Book Review: Doggone Deadly by Deborah Blake (Catskills Pet Rescue #2)

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Strong human characters, cute animals, great plot

Cons: You’re doggone kidding, right?

The Bottom Line:

A deadly dog show

Setting for a fun cozy

Such cute animals

Doggone Fun

Earlier this year, I really enjoyed the first in the Catskills Pet Rescue series from Deborah Blake.  I’ve been looking forward to the follow up, Doggone Deadly, ever since.  It was another great book.

If you missed the first book, it features Kari Stuart.  When she won the lottery, she decided to buy a pet rescue shelter that was about to close.

This book takes the action to a regional dog show.  Kari is there to promote her pet rescue center, hoping to get more volunteers and some adoptions of the pets currently in the shelter.  Her best friend, Suz Holden, is helping run the entire event, and Kari is also planning to act as Suz’s assistant over the course of the three-day event.

Things take an unexpected turn when Kari and Suz find the body of a local dog breeder at the end of the first day.  It appears the murder weapon was a pair of Suz’s distinctive dog grooming scissors.  With the police looking at Suz as a suspect, Kari adds detective to her weekend plans.  Can she clear her friend?

The book does a good job of setting up suspects and questions before Kari and Suz find the victim.  Not that it is too far into the book when they find her.  When that happens, we’ve got plenty of suspects and potential motives to untangle before the climax.  Some of these trails lead us deep into the world of dog shows.  I know so little about that, but everything we need to know is presented in a way that is both informative and entertaining.  It doesn’t feel like a data dump at all, which I appreciated.

The characters are great as well.  Naturally, we get several returning characters from the first book, and I enjoyed seeing how they developed here.  The suspects are strong and memorable.

And I can’t forget the four-legged characters.  Fans of the first will be glad to know that Kari’s kitten, Queenie, is a major part of the action again.  While most of the action takes place at the dog show, we do get a couple of scenes at the shelter and Kari’s home, so we get some cameos by the animals we met there.  And there are plenty of dogs at the show to melt your heart.

It’s always nice to see a second book prove that a strong first book wasn’t a fluke.  That’s the case with Doggone Deadly.  If you enjoyed the first, you’ll enjoy this one just as much.  And if you haven’t started the series yet, don’t wait any longer to meet these characters.

NOTE: I received an ARC of the book.

Giveaway:

I'm giving away a copy of this book.  The winner will have a choice of a physical copy (US addresses only) or a digital copy (open to everyone).

If you were rescuing a pet, would you go for a dog or a cat?  Personally, I think I'd lean toward a cat, but I'm allergic to both.  Tell me your choice to be entered.  And please be sure to give me your email address so I can contact you if you win.

I'll pull the winner next Tuesday, November 16th (which is also the release day for this book), so please enter before then.