Review - Maltipoos are Murder (Doggie Day Spa Mystery, #1) by Jacqui Lane

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Maltipoos are Murder

by Jacqui Lane

Series: Doggie Day Spa Mystery, #1
Genre: Cozy Mystery

Release Date: May 27, 2014

Publisher: Entangled: Ignite

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Can a murder investigation keep these opposites from attracting? 

Cara Rogers wants a fresh start after a slew of bad luck in Washington DC. Moving to Virginia to help her aunt run La Maison de Chien, a doggie spa, is just the peace of mind she needs. No stress. Just her aunt, the dogs, and wide-open country.

But when she finds Aunt Marian floating in the doggie swimming pool, the rest she so desperately needs flies out the window. The only witness to the death is Rex, an apricot maltipoo, and while he may not be able to talk, he’s communicating the only way he knows how—one paw at a time. And Rex’s clues lead to murder.

Can Cara keep the doggie spa afloat, convince Middleburg homicide detective Cole Sampson that Aunt Marian’s death was no accident, and keep Rex from the killer’s clutches before they all end up as dead as dogs?

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This was a fun read with a good mystery and some nice tension between the two main characters. The setting of the Doggie Day Spa was cute and I loved all the details about it. I liked the attraction between Cara and Cole, and loved to watch the two of them deny and try to resist the pull towards one another. Although they are attracted to one another, they are both dealing with issues from their past as well as the whole conflict of interest issue with Cole being the detective assigned to investigate the murder of Cara’s aunt. And of course the more time they spend together, the harder it is to deny the attraction…

Cole followed Dr. Rogers into the doggie spa and briefly wondered if he should act gruff and official, or return the surreptitious glances they attracted from the staff with a wink. He had to admit, he was harboring certain fantasies about what she was about to show him.
A man could always dream.

The mystery part of the story was good and had me guessing right up until the end. I did find it a bit of a stretch a couple of times where Cole would include Cara in his investigation or tell her things about it that he probably shouldn’t have, but, since this is fiction, it was pretty easy to just go with it and enjoy the dialogue that would ensue between the two when this happened.

This was a fairly quick read which didn’t allow for a lot of character development, and I would have liked a bit more to the ending. But since I think this is going to be the first in a series of cozy mysteries, I’m hoping to find out more in future books about what happens next for Cara and Cole, as well as meet more of the residents – both two- and four-legged - of Middleburg.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher for an honest review. 

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