Antics abound in the latest Hat Shop Mystery

My first finished book for March was quite a pleasant and quick cozy-  Buried to the Brim.  Jenn McKinlay's latest installment in her Hat Shop Mystery series continues to charm as always.  This book finds us catching up with Scarlett, Viv and Fee.  As well as Scarlett's now fiance, Harrison, his buddy Alistair whom Scarlett is determined to match up with Viv- much to her cousin's annoyance.   Andre and  Nick round out the friendship circle of the recurring characters.   The story centers around the millinery as they all tend to with lots of descriptions of very British hats and fascinators.

This story centers around Harrison's Aunt Betty and her Corgi, Freddy.   I mean what makes a book about a great group of friends even better than throwing in a bunch of cute dogs.  McKinlay's descriptions of the animals, their owners and the dog show reminded me of the movie, "Best in Show"   It was easy to visualize all the character and the goings on in the novel.  Of course there was the unexpected body of the arch nemesis of Aunt Betty and the drama that ensued as the group worked to clear her name.    The friends banter back and forth and their exchange of puns, this time very canine oriented, made the story a delight to read.  The guilty party was a well played secret until the closing scene when it is revealed by Scarlett.  All in all this is a fun read and those who love all things British or dogs will enjoy it especially.


Buried to the Brim by Jenn McKinlay
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What's not to love about the adventures of Scarlett, Harrison, Viv and Fee. Oh yeah don't forget Nick, Andre and Alistair. This latest installment in the Hat Shop Mysteries does not disappoint. They even threw in a few cute dogs this time. All in all Jenn McKinlay does a great job telling a delightful story. She throws in just enough non mystery details to make the book fun and entertaining without being distracting. The who did it is a great twist as well.


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Challenge Prompts

The Challenge Prompts I will use this for are:

1. Library Love  #LibraryLoveChallenge -  Book 23
2. AtoZ and Alphabet soup challenge #AlphabetSoupChallenge-  "B"
3. Finishing the Series- #6   #FinishingTheSeries2020    Hat Shop Mysteries through 3/2020
4. Cravings for a Cozy and Cloak and  Dagger #CloakDaggerChal : Book  #16
5. Cruising through cozies -  #5  Series set outside the US
6. Calendar of Crime-  #CalendarOfCrime2020  Jan #6-  Original Publication Month
7. Medical Examiner-  1 Toe Tag 
8. Six Shooter-  1 shot for Jenn McKinlay
9. Monthly Motif   #MonthlyMotifGXO-  SubGenre sound off-  used Cozy Mystery as subgenre
10. Popsugar- #popsugarreadingchallenge  #5 Set in a city that hosted the Olympics- London
11. 52 Books in 52 weeks  #24 Title beginning with B