Awwww....Puppy Love!

TITLE: A Midwinter's Tail (Lucky Paws Petsitting Mystery #3)
AUTHOR: Bethany Blake
PUBLISHER: Kensington
PUBLISHING DATE: November 27, 2018

FROM GOODREADS: To bark or not to bark . . . 

Professional pet sitter Daphne Templeton loves the holidays in Sylvan Creek, Pennsylvania. And nothing gets her into the spirit more than the town's annual Bark the Halls Ball. The whole community will be there to wag their tails, especially this year's special guest--Celeste "CeeCee" French, founder of a national chain of pet care franchises, who's returning home to announce plans for a bright new flagship store.

But not everyone's celebrating CeeCee's homecoming. Daphne's friend Moxie Bloom, owner of Spa and Paw, a unique salon for people and their pets, has plenty to growl about. So when CeeCee is found face down under Sylvan Creek's town Christmas tree, stabbed with a distinctive pair of professional-grade pet shears, suspicion lands squarely on Moxie. Despite Daphne's promises to Detective Jonathan Black, she quickly reprises her role as amateur sleuth. Ably assisted by her basset hound sidekick, Socrates, she must hurry to prove her friend's innocence before a killer barks again . . .

MY THOUGHTS:  There are so many things I love about this series and this installment that I don't know where to start.  Once again readers are quickly immersed into Sylvan Creek, the quaint small town that adores its pets.  This time, the town is in the middle of their Christmas preparations which include a rather unique play and a Bark the Halls Ball.  Unfortunately, once again Daphne has discovered a dead body beneath a park tree and it just happens to be a visitor from the past who was working on opening a famous name retail pet store.  There are plenty of suspects but first on the list just happens to be Daphne's best friend, Moxie.

I love so many of the characters from Sylvan Creek.  Moxie is offbeat and unique, Daphne is a real animal lover who is always taking in dogs and cats, Daphne's high-strung vet sister is even growing on me.  And while there are some hints of romance in this one, I find myself actually wanting some of the couples to move faster because they are just so darn perfect for each other!

And finally there are the pets.  Moxie has a pet rat and although I'd never own one, he sounds so cute and adorable.  Of course Daphne has Socrates, her wise Basset and still pet sits regularly for her favorite Detectives dogs, Axel and Artie.  And this time around we get to meet Snowdrop - the spoiled poodle of the deceased whom Daphne ends up caring for.  And let me tell you, Snowdrop steals Socrates' heart!  We also meet a sneaky little pug named Tiny Tim, who runs around town in a Bah Hum-Pug!  sweater the whole book.

So if you like a good mystery (and one which I didn't figure out), wonderful pets, great characters and a fun cozy town, you can't go wrong with Blake's setting.

I received my copy of "A Midwinter's Tale" from the publishers and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.  I also read it as part of th #HoHoHo readathon.

RATING: 5 PAWS