Published by Turnaround, 20 March 2014.
ISBN: 978-0-451-23950-1
Izzy McHale is about to open her
new pet boutique in her home town of Merryville, and she has good reason to
feel anxious about its success: her elderly friend and landlady has backed her
by subsidising her rent and her equally elderly aunt has put a large sum of
money into stocking and opening the boutique. Also Izzy's friend, Rena, is the
cook responsible for all the animal food sold in the boutique, and has worked
as hard for its success as Izzy herself has done. Izzy's self-esteem is still
very low after she was dumped for another woman by her long-term boyfriend,
whom she had supported through college, subordinating her own fashion designer
career to his medical ambitions.
As she struggles to open
the boutique, Izzy has a lot to deal with, including an irascible next-door
neighbour who owns an antiquarian bookshop. Richard Greene believes that the
proximity of animals will damage his trade; and is willing to use any legal
means to close down Trendy Tails. And then there is Priscilla Olson, owner of
Prissy's Pretty Pets, an old schoolmate of Izzy, who will stop at little to get
the better of a rival.
The last thing Izzy needs
is for local activist and spoiled heiress, Sherry Harper, to wage a campaign
against Trendy Tails but, despite her pleas, Sherry turns up and starts
picketing the party to celebrate the shop's opening, waving a painted sign
bearing the words 'NAKED IS NATURAL.' Izzy has little success in persuading
Sherry to leave but Rena manages to do so, and it is clear that in the past
Sherry has done something to Rena of which she is still ashamed and that Rena
has not forgiven. Towards the end of the party, Izzy goes out to dump the
rubbish and finds Sherry lying dead next to the bins.
Sherry has been poisoned
and Rena becomes the police's main suspect. Rena calls in Sean Tucker, to act
as her lawyer. This unsettles Izzy: she, Rena and Sean had been very close
friends throughout school, until Sean had announced his love for Izzy and she,
infatuated by another boy, had rebuffed him. Izzy and Sean have hardly spoken
since that day. Now Sean is a successful attorney and has a new girlfriend,
Sherry's cousin, Carla.
Together Sean and Izzy
set out to clear Rena, aided by a gang of much-loved pets. They discover many
people who had good reason to hate Sherry before they reveal the truth behind
her murder.
I started this book with
a slight reservation in my mind regarding the pet boutique setting but within
the first few pages I was hooked. Izzy is a delightful heroine, both vulnerable
and courageous, with a wry sense of humour and a genuine love for animals. Her
friends and family are warm and funny and the author does an excellent job of
characterisation with all the characters. In this book nobody is perfect but
also nobody is totally evil. The mystery is engaging, with a plentiful supply
of red herrings and a peppering of clear, honestly laid clues. Paws for Murder is a real page turner.
It is the first book in a new series, which I predict could have a long and
lively run.
------
Reviewer: Carol Westron
Annie Knox doesn’t commit–or solve–murders in her real life, but
her passion for animals is 100% true. She’s also a devotee of 80s music, Asian
horror films, and reality TV. While Annie is a native Buckeye and has called a
half dozen states “home,” she and her husband now live in a crumbling historic
house just a stone’s throw from the courthouse square in a north Texas town.
http://annieknoxauthor.com/
Carol Westron is a successful short story writer and a Creative Writing teacher. She is the moderator for the cosy/historical
crime panel, The Deadly Dames. Her crime
novels are set both in contemporary and Victorian times. The Terminal Velocity of Cats is the
first in her Scene of Crimes novels, was published July 2013
www.carolwestron.com
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