Jane Reads: Monday Mini-Reviews | No Way Home; Cat Got Your Diamonds; First Degree Mudder

No Way Home | Cat Got Your Diamonds | First Degree Mudder

Here are mini-reviews of some of the cozy mysteries that I've read recently. I enjoyed them all very much, and I think you will enjoy reading these books also!

No Way Home

by Annette Dashofy

Series: Zoe Chambers Mysteries, #5

Genre: Cozy Mystery

Publication Date: March 14, 2017

Publisher: Henery Press

Hardcover: 256 pages

ISBN-10: 1635111773

ISBN-13: 978-1635111774

eBook File Size: 800 KB

ASIN: B01N9QFIMB

The Blurb

A relaxing trail ride turns tragic when Paramedic and Deputy Coroner Zoe Chambers discovers the body of a popular county commissioner in her Pennsylvania woods. Inconsistencies surround the horrible “accident,” but before she can investigate further, she’s pried away by a plea for help from her best friend whose son has been deemed a person of interest in a homicide over a thousand miles away. When he vanishes without a trace, his mother begs Zoe to help clear him and bring him safely home. The task takes Zoe out of her comfort zone in a frantic trip to the desolate canyons and bluffs of New Mexico where she joins forces with the missing boy’s sister and a mysterious young Navajo.

Back at home, Vance Township’s Chief of Police Pete Adams must deal not only with the commissioner’s homicide, but with an influx of meth and a subsequent rash of drug overdoses in his rural community. Bodies keep turning up while suspects keep disappearing. However little else matters when he learns that half a continent away, a brutal killer has Zoe in his sights.

The Mini-Review

This is such an amazing book! To quote Zoe, "Wow." There's so much going on, within the pages.

Who killed the County Commissioner (and made it look like an accident)?
Who's behind the increasing drug trade, now including meth, in Vance Township, PA? There's been an epidemic of OD deaths.
What's happened to Logan (the son of Zoe's BFF Rose)? He's been living with his girlfriend and her parents in New Mexico, but she and Logan have disappeared.

Zoe goes with her BFF Rose to New Mexico, to search for Logan, while Pete (Vance Township Police Chief, and BF) is kept busy at home, with the murders and drug investigations.

There are many plot twists along the way, before everything comes together in the end in a very exciting climax — twice!

As always with Author Annette Dashofy's books, I am eagerly awaiting the next book in the series!

Five kitties out of five.

Note: I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of No Way Home.
All opinions shared are 100% my own.

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Cat Got Your Diamonds

by Julie Chase

Series: A Kitty Couture Mystery, #1

Genre: Cozy Mystery

Publication Date: November 8, 2016

Publisher: Crooked Lane Books

Hardcover: 336 pages

ISBN-10: 1629538426
ISBN-13: 978-1629538426

eBook File Size: 2894 KB

ASIN: B01H082DOU

The Blurb

Grandeur and opulence are everything in the famed New Orleans Garden District where pets are family and no bling is too big. Opening Furry Godmother, pet boutique and organic treat bakery, is Lacy Marie Crocker’s dream come true — until the glitter gun used to make her Shih Tzu tutus becomes a murder weapon. And Lacy becomes public enemy #1.

Now Detective Jack Oliver is hounding Lacy, and her Furry Godmother investor wants out before his name is tarnished by association. To make matters worse, a string of jewel heists with suspicious ties to the murder case has New Orleans residents on edge. To save her dream, Lacy must take a stand, put her keen eyes to work, and unravel what really happened at her shop that night. But can Lacy sniff out the killer cat burglar in time to get her tail-raising designs on the catwalk?

Witty and whimsical, Cat Got Your Diamonds, the first in a new cozy series by Julie Chase, will be the cat's meow for fans of Rita Mae Brown and Miranda James.

The Mini-Review

A fun cozy mystery about Lacy Crocker, a fashion designer, who sells her hand-made pet couture and pet treats in her shop, Furry Godmother.

When a dead jewel thief is found behind her shop, Lacy keeps investigating, despite warnings of obstruction charges from the hunky detective — and stronger warnings from the murderer.

I couldn't put it down, and kept reading until "the end." I love Cat Got Your Diamonds, and can't wait to find out what happens next, in book #2 Cat Got Your Cash, to Lacy and Jack!

Five kitties out of five.

Note: I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of Cat Got Your Diamonds.
All opinions shared are 100% my own.

First Degree Mudder

by Kate Dyer-Seeley

Series: A Pacific Northwest Mystery, #4

Genre: Cozy Mystery

Publication Date: November 29, 2016

Publisher: Kensington

Paperback: 304 pages

ISBN-10: 1496705092
ISBN-13: 978-1496705099

eBook File Size: 1168 KB

ASIN: B01CMGS41G

The Blurb

When a mud marathon champion bites the dust, Meg Reed has to go the distance to make sure a killer comes clean . . .

Back home in Portland, Oregon, Meg is ready to take her career as an outdoor writer for Extreme magazine to the next level. Lesser journalists sling mud — Meg plans to run through it. To train hard for Mud, Sweat & Beers, an extreme 5K mud run, she’s signed on with the Mind Over Mudder team, run by ten-time mud marathon champ — and former drill sergeant — Billy the Tank. But when Meg finds her tenacious trainer dead in the locker room, she has a sinking feeling someone may have been pushed too far. Digging through the hidden secrets at Mind Over Mudder is a dirty job, but somebody’s got to do it. Meg will have to tread carefully, though — or she may soon be running for her life . . .

The Mini-Review

Meg Reed, the protagonist, is a journalist who was very desperate for a job, any job, as a writer. So desperate,in fact, that she has been greatly exaggerating her prowess as an outdoor adventurer, so she can land and keep a position with Northwest Extreme magazine in Portland, OR.

In First Degree Mudder, Meg's latest adventure, she has decided to participate in a 5K Extreme Mud Run — but since she's not in shape for any kind of 5K, she first has to endure a mud-run-training boot camp. Her struggles make for some humorous moments, and a very fun read.

In addition to each book's solved-at-the-end mystery, there is an ongoing mystery plot, regarding the death of Meg's father, throughout the series. I can't wait to find out what happens next, in the big-picture-plot. I am really looking forward to Book #5, In Cave Danger!

Four kitties out of five.