Between the somewhat bemused looking dog and the humor of the cover, it was impossible to resist this one. It's become a favorite series, I must admit. The chemistry between Angela and Ruff, her dog, is great and I liked the "thoughts" injected in places from Ruff. No, no talking dogs here. Just what one might surmise he's thinking. I've done the same with my own dog, must admit, and truth be told, I'm not sure I'd really want to know some of her thoughts about my human frailties and slowness to figure out what her eyes and expressions are telling me. Angela does make the mistake of overlooking some clues found by Ruff, of course, being a mere human. She's getting better, though.
As for the rest of the humans, there's Angela's boyfriend David who seems like a gem. Not only does Ruff approve of him but he's so nice the goats want to eat him. Honest. Well, his shirt. Some cute scenes with Angela's farm critters, that's for sure, including Eggatha the opinionated hen and Indiana, one of her adventurous chicks. Angela's family is also one many of us would adopt as our own easily, not to mention her father is a retired cop. Her mother's dementia, which I've noted in previous book reviews, is mentioned in this installment but only briefly. Her sister is largely uninvolved and brother William primarily as the employer of the victim of a murderer. Poor Seth. He actually sounded like a nice guy, helpful to all, and a wiz at auto mechanics. How could he not have noticed the problems with his vehicle? Why would someone want to kill him?
As for the murder, which it is deemed to be, it was interesting to watch Angela put the clues together to make sense of it all. True, she runs into problems and winds up on crutches but barely allows herself time to heal before she presses on. One aspect that I definitely liked near the end was her basically admission to her father that, sadly, solving a murder isn't always as satisfying as one might expect. Since she's always appeared a bit excited at getting another case and working with the police, that was a nice bit of growth for her to acknowledge. The growth of her relationship with Dave is also great to see after all the hesitations of past books. I must admit, as a retired teacher, I also like that he's a teacher, even if it keeps him ridiculously busy at times.
Although it was nicely woven into the plot, I did hesitate briefly before giving into my need to keep up with Angela's life when I saw that part of the story line involved community animals getting sick. No one seems to know why, although many are suspicious of a new animal food. Needless to say, although I was relieved Ruff wasn't getting that brand, the animal lover in me was glad to see Angela get to the bottom of that mystery, too. Bottom line, a fun, quick read (I pretty much read it in one evening) with just the right mix of strong characters, critters, and whodunit. Thanks #BookSirens and #MaxParrott for allowing me to spend time with Angela, Ruff, Dave, and everyone involved again. I always enjoy my sneak peek visits.
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