Review: Beaglemania by Linda O. Johnston

Title: Beaglemania

Author: Linda O. Johnston

Series: Pet Rescue Mysteries, No. 1

Genre/Age: Cozy mystery, adult

Publication: 2011

Source: Library

Summary: Lauren Vancouver, animal lover and rescuer, runs HotRescues, a no kill animal shelter. Lauren, a widow, is mother to two college age kids. She has found an enemy in Efram Kiley, an animal abuser who works at a puppy mill where she recently rescued four beagle pups who were tossed in a drain pipe. Efram feels the same about her, and threatens Lauren and the shelter. That same night, he is found stabbed to death at HotRescues, and Lauren quickly becomes the primary suspect after discovering the body. The detective on the case is certain it's her and all but refuses to look at anyone else. Lauren decides to do her own little detective work and take on the case herself to discover who really did Efram in.

My Thoughts: This is the first in the new Pet Rescue series, and I really enjoyed it! It's perfect for animal lovers who are fans of mysteries. I've recently started reading cozy mysteries and find them to be a lot of fun; this one was no exception. I was particularly interested in this cozy because of the animal aspect. I am a true animal lover, and thoroughly enjoyed reading about other like-minded people, particularly Lauren, who has dedicated her life to saving animals. I really liked Lauren as a character and thought she was feisty and full of sass. She was determined not only to rescue animals, but to find out who killed Efram. I thought the mystery aspect was strong as well. I kept speculating about possible killers throughout the whole story, and was not able to correctly guess. I was surprised to discover who the killer was at the end. The killer didn't really seem that likely and I'm still doing a little "hmm" about it, but hey, you never know what could push someone to murder. Though this is an adult series, since it is a cozy, and not at all graphic, I think this book could be appropriate for YA readers as well. I'm really looking forward to Lauren's adventures in the next installment, The More The Terrier, but was sad to find out it doesn't come out until October! :(

This series is a spin off of Linda's first cozy series, Kendra Ballantyne - Pet Sitter Mysteries. I haven't read that series yet, but I plan on it really soon! More animal mysteries - hurray!

My Rating: 4/5