lucy Layton leaves New York City to attend her aunt’s funeral, she has no idea where her trip back home will lead.
The last thing she expects is to inherit her aunt’s dog, her house, and the attached dog grooming salon. But when she discovers that her aunt was murdered, she is compelled to stay in Shongoloo and investigate.
With new dog Ollie by her side, she begins to question a cast of colorful suspects. But someone wants Lucy to disappear, and they’ll stop at nothing to make that happen. Can she solve the murder before it’s too late?
When Lucy Layton leaves New York City to attend her aunt’s funeral, she has no idea where her trip back home will lead.
The last thing she expects is to inherit her aunt’s dog, her house, and the attached dog grooming salon. But when she discovers that her aunt was murdered, she is compelled to stay in Shongoloo and investigate.
With new dog Ollie by her side, she begins to question a cast of colorful suspects. But someone wants Lucy to disappear, and they’ll stop at nothing to make that happen. Can she solve the murder before it’s too late?
- GenresCozy MysteryFiction
248 pages, Paperback
Published December 29, 2022
29 people are currently reading
42 people want to read
About the author
Madelyn Scott
5 books153 followersMadelyn is a true crime aficionado who brings her passion for puzzles and detective work to her stories. But don't let her serious side fool you - she's also got a great sense of humor, and she loves Mexican food and playing tennis.
She and her trio of pups live in a lazy Southern town where the trees drip Spanish moss and people still take afternoon naps. And if you ever see her out and about, you might have to tap her on the shoulder to get her attention because she's usually got her earbuds in, listening to an audiobook!
She and her trio of pups live in a lazy Southern town where the trees drip Spanish moss and people still take afternoon naps. And if you ever see her out and about, you might have to tap her on the shoulder to get her attention because she's usually got her earbuds in, listening to an audiobook!
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
June 9, 2023
This was a quick and easy cozy that I ended up liking despite itself 😂😂😂 the MC was determined to solve the murder of her aunt even if no one else believes her. With octogenarians on viagra, a dog determined to love her against her wishes, cousins that hate her and an inheritance she wants to get rid of, well it will be a busy week.
December 31, 2024
"Poison and Party Hats (Holidays are Murder #1)" by Madelyn Scott is set in January. It does sort of tie back to New Year's Eve, since that was when the death occurred. Lucy, the main character, is back in her hometown for the reading of her aunt's will after the aunt's sudden passing. Surprise, despite her twin cousins still living in town and interacting with their aunt more, Lucy inherited everything.
Lucy (a very obnoxious city girl that doesn't seem to realize that she's the problem for why nearly everyone is abrasive with her) is figuring out what to do with her inheritance. While doing that, it gets brought to her attention that her aunt's death may not have been all that natural. Being a true crime journalist, Lucy just has to investigate.
Lucy (a very obnoxious city girl that doesn't seem to realize that she's the problem for why nearly everyone is abrasive with her) is figuring out what to do with her inheritance. While doing that, it gets brought to her attention that her aunt's death may not have been all that natural. Being a true crime journalist, Lucy just has to investigate.
March 16, 2024
Picked this up as a New Year’s read and because it included a grooming shop and a dog sidekick.
The first part is regarding the ebook and audiobook errors. There were so many typos and even a chapter repeat in the book. This was clearly not edited or even proofread by the author. I listened to the audiobook and the amount of errors in the recording made me check the ebook. The audio had multiple sound errors, interferences and multiple repeated sentences like it was recorded with zero editing or playback. There was even a part where the narrator messes up a word, says it again, then suddenly makes clicking noises with her tongue like an actor does to reset before she reads the sentence over. Her character voices were varied and while over the top, were pretty good performance wise, but the constant mistakes were very distracting. Very poorly done. Neither writing nor narration were quality work. It only gets worse from here.
The story also doesn’t actually take place on New Year’s. It’s dealing with events after New Year’s. Other than the saying the death happened at a NYE party, there’s nothing to do with New Year’s.
As a groomer, I can say this part of the story was cringy for multiple reasons. It really made the groomer seem heartless to everyone but the untrained main dog, ollie, and incompetent regarding animal behavior, animal care, and running a business. If a real life groomer had acted like she does, that shop would’ve been shut down before the lights were ever turned on and the groomer fired. She has a total disregard for the welfare of not just client dogs, but also for Ollie. She allows client dogs to jump off tables mid groom, leaves client dogs unattended while she “massages” Ollie, and allows him to get loose where he runs into traffic nearly being hit. She never bothers to secure him or show concern for him saying something to the effect of “he always finds his way home, I was busy.” Another instance she watches him run through the salon with a chocolate candy bar, giving the mc dirty looks over it despite this untrained dog getting into a strangers purse rather than taken it away from him. She’s also rude to customers, lets them pile up outside waiting to be checked in rather than acknowledge them or call the new owner for help, yet she wants to “run” this business? She’s also extremely rude to an ex client over a pet death and continues to engage with her despite attorneys being involved. She is incredibly rude to the main character except after she’s given what she wants. She’s the most unlikable character not just because she’s a poor representation of a groomer, but for generally being an awful person. This character really did make groomers seem like incompetent, rude, uncaring people rather than remotely professional or animal lovers. The part timer seems to show up as she pleases. The business is supposedly doing well despite no one keeping books, a schedule or even keeping the shop clean. The MC states the business is supposedly doing well yet also states she’ll have to take all the paperwork home to NY for her accountant to assess it after she’s found it and organized it.
The other characters just weren’t interesting or realistic. I didn’t connect with or care about any of them. Most of the town is portrayed as country bumpkins that lack brain cells as well as redeeming qualities. The one police officer, the local sheriff, is portrayed as completely incompetent, unfriendly, and extremely lazy. The narrator also couldn’t seem to figure out how she wanted to portray this character. One minute he’s so slow talking it’s painful, one minute he’s speaking normally. The medical examiner’s not much better professionally or in personality. She hands over an autopsy report regarding a suspicious death before it’s completed to someone who just claims to be the deceased niece, but doesn’t verify who she is. Then she “suggests” the sheriff open an official investigation without listing a cause of death. None of her actions were legal or made sense. Even for a cozy. The old best friend reminded me of the old friend from Sweet Home Alabama. Ever supportive but painfully simple minded, no self confidence (yet this woman ran her own hair salon?), and seemingly never worried about her own business—family or professional. She never had clients and her shop never seemed to be open since she was always free to drive the main character around or go to her house or lunch except when she “had” to decorate her salon for valentines over the course of nearly a month. The “love” interests of the aunt couldn’t decide if they were friendly, pervy, or angry-angsty. None actually sounded like love interests other than one who alluded to they slept together when younger and possibly recently. The only believable characterizations seemed to be the greedy/jealous/angry cousins because they weren’t left everything. They stated they “deserved” it even though they never actually gave a reason why. The greedy, angry family angle was believable, but that was it. The other aspects of their personality were way over the top and not believable. Their money troubles were alluded to but never actually explained. The “scary” guy…actually not remotely scary. The main character was a stuck up New Yorker who has little regard for anyone else and was the second most unlikable character in the book. She wants nothing to do with anything her aunt left her yet had no problem taking the money from selling it all. She also continues the plan to sell everything even after her cousins notify her they are contesting the will. Besides not being legally able to do so, this was thrown in with no other development. It felt like this was thrown in just to make the author’s idea of an ending make sense. The MC didn’t care about any of her aunts things other than to say it was worth a Google search to make sure nothing worth any money got donated rather than sold. She had one reference at the end to say she wasn’t ready to let her aunt go, but even this didn’t ring true since she didn’t speak or visit the woman in many years and ultimately decided she’d rather get back to her New York life so she’d let an estate sale co handle everything. She seemed to only care about her aunts stuff when things don’t go her way at the end. None of her emotions felt true throughout the story. She manipulated people the entire story, but not necessarily regarding solving the crime. One such example is to tell the groomer ollie would be miserable in her apartment alone, not because she believes this, but because she (mc) doesn’t want him and wants to lay on the guilt so the groomer will take him. She even states this to herself after she makes this comment.
Ollie. Where to begin. The synopsis describes the dog as “troublesome but adorable.” This is not what this dog is. In simple terms, he’s grossly untrained and not looked after in the least. He’s known as an escape artist, known for getting into stuff, known to run all over town, known to chew on everything, known to get in your face while you’re driving, known to bite, yet he’s never crated or buckled in for his own safety or the safety of others (traffic, people he bites, chewing everything etc). He’s left to just roam as he pleases all over town and with a dog door and fence he easily escapes. Everyone in town gushes over how cute he is for these “antics” as they call them when in reality it’s just dangerous and a lack of responsibility towards an animal. Sure let’s call him escaping running into traffic where he can get hit, chewing/eating things that could cause obstructions/illness/death, jumping into a drivers face or all over the car cute antics. This part probably disgusted me the most. The dog clearly needs a lot of training and someone responsible caring for him. Everything described as antics in this book is a complete disregard for this dog’s well being and neglectful. I’m all for spoiled dogs, but I cringed through this whole book for this dog. He was over the top annoying absolutely, but it wasn’t his fault. It was the owner’s fault for not training him, allowing these behaviors, and being an irresponsible owner as well as the fault of those who were supposed to care for him afterwards for being irresponsible. It made it even worse the aunt was supposed to be a pet professional. The only person who seemed concerned for his well being is the person who has zero animal experience and doesn’t want him, the mc. She’s the only one who suggests a crate, closes the dog door, worries when he’s run off, upset he’s in the street, doesn’t want him in the car so she can safely drive and when she’s told chocolate is bad for him, the only one who goes after him to take it away. She’s also the only one who seems concerned he has water. I find it comical everyone who calls these antics and claims to adore him so much are tripping over themselves with excuses why they can’t adopt him. I kept thinking I hope this dog finds a home with someone who cares better for him. If I could give 0 stars, I would for the lack of responsibility and care for this dog alone. It is the #1 reason I will not continue this series or read this author again. At least if you’re going to write about a pet care business, pet care professionals and pets…know the basic care in any of these.
The mystery itself wasn’t really a mystery. It was too easily guessed and solved. The ending was so rushed. It was also over the top how so many people felt this death was suspicious but never said anything to police, only to the random, unknown relative from NY who couldn’t wait to leave. Then none of them wanted to take their suspicions to the police even after that or bother with helping piece things together. Everyone was too busy to be bothered despite caring so much for the deceased. Even the police or medical examiner couldn’t be bothered.
Overall this was a poorly written and executed book and narration with terrible, unrealistic characters, a very gross depiction of a grooming business/groomer and a very untrained, neglected dog who was surrounded by irresponsible and uncaring people.
I cannot recommend.
The first part is regarding the ebook and audiobook errors. There were so many typos and even a chapter repeat in the book. This was clearly not edited or even proofread by the author. I listened to the audiobook and the amount of errors in the recording made me check the ebook. The audio had multiple sound errors, interferences and multiple repeated sentences like it was recorded with zero editing or playback. There was even a part where the narrator messes up a word, says it again, then suddenly makes clicking noises with her tongue like an actor does to reset before she reads the sentence over. Her character voices were varied and while over the top, were pretty good performance wise, but the constant mistakes were very distracting. Very poorly done. Neither writing nor narration were quality work. It only gets worse from here.
The story also doesn’t actually take place on New Year’s. It’s dealing with events after New Year’s. Other than the saying the death happened at a NYE party, there’s nothing to do with New Year’s.
As a groomer, I can say this part of the story was cringy for multiple reasons. It really made the groomer seem heartless to everyone but the untrained main dog, ollie, and incompetent regarding animal behavior, animal care, and running a business. If a real life groomer had acted like she does, that shop would’ve been shut down before the lights were ever turned on and the groomer fired. She has a total disregard for the welfare of not just client dogs, but also for Ollie. She allows client dogs to jump off tables mid groom, leaves client dogs unattended while she “massages” Ollie, and allows him to get loose where he runs into traffic nearly being hit. She never bothers to secure him or show concern for him saying something to the effect of “he always finds his way home, I was busy.” Another instance she watches him run through the salon with a chocolate candy bar, giving the mc dirty looks over it despite this untrained dog getting into a strangers purse rather than taken it away from him. She’s also rude to customers, lets them pile up outside waiting to be checked in rather than acknowledge them or call the new owner for help, yet she wants to “run” this business? She’s also extremely rude to an ex client over a pet death and continues to engage with her despite attorneys being involved. She is incredibly rude to the main character except after she’s given what she wants. She’s the most unlikable character not just because she’s a poor representation of a groomer, but for generally being an awful person. This character really did make groomers seem like incompetent, rude, uncaring people rather than remotely professional or animal lovers. The part timer seems to show up as she pleases. The business is supposedly doing well despite no one keeping books, a schedule or even keeping the shop clean. The MC states the business is supposedly doing well yet also states she’ll have to take all the paperwork home to NY for her accountant to assess it after she’s found it and organized it.
The other characters just weren’t interesting or realistic. I didn’t connect with or care about any of them. Most of the town is portrayed as country bumpkins that lack brain cells as well as redeeming qualities. The one police officer, the local sheriff, is portrayed as completely incompetent, unfriendly, and extremely lazy. The narrator also couldn’t seem to figure out how she wanted to portray this character. One minute he’s so slow talking it’s painful, one minute he’s speaking normally. The medical examiner’s not much better professionally or in personality. She hands over an autopsy report regarding a suspicious death before it’s completed to someone who just claims to be the deceased niece, but doesn’t verify who she is. Then she “suggests” the sheriff open an official investigation without listing a cause of death. None of her actions were legal or made sense. Even for a cozy. The old best friend reminded me of the old friend from Sweet Home Alabama. Ever supportive but painfully simple minded, no self confidence (yet this woman ran her own hair salon?), and seemingly never worried about her own business—family or professional. She never had clients and her shop never seemed to be open since she was always free to drive the main character around or go to her house or lunch except when she “had” to decorate her salon for valentines over the course of nearly a month. The “love” interests of the aunt couldn’t decide if they were friendly, pervy, or angry-angsty. None actually sounded like love interests other than one who alluded to they slept together when younger and possibly recently. The only believable characterizations seemed to be the greedy/jealous/angry cousins because they weren’t left everything. They stated they “deserved” it even though they never actually gave a reason why. The greedy, angry family angle was believable, but that was it. The other aspects of their personality were way over the top and not believable. Their money troubles were alluded to but never actually explained. The “scary” guy…actually not remotely scary. The main character was a stuck up New Yorker who has little regard for anyone else and was the second most unlikable character in the book. She wants nothing to do with anything her aunt left her yet had no problem taking the money from selling it all. She also continues the plan to sell everything even after her cousins notify her they are contesting the will. Besides not being legally able to do so, this was thrown in with no other development. It felt like this was thrown in just to make the author’s idea of an ending make sense. The MC didn’t care about any of her aunts things other than to say it was worth a Google search to make sure nothing worth any money got donated rather than sold. She had one reference at the end to say she wasn’t ready to let her aunt go, but even this didn’t ring true since she didn’t speak or visit the woman in many years and ultimately decided she’d rather get back to her New York life so she’d let an estate sale co handle everything. She seemed to only care about her aunts stuff when things don’t go her way at the end. None of her emotions felt true throughout the story. She manipulated people the entire story, but not necessarily regarding solving the crime. One such example is to tell the groomer ollie would be miserable in her apartment alone, not because she believes this, but because she (mc) doesn’t want him and wants to lay on the guilt so the groomer will take him. She even states this to herself after she makes this comment.
Ollie. Where to begin. The synopsis describes the dog as “troublesome but adorable.” This is not what this dog is. In simple terms, he’s grossly untrained and not looked after in the least. He’s known as an escape artist, known for getting into stuff, known to run all over town, known to chew on everything, known to get in your face while you’re driving, known to bite, yet he’s never crated or buckled in for his own safety or the safety of others (traffic, people he bites, chewing everything etc). He’s left to just roam as he pleases all over town and with a dog door and fence he easily escapes. Everyone in town gushes over how cute he is for these “antics” as they call them when in reality it’s just dangerous and a lack of responsibility towards an animal. Sure let’s call him escaping running into traffic where he can get hit, chewing/eating things that could cause obstructions/illness/death, jumping into a drivers face or all over the car cute antics. This part probably disgusted me the most. The dog clearly needs a lot of training and someone responsible caring for him. Everything described as antics in this book is a complete disregard for this dog’s well being and neglectful. I’m all for spoiled dogs, but I cringed through this whole book for this dog. He was over the top annoying absolutely, but it wasn’t his fault. It was the owner’s fault for not training him, allowing these behaviors, and being an irresponsible owner as well as the fault of those who were supposed to care for him afterwards for being irresponsible. It made it even worse the aunt was supposed to be a pet professional. The only person who seemed concerned for his well being is the person who has zero animal experience and doesn’t want him, the mc. She’s the only one who suggests a crate, closes the dog door, worries when he’s run off, upset he’s in the street, doesn’t want him in the car so she can safely drive and when she’s told chocolate is bad for him, the only one who goes after him to take it away. She’s also the only one who seems concerned he has water. I find it comical everyone who calls these antics and claims to adore him so much are tripping over themselves with excuses why they can’t adopt him. I kept thinking I hope this dog finds a home with someone who cares better for him. If I could give 0 stars, I would for the lack of responsibility and care for this dog alone. It is the #1 reason I will not continue this series or read this author again. At least if you’re going to write about a pet care business, pet care professionals and pets…know the basic care in any of these.
The mystery itself wasn’t really a mystery. It was too easily guessed and solved. The ending was so rushed. It was also over the top how so many people felt this death was suspicious but never said anything to police, only to the random, unknown relative from NY who couldn’t wait to leave. Then none of them wanted to take their suspicions to the police even after that or bother with helping piece things together. Everyone was too busy to be bothered despite caring so much for the deceased. Even the police or medical examiner couldn’t be bothered.
Overall this was a poorly written and executed book and narration with terrible, unrealistic characters, a very gross depiction of a grooming business/groomer and a very untrained, neglected dog who was surrounded by irresponsible and uncaring people.
I cannot recommend.
December 28, 2022
Lucy attends her Aunt Eliza's funeral, and it's an inconvenience for her to be back in Louisiana. And now it seems Lucy's stuck in Louisiana as Eliza's will leaves Lucy everything: the house, the shop - and the dog. Lucy doesn't understand why. She hasn't visited in six years and has a very busy job in New York. And she doesn't even like the dog, Ollie. But one person seems to know why it must be Lucy who inherits everything. It's the only way to keep Lucy down in Louisiana if Eliza wants her murder solved. As a newspaper editor, Lucy is very good to do thorough research and thus investigate the crime. Lucy grew up in Louisiana, but lived in New York. She is a tough woman and threats and the runaround don't faze her. But since the attacks get personal, Lucy is justifiably cautious. The book is well written and easy to follow, with the mystery quite easy to solve. A very good casual read.
I received a free copy and am leaving a review voluntarily.
Thank you to Hidden Gems Books and author.
I received a free copy and am leaving a review voluntarily.
Thank you to Hidden Gems Books and author.
January 8, 2024
So I took at chance on this holiday cozy for #SeasonalCozies reading event as the murder happened on New Years Eve, it had a cute dog side character. & it was free on Kindle Unlimited. Well, you get what you pay for. I wasn’t loving it & was wondering why it was so long (440 pages) for a cozy & then suddenly, the end of Chapter 24 turned into the start of Chapter 3. Basically the book has a download error or something. So finally I found the last chapter (25) & it just abruptly ended with *spoiler* her losing her deceased aunt’s dog. 😳 I ended up looking to see if the next book started with that as I didn’t trust it was the end & it at least mentions it as a set up to the Valentine’s themed murder.
So, should I blame the formatting for my ⭐️⭐️ rating? Probably not entirely but honestly, I didn’t like the main character & the story itself was disjointed enough that I don’t care to move on, there’s better series out there for me.
So, should I blame the formatting for my ⭐️⭐️ rating? Probably not entirely but honestly, I didn’t like the main character & the story itself was disjointed enough that I don’t care to move on, there’s better series out there for me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 16, 2024
This cosy mystery was the first book in the Holidays Are Murder series.
I liked the protagonist, she was a lovely character, and I thought Ollie made an adorable companion. It was quite heartwarming to see them develop a closer bond as the story progressed, and I would be interested to know if Lucy and Ollie will be featured in anymore books. It was an enjoyable cosy mystery, very light, easy reading.
Thank you to Booksprout and the author for a free copy to review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I liked the protagonist, she was a lovely character, and I thought Ollie made an adorable companion. It was quite heartwarming to see them develop a closer bond as the story progressed, and I would be interested to know if Lucy and Ollie will be featured in anymore books. It was an enjoyable cosy mystery, very light, easy reading.
Thank you to Booksprout and the author for a free copy to review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
March 15, 2024
What an unexpected page turner, one worthy of our New York Cityn Crime Editor Lucy Layton. She travels to her Aunts small Louisiana town to be present at the reading of the will. Her journey into small town living starts off with a bang! She inherits, house, business, all her belongings, including the most adorable Boston Terrier named Ollie. Will they be able to get along or will he be the baine of her existence? Hidden secrets make it difficult to solve how her aunt died and the police are NO help! Ms. Scott weaves many unexpected twists and turns.
February 1, 2024
Great Start to a New Series
This is the first book in a new series by this author, and I enjoyed it. There were plenty of suspects and funny antics with the dog, and by the end, I felt like the main character had evolved into a better version of herself. I'm looking forward to reading more books in the series. I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.
This is the first book in a new series by this author, and I enjoyed it. There were plenty of suspects and funny antics with the dog, and by the end, I felt like the main character had evolved into a better version of herself. I'm looking forward to reading more books in the series. I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.
February 8, 2024
Lucy, a true crime editor from New York, has to return to her hometown when her aunt dies. She ends up inheriting her aunt's house, her dog, her dog-grooming business, and. . .her aunt's murder. It's up to her and her new canine companion to figure out what happened to her aunt. This is a simple, cozy mystery with a smattering of humorous moments and a lovable pooch to boot.
I'm a member of the ARC team and have left my honest review voluntarily.
I'm a member of the ARC team and have left my honest review voluntarily.
February 16, 2024
I adored this book & cracked up laughing because Ollie reminds me of cats. The ones that don't like them, they pull everything on lol. With Ollie's help, things got taken care of. I figured part of this out and the why but the big part threw me off. I figured it was 2 and not 1. So good! I wonder what's next!.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
April 19, 2024
What a totally fun enjoyable book. I will never look at a new year eve party again without thinking about this story. If mine were half as much fun but without the murder. Hahahha... smile... Madelyn Scott had a way of telling a story to where you could close your eyes and see everything going on. I love that....
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
September 27, 2024
After her Aunt Eliza passes away, Lucy must leave New York and journey to her hometown of Shongoloo for the reading of the will. Not an animal lover, Lucy must deal with Ollie, Eliza's dog. When Lucy hears from one of Eliza's friends that she thought Eliza's death wasn't normal, Lucy uses her gut instincts to solve the case. This story includes weirdness and family drama, ending with a cliffhanger.
I received a copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
January 11, 2024
An enjoyable cozy mystery with a cute shoe destroying very strong willed dog. This was a good start to a series and did end on a cliffhanger but the cliffhanger was not related to the overall mystery in the book it is just to jump start the next book in the series. Despite that ending, the book could be read as a standalone.
September 29, 2024
Unexpected twists and turns, keep popping up to try to turn me on my head and stop me from solving my Aunt Eliza's murder. And now her weird dog, Ollie. keeps following me around too. I am a true crime editor in NY so I'm hoping that can get me going in the right direction. Follow me, Lucy, and see if you see what I see. Who did this and why? We will find out...
January 13, 2024
Citygirl Lucy gets an inheritance from her aunt Eliza. Was it a natural death or murde?. This is a fun read. Entertaining, unpredictable, interesting characters. And then there's Ollie, oh boy.
I received a review copy for free via Booksprout and I’m leaving a voluntary and honest review.
I received a review copy for free via Booksprout and I’m leaving a voluntary and honest review.
January 20, 2024
NY City vs small town Shongoloo, Louisiana!
Lucy heads to Shongoloo when her Aunt dies, only to discover that she has inherited the Dip & Clip dog salon, along with a house and an energetic, shoe-chewing Boston Terrier named Ollie (my favorite character!) But living in a small town, even if she did grow up there, is so very different from her life in NY City. She soon suspects that her Aunt Eliza may have been been murdered and winds up investigating, talking her bestie from high school into helping her. A fun book!
Lucy heads to Shongoloo when her Aunt dies, only to discover that she has inherited the Dip & Clip dog salon, along with a house and an energetic, shoe-chewing Boston Terrier named Ollie (my favorite character!) But living in a small town, even if she did grow up there, is so very different from her life in NY City. She soon suspects that her Aunt Eliza may have been been murdered and winds up investigating, talking her bestie from high school into helping her. A fun book!
January 26, 2024
This was quite the delightful book and totally worth the time I spent reading it. It was truly entertaining. I'm going to have to give this author another spin around the block and see what her other books are like. If they are as good as this one, I am golden! Enjoy.
January 28, 2025
This was more 3.5 starts rounded up but a super cute little mystery. I love little Ollie and he made me want to hug my own dogs each evening! I look forward to what the next mystery has in store in this cute series.
December 28, 2022
It was an enjoyable read that kept me interested.
December 30, 2022
This was a good story and I enjoyed getting to know the characters. I had it figured out pretty early in the story, but it was still a good read!
March 8, 2023
Sweet Read!!
This book is really cute! It made me smile, laugh, and even cry. This author really gets Boston terriers. On the Valentine's Day!
This book is really cute! It made me smile, laugh, and even cry. This author really gets Boston terriers. On the Valentine's Day!
January 6, 2024
Cute audiobook I listened to while running errands and cleaning.
January 1, 2023
I found this book annoying. The storyline was just meh; the characters ridiculous; the plot twists and turns barely kept the book interesting; and there wasn’t a lot of romance. Finishing this book was a struggle for me…it just lacked the ‘hook’ needed to capture my interest.
The story does have its moments…so give it a read and decide for yourself. (I voluntarily read an advance reader copy of this book and am on the fence about it.)
The story does have its moments…so give it a read and decide for yourself. (I voluntarily read an advance reader copy of this book and am on the fence about it.)
January 13, 2023
I had really high hopes when I started reading this book. It was a bit of a different mystery than what I have been reading. I was even willing to overlook the "word salad" the author presented as she described every encounter with the dog and such. I kept with the book and felt it was going to be okay.
I'm not sure what I was expecting but it sure wasn't that last chapter. It was a total disappointment to me. I felt sort of let down and cheated. I won't say any more as I don't want to spoil it for someone else who might read the book.
I'm not sure what I was expecting but it sure wasn't that last chapter. It was a total disappointment to me. I felt sort of let down and cheated. I won't say any more as I don't want to spoil it for someone else who might read the book.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews