In the Dog House–review

This is the first book in a brand new series releasing this Tuesday, August 21. It’s called the Dog Club Mysteries by somewhat newer cozy author V.M (Valerie) Burns, who is making a name for herself among cozy authors with her Mystery Bookshop series. I just loved the dogs in this book and the fact that they weren’t just pretty show dogs. They served an awesome purpose as well. I can’t wait for the next in series to come out!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this via NetGalley and the publisher, but would highly recommend it and will probably end up buying it (if I haven’t pre-ordered already–sometimes I pre-order and I forget!)

Update: I did pre-order this one and I found out the name of the next one and pre-ordered it too. The Puppy Who Knew Too Much comes out on February 12, 2019, my little dachsie’s third birthday!

My Goodreads review:

In the Dog House by V.M. Burns

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Oh my goodness, this is such a great beginning for this new series! I absolutely loved this book. And those adorable dogs just added to how much I loved it, especially little Aggie! I hope there’s another one coming up soon!

Lilly Echosby had just found out her husband wanted a divorce. He was leaving her for a dumb bimbo named Bambi. The next minute he was found shot, found by said bimbo. Lilly of course was the obvious suspect. With her two grown kids in town for their dad’s funeral and her bestie Dixie by her side, they were determined they were going to find the real killer and clear Lilly’s name. When a second body turned up and she was blamed for that, she only became more determined to tie those two killings together. With the help of a K-9 officer named Joe and his dog Turbo, they cracked the case open and even got the mastermind of it.

This was a really exciting mystery since there was more than the murder going on. Lilly being a CPA had discovered the car dealership her husband had owned had something hinky going on. Officer Joe said he’d help, which I thought was good because he did genuinely want to clear her name, but he could also keep the civilians somewhat safe. I loved reading about the SING self-defense method. I had only read one other book where it was used to take down a bad guy. It was pretty important in nailing someone in this story.

I haven’t despised a character as much as I loathed Bambi in forever. There have only been a handful of characters throughout the books I’ve read that I have literally hated or was hoping they’d become the next victim. The author must have a special gift for being able to instill that, just as she has a gift for describing and telling about adorable dogs. In one scene, I literally had leaky eyes reading about something that happened to little Aggie, the toy poodle Lilly was adopting.

I liked Officer Joe an awful lot and almost hate to think about Lilly possibly leaving town. I hope that her pal Dixie stays in the story, she’s such a hoot, I love her to pieces! Lilly’s grown kids, Stephanie and David were amazing. They had a great relationship with their mom, but were able to show their dad the respect he needed when it was time for the funeral. I hope they make an appearance in future books too! The dogs were definitely stars as well. Poodles may not be attack dogs but just the scene of a grown man being scared when one had taken him down was so comical. What awesomely trained dogs!

If you couldn’t already tell, I’m very anxious for the next book in the series! I volunteered to read this one early via NetGalley and the publisher. Release date is August 21.

View all my reviews