A Spur of the Moment Read

 

TITLE: Pooches, Pumpkins and Poison

AUTHOR: Carolyn Ridder Aspenson

PUBLISHER: Severn River Publishing

PUBLISHING DATE: January 15, 2020

PAGES: 150   

SOURCE: Hoopla

FROM GOODREADS: Widow Missy Kingston takes on the job of a lifetime—and it’s not the one at her town’s animal shelter. 

It’s Halloween season, and the local animal shelter’s pooch adoption manager, Missy Kingston, is excited to show off the available dogs at her town’s Halloween festival! But when she discovers the festival’s organizer dead in a pile of pumpkins, Missy’s convinced there’s more to the story than meets the eye. 

When Missy sets out to investigate the murder on her own, what she discovers could solve the case—but only if the killer doesn’t get to her first.

MY THOUGHTS: I picked this up on a whim one evening because I was between books and wanting to read more for the Dog Days of Summer Challenge.  I saw this on Hoopla and let's be honest, the cover caught my eye.  I'm so glad I picked it up.  In fact, I also read the second and third books in the series so look for a double review on Thursday.

Missy Kingston lost her husband to a sudden aneurism a few years back.  He planned enough to leave her financially stable and with her daughter now living out of the house, she has put her time and passion into rescuing dogs and working at the local non-profit rescue shelter.  She is planning for a Pooch Party Adoption Event at a local October festival when she stumbles on a dead body in a pumpkin patch.  Missy's curiosity gets the best of her and when she learns that in a roundabout way that her rescue may have a part in the mystery, she starts her own investigation.

I loved Missy as a character.  She definitely has a passion for dogs and in the beginning, talks about being a foster failure as she has just adopted another dog.  Missy wants to protect her friends and family and often reflects on how much her husband means to her and the ramifications of losing him too soon.  The dogs and the rescue staff are great side characters and even though the book is on the shorter side, it was long enough to cover everything, keep me interested in the mystery and apparently want to dive into the next one.

RATING: 5 PAWS