Dog Treats and Death (Heywood Hounds Cozy Mysteries #1)
Author: Carly Winter
4.5 out of 5 stars
When Gina’s brother, Vic, is accused of killing his ex-girlfriend, Gina refuses to let him be railroaded by the lazy sheriff. Gina’s had her own experience with that after her ex-husband’s death. While Vic hides out at her house, Gina starts questioning people who would have a motive to kill Phoebe. Helping her is Gina’s dog Daisy, who Gina is able to talk to. Will Gina and Daisy figure out who the real killer is before Vic is arrested?
The mystery was well done. There was a lot pointing towards one suspect that I wondered if he was a red herring, but it didn’t feel forced. I’ve read books where the author puts so much attention on a suspect that it’s obvious they aren’t the killer, because they spent too much time making them the obvious suspect. But this book didn’t do that. There were also other suspects that had a good motive too, and plenty of attention was given to them also. The ending was exciting and even had some surprises.
I liked the characters. Gina and Vic have a stereotypical sibling relationship, but it’s very well written. Gina isn’t happy about many of Vic’s choices, including times he’s been arrested and the shady people he chooses to spend time with. Vi I very protective of Gina, and both of them willing to do anything for the other. Vic ends up being as fully fleshed out as Gina is. Gina is our main character, so we learn a lot about her, but through her perspective, we also learn a lot about Vic and see more than one side of his personality.
The story had a smooth and steady pace and easy readability; the pages flew by. The only negative was that the flow was sometimes interrupted by moments of info-dumping, mostly about the background of different characters. It also wasn’t really clear how many days were passing, although this didn’t really affect anything. I only really noticed it because Gina’s son tells er that he’s coming home Friday, and I realized I had no idea what day it was. But these were very minor things, which is why I’m rating it 4.5 out of 5 stars.
Overall, I really liked the book and will read more in the series. You should definitely check it out if you like mysteries that include animals.
Price through Amazon Kindle: $0
Link to buy: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0C36281VN
(I do not benefit from the use of this link.)