Iguana Solve a Murder?
Among the series I intended to spend more time with last year was Jacqueline Vick’s Frankie Chandler Pet Psychic Mysteries. While that didn’t happen, I made room for A Scaly Tail of Murder, the fifth in the series, early this year.
Yes, this is one of the rare paranormal cozy series I read. Frankie was a fake pet psychic, using animal behavior to solve issues for clients until one day when a dog broke through into her mind and turned her into a real pet psychic. And she has used her new found gift to solve a few murders.
As this book opens, Frankie has just become engaged to Detective Martin Bowers. As excited as she is, she’s also a bit overwhelmed by all the changes that this will mean in her life. Things only get more complicated when her ex, Jeff Ross, shows up on her doorstep thousands of miles from home. Jeff met a woman, Charity, and moved from Wisconsin to Arizona to be with her. Only, it turns out, she wasn’t that interested in Jeff after all.
Unfortunately, Charity has Jeff’s keys, and he isn’t man enough to go get them himself. So Frankie agrees to go see Charity at the Friendly Fingers Spa where she works and get them back so Jeff will leave her alone. However, Charity is dead when Frankie arrives. The only witness? Charity’s pet iguana. Will Frankie be able to figure out what is going on?
The ex showing back up to cause problems is a trope of cozy mysteries, but I don’t remember one quite like this. I found the little twists on the set up fun, and I was on board for the mystery.
Unfortunately, I found some of Frankie’s behavior toward Jeff to be puzzling. I get it from a plot point of view, but it didn’t fit the Frankie we’ve gotten to know or what she was saying to him and Martin.
Meanwhile, I did feel like a few things were inserted into the story rather suddenly. Frankie had suddenly learned something we never saw her learn. Considering these books are written first person, that’s an issue. My guess is, we actually learned them in a scene that got edited between drafts.
Still, complaints aside, I did enjoy this book overall. We’ve been out of town for the last two books, so it was nice to be back and see familiar characters and locations again. The new characters were enjoyable as well. And the mystery did come together for a logical solution. It was well plotted, with plenty of suspects and twists to keep me engaged.
Plus, there are the laughs. I found plenty to make me smile or laugh as I was reading. Mostly, this comes from the various characters and their relationships.
I’m glad I was finally able to return to Frankie’s world. If you are looking for a light paranormal mystery, you’ll be glad you picked up A Scaly Tail of Murder.
Catch the vibe of the rest of the Frankie Chandler Pet Psychic Mysteries.
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