Reviews

Paws for Murder by Annie Knox

melissapalmer404's review against another edition

5.0

Book #30 Read in 2014
Paws for Murder by Annie Knox

This is the first book in a relatively new cozy mystery series; it is set in a pet boutique. Izzy returns to her hometown and opens the pet boutique, making all sorts of costumes and clothing for pets. Her childhood Rena partners up with her to create yummy pet treats to sell at Trendy Tails. Their grand opening is going well until the body of a local rich girl/political activist is found in their alleyway. Rena is considered a suspect. Izzy teams up with Sean, her old friend who had a crush on her, who is now Rena's lawyer to try to find the real murderer. Will they do so before Rena is arrested?

This was a good cozy mystery read. I enjoyed the setting and the animal characters throughout the book. The mystery was decent as I was kept guessing about the true identity of the murderer. The romantic history between Izzy and Sean was another interesting element. There was also humor in the book. I loved Aunt Dolly trying to seduce Izzy's cranky business neighbor. I will read the second book in this series.

http://melissasbookpicks.blogspot.com

felinity's review against another edition

2.0

Even for a cozy mystery, this was pretty light. The main character doesn't know anything about running a business (but that's okay, because her sister will do the accounts, her family will fund it and her BFF will make the edible treats). She also doesn't know anything about murders, but somehow manages to generate leads - each of which, except for one, is somehow a complete dead end - and find whodunnit. And fix some of her personal life at the same time.

Not for me, even though I usually like this sort of thing for light fluff reading.

nitabee's review against another edition

3.0

A decent enough debut but maybe more like two and a half stars. I got kinda annoyed with how Izzy kept referring to herself as "Dizzy Izzy" and she annoyed me a bit at times. The book starts off with Izzy's opening a pet boutique with the help of her old high school friend, Rena. Annoying activist Sherry Harper is found murdered at the boutique's grand opening party. Since Rena has a bit of a history with Sherry, the cops suspect her, which is why Izzy becomes interested in trying to solve the case. Sean, another of Izzy and Rena's old friends, is an attorney now, and he helps them out.

There were plenty of suspects in Sherry's murder, which is nice. I liked to be kept guessing, never knowing who exactly it was.

Spoiler

I first thought it might be Hal when it turned out Sherry was having an affair with Hal, and then I suspected Hal's wife, Pris. Both of them were innocent though, with Pris being disappointed she hadn't got documentation of the affair to void their prenup! It turned out Sherry's main purpose for the affair was to get info so she could outbid Hal for the former nature camp that bordered her family's land. Her Aunt Virginia ended up killing her to keep quiet the fact that her daughter Carla, who was Sherry's cousin and executor of the family trust, had misappropriated Sherry's funds. I had a feeling Virginia had something to do with it, but I had trouble pinpointing her motive. This was kinda nice since Carla had been dating Sean, whose friendship with Izzy ended in HS when he professed his love for her. Sean's now a free man though, leaving the door open for a possible romance there.

I'll read the next book in the series - I liked the supporting cast well enough, and I'm interested in seeing what happens next for Izzy, Rena, and Sean.

marjolaine_lafreniere's review against another edition

April 2017: DNF. I can't get past the first chapter. I know that setting up premise, story and character is really challenging, but for my taste, opening your book with a conversation between the MC and a ditzy, argumentative, and yet somehow extremely influential character is not the way to do it. Your milage may vary.

ashielizz's review against another edition

5.0

Review coming soon

mercyblue's review against another edition

2.0

I really wanted to like this book more then I did but with about 100 pages left I skipped to the end to see who the murderer was. It started out really promising, with a good premise and some quirky characters to back up the plot but I soon grew tired of the main character, Izzy. Her investigation into the murder of Sherry was like reading about a bull in a China shop. She just charged up to the suspects and blatantly asked them if they had murdered Sherry, as if they weren't capable of murdering Izzy as well just to keep her quiet. If there had been more finesse on Izzy's part I would have enjoyed this book a lot more but because of her 'Dizzy Izzy' syndrome I grew tired of her antics too soon. I certainly won't be going out to buy the second novel in this series anytime soon.

karmakat's review against another edition

3.0

A cute cozy mystery. However, the animal scenes are very unbelievable. For example, the protagonist has an open-house for her new store and invites people and their animal companions to attend. And we're supposed to believe that this shop is now full of cats, dogs, ferrets, guinea pigs, birds, etc. who are all getting along with no issues.

dollycas's review against another edition

4.0

Dollycas’s Thoughts

This story was a fun start to the Pet Boutique Mystery series. We have tried costumes on our pets over the years. None of them were ever too happy about it but it is a very cute idea and practical for those pets that venture outdoors in the cold winter months.

I enjoyed the way the author tied the story to my home state of Wisconsin too, with a dog named Packer, and characters that went to college or moved from Madison.

All he characters both two legged and four legged were introduced to us quite well in this first installment. I have a soft spot for Aunt Dolly, of course, us Dolly’s need to stick together. I love the way she supports Izzy both with helping her open Trendy Tails and in any other way she can. She even dons 4 inch platform sandals and “dresses up” to catch the eye of a crotchety store owner trying to make trouble for Izzy. Aunt Dolly is a hoot!!

Izzy is a strong protagonist too. Her life was turned upside down by a man. They had their whole future planned but just when they were supposed to be a making the move to New York, he changed his plans and left her behind and took another woman with him! She had to pick herself up, dust herself off and get on with her life. She does that with Trendy Tails. At least she was in her hometown surrounded by friends and family. Going into business with her best friend Rena was the perfect choice. Hopefully she can patch thing up with her old friend Sean too. Their friendship had added rather abruptly but now that they are both back in Merryville she are going to constantly bumping into each other.

There are many more interesting characters who reside in Merryville. It is one of those small towns where everyone knows everyone or they have heard gossip about each other. A perfect setting for this cozy mystery series.

I did see the writing on the wall a bit before the guilty party was revealed, but this still a wonderful mystery. I enjoyed the story so much I have already started reading Groomed For Murder. It hits store shelves next week!

murderbydeath's review

4.0

3.5 stars only because I didn't immediately click with the MC. But a strong start to a new series and I'll be looking for the second book.

Full review: http://jenn.booklikes.com/post/803678/pawsformurder