Tomorrow is New Release Tuesday for a bunch of wonderful cozy mysteries. This one is one I may not have picked up a few years ago because I don't generally like books that feature ghosts but I received the first book in this series last summer Sketch Me If You Can for review and I really liked it and was looking forward to this next edition.
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| Cover Illustration by Dan Craig |
A Division of The Penguin Group
A Portrait of Crime Mystery
2nd in the Series
ISBN-10: 0425241920
ISBN-13: 978-0425241929
Rory McCain inherited more than a house from her Uncle Mac, she also inherited Marshal Ezekiel Drummond (Zeke). He came with the house as he was killed there back in 1878 and his ghostly self refuses to crossover until he determines who killed him and why.
While Rory appreciates his lawman's intellect to help her solve cases for her brand new PI firm, she would appreciate him more if he could just perfect his appearances and maybe keep his opinions to himself once and awhile, then Rory wouldn't mind so much "living" with the spirit.
In this story Rory finds a big lovable stray dog, Hobo, and luckily he has tags on his collar so he can be returned to his owner. Rory takes the dog home and sees the front door is ajar so she knows how the dog got out, but as she enters the house to find the owner she has that eerie feeling. She is not entirely surprised when she finds the owner murdered.
This puts Rory right in the middle of another police investigation. Actually two as one of the friend's of Hobo's owner contacts Rory and tells her that several dogs have been dog-napped recently, including not only the other dog of the murdered woman but two of her own dogs. She hires Rory to find the missing canines.
Rory is now sharing her house with a dog, a ghost who doesn't get along well with dogs, and three cases to solve. Hopefully Hobo can help her sniff out some clues and Zeke will use his energy to help her, rather than just use it to frighten the poor dog for his pleasure. Working together they are on the trail to track down the dog-nappers and may even a murderer.
This book is a mystery, within a mystery, within another mystery and I love them all. Extremely well written and plotted the three just flow together naturally making for a fast paced read you won't want to put down. I don't consider this a much a paranormal story as a mystery with with a spirit who is truly friendly and funny. The way he doesn't understand today's slang just cracks me up.
The fact that none of Rory's family knows about Zeke adds a little more quirkiness to this story. Aunt Helene is priceless. She loves helping Rory with her cases, and her family is still wondering why after all this time they have never been invited in her home.
I am so thankful that I received that book last year, because it would have been a shame to have missed this wonderful series. This is the perfect story to "escape" into for a relaxing afternoon.
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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Berkley Prime Crime, a division of Penguin Publishing. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
2 comments:
Sounds like lots of fun, which is just what I'm needing right now. It's on my list for the next bookstore run. Thanks.
These cozies seem like they would make fun summer reads. I like that this one involves dogs and ghosts. Could make for a fun mix of characters.
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