4.5 Stars

The third book in the Paws & Claws series, Murder Most Howl sees the gang in the (unfortunately fictional) pet resort town of Wagtail hosting a murder mystery weekend. The Sugar Maple Inn is filled to the rafters with excited sleuths looking to solve their very own murder.

Things start going downhill when the morning after the "murder" kicked off the event, a real dead body turns up in town and it's up to Holly and her gang to solve the mystery.

This was a great plot; moved along pretty well, but bogged down a little towards the middle of the book. Still, I have to say that although I figured out who the thief was, I really had no idea whodunit until the very end. I loved the whole murder-mystery-within-a-murder-mystery idea. Really well done!

Deducted half a star because of a few niggling things; first, the whole Ben - Holmes - Holly triangle has got to go. It doesn't tantalize, it annoys. Second, there was an event that was mentioned before it was introduced into the story (Spoiler ahead)

Spoiler

While on the way to Shadow's house, Holly mentions that the money clip has gone missing. Wait, what money clip? Well, a few chapters later, a character reports that her husband's money clip is missing. Either Holly has become psychic or there was a glaring plot error that somehow made it to publication.

Last, what the is the point of Aunt Birdie? Seriously?

Death Takes Priority This book started out a little slow (which was necessary to set up a few plot points) but turned into a really good read.  Pretty good plot; although I found it easy to unravel most of it well before the end of the book, it was worth the read to see how it all played out. 
 
Overall, an enjoyable start to what looks like a promising series and I enjoyed the postal anecdotes at the end of the book.

Pouncing On Murder I enjoy this series, it's really cute.  While a good read, it seemed a little loose.  I don't know if it's my not-in-the-mood-to-read mood I'm in or if the plot needed to be tightened up a bit but this was a hard book to stay with.  I knew I'd finish it in the end, but I just couldn't muster up much enthusiasm about it. 
 
The best thing about this book?  The MC has a TSTL moment at the end and actually admits it's a TSTL moment.  Beautiful. And I'm not being facetious, I thought that was truly awesome.  How many times have I (fruitlessly) said,  "JFC YOU ARE TOO STUPID TO LIVE!" because you know they can't hear you.  Well, I lost count, but this time, it was like being answered back.  YOU ARE TOO STUPID TO LIVE!"   "OMFG, I KNOW, RIGHT?" 
 
 
Overall, I liked it, despite my ennui.  Please don't let my lack of enthusiasm stop you from reading this book because it's actually really good.
 
 
 

Thread and Gone is the third book in the Mainely Needlepoint series.  This is the first one I've read of the series, and there are a few references to the earlier books, but nothing that was confusing or made me feel lost. 
 
The setting, a small town in Maine, is quaint and cozy; who can't picture small town New England? It's an easy setting to lose yourself in, vivid and picturesque.   Likeable characters, especially the main character, Angie, are easy to relate to and realistic.   I really enjoyed the plots, both the investigation into the murder and the history and intrigue about the embroidery.  The story was paced well, although there was a lot of internal dialogue that recapped the story.  As I read the book straight through, it wasn't needed for me but I could see how it would help refresh things for people who didn't read it all at once, like I did.
 
The only thing that detracted from the story is that the story ended with the embroidery being found, but didn't resolve whether it was valuable. It was a loose thread (pun intended) that left the story a bit unfinished for me.  Perhaps it will be picked up in the next book.
 
Overall an enjoyable read and a big thanks to Kensington Books and NetGalley for the ARC.

Tradition of Deceit I tried to get through this a year ago and DNF.  The newest book came out recently, so I thought I'd try one more time to get through it.   And it was just....okay.  Although the plots were intriguing, the pace was just too slow.  Overall, I'm glad I got through it but it's definitely the black hole in the series.  Just 2 stars, I'm afraid.

In a fit of nostalgia, I'm re-reading my way through this series.  I've always loved Encyclopedia Brown, and I remember back 30 or 35 years ago I was  always running to the library to see if they had any new ones.  They're fast, they're entertaining and very well-written.  It's so easy to devour one in a half-hour and yet you're just as satisfied as if you read a full length novel. 
 
So, this review will sum up the series for me:  great for kids, and even better for adults.

I don't know quite what I expected from this book, but it wasn't what I expected. It was a cute book, and I enjoyed the mystery and the geneaology. But the rest of it was just long periods of WTF? followed by quick bursts of page turning.

Also didn't like the style. It all went like this: Event happens. MC Abby has to rehash everything in her entire life until this moment. Then she has to call Ned to rehash everything in her life up until that moment. Ned takes it all in calmly, tells her to do some insignificant task and then they meet up the next weekend, have another event and do that same damn thing. That was the whole book.

What evs. I finished it. Now going to go read something that doesn't require electric shocks to keep my attention.