Book Review: Shady Hollow by Juneau Black (Shady Hollow #1)

Stars: 3 out of 5

Pros: Decent mystery and likable characters

Cons: One element bothers me (and is a me thing)

The Bottom Line:

Creative setting

Slow start to good mystery

But one thing bugged me

Not Bad, but Didn’t Quite Work For Me

When I heard about Shady Hollow, I knew I had to give the series a try. It sounded like a fun twist on the cozy mystery genre. Having finally read the first, I can say it didn’t quite work for me. 

The series is set in the town of Shady Hollow, where woodland creatures live together in harmony. The carnivores have sworn off eating animals, or at least their fellow residents (fish are still on the menu). It’s so peaceful that the sheriff and deputy have little actual crime fighting experience. 

Until one day when the body of Otto, a toad, is spotted floating in the pond. When evident that he was stabbed surfaced, it is quickly deemed a murder. Granted, Otto wasn’t well liked, but who would want to kill him? Fortunately, Vera Vixen, a fox and the newspaper’s ace reporter is on the case. Can she catch the killer?

Sitting down to read this book, I thought it had the potential to turn into one of my favorite series. When I set it down, I concluded that it’s not bad, but I don’t think it is for me. 

The story is told in omniscient point of view. While it’s not my favorite story telling method, the author did a decent enough job with it. But it worked to keep me out of the story. As did the backstories we got on some of the characters as soon as we met them. 

That backstory also contributed to the story starting out a little slowly. Once it got going, there were some decent twists and surprises along the way, and the ending made sense. 

And the characters were fun. I liked them and found myself rooting for Vera to figure things out. 

The cast of animal characters are human in every discernable way. You just have to accept that a mouse and easily talk with a bear or a moose owns a coffee shop. I’m okay with that, but I felt the author could have done a better job with the town. Maybe it’s just me, but I was expecting a bit more creativity like the book store they invented. That was brilliant. 

But what really bothered me was the idea of interspecies romance. I was willing to buy everything else, but for some reason, that really bothered me. I get it, this is a me issue, so your mileage on this will vary. 

So, that’s why I won’t be continuing on with this series. If the premise still intrigues you, give Shady Hollow a try. Lots of others love it, so you might as well.