Kelly's Flipper Mysteries are a fun series to add to your TBR list. I started in the middle, so I'm going back and reading the earlier books.

The scenes with her sleuth, Sawdust (the cat) and the robotic vacuum are a hoot.

A must-read for cozy lovers.

It is very possible that I love this as much as I do because we just bought a new house, but the mystery was solid and I loved all of our characters. Even if I loved this for the nostalgia it would get a 5 star anyway because I loved the chapters from Sawdust the cat’s perspective so much.

I was enjoying the story for the first third, but it did take a long time to get to the actual murder. I started to think that perhaps this was going to be a mystery about who caused all the bad things to happen to Whitney’s house.

Soon after, murder happens and corpse is found. Whitney is made to identify the body. Well, made … she’s manipulated into identifying the body. “Otherwise we’ll have to call a family member. You don’t want one of his loved ones to have to go through that, do you?” the lead detective says.

I think Whitney should have protested a little harder that she doesn’t want to do it. On the one hand, Whitney is portrayed as a touch cookie, doing evictions on her own without backup (in a state where gun ownership is not an oddity) and yet, she’s pretty spineless when it comes to standing up for herself in other situations.

That evening Colette, Whitney’s friend, takes her out for drinks and after Whitney tells her about everything that has happened to her in the past week, the two of them compile a list of possible suspects.

And though I can agree to most of the people on the list, I can’t agree with Presley, the dead man’s assistant, at least not for the reason Colette and Whitney think of. So, sure he probably was an awful boss that undervalued and underpaid her and didn’t support her ambition to have a career in his company. But that’s no reason to kill the guy. That’s reason to quit and find opportunities elsewhere.

Perhaps I’m just biased because that’s what I do when my ambitions don’t line up with the ambitions my employer has for me. Also, I like to think that murder is a last resort and that even in cozies people kill because they see no other options to solve a problem. People with bad bosses generally have other options. Particularly in larger towns.

One name not on Whitney’s suspect list, is Whitney herself. The police find her a person of interest, though. Whitney decides she must find the killer. If only to soothe the nerves of potential buyers of her house that there is still a killer out there.

Her and her cousin Buck’s approach is that of offence is the best defence. They visit potential suspects at their homes and ask them flat out if they have killed the victim. Surprisingly, none take the opportunity to confess.

There were some further eye-rolling moments, but the overall story was nice enough. I didn’t care for the chapters that were close third person of the cat. I'm a little undecided between two and three starts, but I'm probably not adverse to reading another book in the series, so three stars makes more sense.

There is one thing I truly detest as a cozy trope and that is a killer that use poison, a knife or whatever is convenient to kill, but when confronting the sleuth

Spoiler

pulls a gun. And this killer went beyond the trope by pulling a gun, dropping it when he flees, then pulling another gun an hour later when the police catch up with him.

Within a few pages, I knew I was going to really enjoy this book. Debut of a new cozy series for Diane Kelly, it has all the elements to draw the reader in: a strong point of view from a winning protagonist, Whitney Whitaker, well drawn characters, a different take on the mileau, strong plot and written with style. Whitney, a property manager and carpenter, gets an opportunity to purchase a semi-dilapidated house for a reasonable price. Knowing that she has the skills for the repairs make the opportunity for flipping the house undeniably appealing. The story has twists and turns from there but always plays fair with the readers and true to Whitney's character. Looking forward to meeting her again too.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book blew me away. The way the author moved between the main character and her pet was perfection and added so much to the overall story. The author did a great job really building the family dynamics in this book as well, it was so real. The mystery was well written and just when you think you know whodunit, the author throws you a curve ball. Definitely a book to read again and again.

I like the characters in this one and the story building. I'm not sure how I felt about their "crime solving" because a lot of what they did was illegal. I do want to read the next one.
Sawdust rules.