Death by Chocolate Lab is the first Lucky Paws Petsitting mystery by Bethany Blake. This is a great book if you are a dog lover. The book features multiple breeds and their fun antics are sure to put a smile on your face. Daphne is a bit of a free spirit, she even drives a 70s VW bus, who is living with her veterinarian sister, Piper. Her interactions with Piper are clearly ones of a loving relationship but they are certainly portrayed as women who also bicker and get on each other's nerves. Don't even get them started on how much their mother can drive them nuts. All very realistic representation of family dynamics in my opinion.
But family is family and Daphne gets involved helping to clear Piper's name when her ex is found murdered at her farm. Daphne manages to create sparks with the new Detective in town, Johnathan Black-some romantic but mainly ones of irritation. These tensions create additional tensions with Daphne's sort of romantic interest, Dylan, as jealousy rears its head. Creating some tense moments outside of the mystery solving activities. This romantic triangle was a bit annoying at times and one fo the reasons I only gave this a 3. The other factor was the flakiness of Daphne didn't really correspond with her diligence in detecting and I found it a bit irritating as well.
The mystery itself is well written with multiple suspects with valid motives. There are some additional sub plots with mysterious origins as well that help point suspicion along the way. The actual culprit was identifiable part way through the story but the motive was interesting when it was revealed. All in all I look forward to reading more about this ensemble of characters and their hometown of Sylvan Springs in the Poconos.
Death by Chocolate Lab by Bethany Blake
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Enjoyable first in a series. The MC, Daphne, is a bit of a free spirit but good hearted. Her relationship with her mother and sister, Piper, feel authentic. They love each other but get on each others nerves. If you love dogs this is a great book for you. Daphne is a pet sitter and a foster dog mom. The descriptions of the dogs and their antics are wonderful. The mystery itself is well constructed and although I had a suspicion of the guilty party the motive was quite a surprise. The book has lots of twists and turns in mysterious subplots that lead to many false guilty suspicions. I look forward to trying more in the series
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Challenge Prompts
The Challenge Prompts I will use this for are:
- Library Love #LibraryLoveChallenge Book #32
- Literary Escapes #LiteraryEscapes PA
- What an Animal Book #23
- 2022TBR #2022ReadingChallenge # 11 Debut Novel
- Virtual Mount TBR #VirtualMountTBR2022 Book #43
- Back List Reader #Backlistreader Book #34
- Cruisin thru Cozies Free choice #26
- Cloak & Dagger #CloakDaggerChal Book #45
- Craving for Cozies Book #43
- Medical Examiner Challenge 2 Toe Tags
- Beachcomber Challenge
- Crime Scene- woods; field
- Weapon- hammer
- Detectives- Daphne Templeton; Johnathan Black
- Victims- Steve Beamus; Virginia Lockhart
- Six Shooter Challenge Target #80 Shot #1
- Around the Year in 52 Books #21. A book with one of the Monopoly tokens on the cover
- Bookworm #23 Read a book about a musician (non-fiction or fiction)
- BooklistQueen #booklistqueenreadingchallenge2022 #4. Book with a Twist
- Beat the Backlist #BTB2022 #7 debut novel
- Nancy Drew #42. The Phantom of Pine Hill (1965) - read a book set in the mountains
- Pick your Poison #86 a book that features a classic car
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