Thursday, May 25, 2017

I Think My Detective Skills Are Improving - Bad to the Bone Review

TITLE: Bad to the Bone (Barkery and Biscuits Mystery #3)
AUTHOR: Linda O. Johnston
PUBLISHER: Midnight Ink
PUBLISHING DATE: May 8, 2017

FROM GOODREADS:  Veterinary technician Carrie Kennersly, owner of the Barkery & Biscuits bakery for dogs, is reluctant to sell her recipes to pet food manufacturer VimPets. Jack Loroco, a VimPets representative, assures Carrie that it would be a great opportunity to grow her business. His promising new relationship with Carrie's friend, Billi Matlock, doesn't hurt his cause. But the budding romance takes a bad turn when Wanda Addler, another VimPets employee, sets her sights on Jack.

After threatening to ruin Jack's career if he doesn't give her what she wants, Wanda is found dead. Jack and Billi are put at the top of the suspect list, and Carrie is doggone determined to rescue them from a life behind bars.


MY THOUGHTS: 
After pondering this book for a few days, I've had to change my rating but don't worry, that doesn't mean that it's not an enjoyable read and it's still a cozy series I will continue to follow. In "Bad to the Bone," Carrie is still being courted by VimPet, an elite pet food manufacturer, to share some of her healthy recipes which will not only help her pay off her business loan sooner, but which will also provide added publicity for her newly opened "barkery." However, the deal is quickly put on hold because one of the execs, who happens to be a mean and manipulative woman no one really likes, turns up dead. Fortunately for Carrie, she isn't a prime suspect in this murder but two of her friends are so once again, she gets right in the middle of her third murder investigation.

I still enjoy the small town setting and many of the characters in this series. I can also say that Carrie no longer seems to be the "man magnet" I mentioned in my review of the first book and her love life has settled down some. That alone was cause for relief on my part because I hate love triangles (or maybe square was the more appropriate analogy). Carrie's dog Biscuit is still a prominent fixture in the book as is Hugo, her boyfriend's dog which is always a plus. However, I'm still having difficulty with the way this book is written. It's told from Carrie's first person perspective and perhaps because of that, I find some of Carrie's thoughts annoying. For example, she keeps wanting to give her employees a raise, which is totally commendable and understandable, but this thought keeps entering her mind and often at times when I feel she should be focusing on other things. It really is hard to explain but if you look at my reviews of the other two books, you might get a clearer idea of the writing style I find problematic. Also, I was able to deduce the identity of the killer early on in the book and while that normally doesn't bother me, I felt it was such a no-brainer that I just wanted everyone else to catch up so it could be over.

I'm sure I'll continue on with this series which I still consider a cute read. However, I didn't feel this installment was as strong as the other two which is why I bumped the rating down to 3/5.

I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
 


RATING: 3 PAWS
 

10 comments:

  1. I need to try this series. Some times it is kind of a downer when you figure out whodunit to quickly.

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    1. It's a solid read and usually I don't get too bothered when I figure out who did it but in this case, it just happened too early.

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  2. I hate it when I figure out the mystery too early in the book. Otherwise, this sounds like a rather fun series. Great review!

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    1. It is and I would still recommend them. There aren't enough dogs in cozy mysteries and there are in this one.

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  3. I like the cover! A lot of cozies attract my attention with the covers but they kind of overdose on the romance element at times which is why I don't generally read them. I do have a couple on my ereader...might try them next month as it's time for an ebook blitz and more on my series catch ups!

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    1. I know what you mean. I tend to stay away from the romance heavy ones.

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  4. Yeah, figuring out who did it too early isn't much fun. But this series still sounds fun to me.

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    1. It is. You should at least try the first one.

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  5. I love that the dogs are involved. It is frustrating sometimes when you figure it out too easily. Some authors I've not minded. Others I'm like okay why can't they see this?!! lol

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