Something Fishy This Way Comes (A Whit and Whiskers Mystery)
by Gabby Allan
Welcome to Cozy Wednesday!
Today I am sharing my thoughts about
Something Fishy This Way Comes.
About Something Fishy This Way Comes
Something Fishy This Way Comes (A Whit and Whiskers Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
2nd in Series
Setting – Santa Catalina Island
Kensington (July 26, 2022)
Paperback : 240 pages
ISBN-10 : 1496731077
ISBN-13 : 978-1496731074
Digital ASIN : B09KP3169L
Take in the wild beauty of Santa Catalina Island with tour guide and eclectic gift shop owner Whitney Dagner. On the itinerary: dramatic Pacific coastlines, diverse marine life, and murder!
Since returning home from mainland California and finding her groove with the family tourism business, Whitney Dagner’s daily routine has become a wonderfully chaotic adventure. She and her nimble kitty, Whiskers, often find themselves at the center of the action on Catalina, from staged treasure hunts to gossipy birdwatchers. But before Whit can get too comfortable in the place where she grew up, a gift shop order leads to a stunning discovery—someone’s dead body . . .
One of Whit’s best boat tour clients, Leo Franklin was young and newly engaged when he unceremoniously took his own life. Only it doesn’t seem like that’s what really happened—not after the suspicious activity displayed by his family’s old rivals at the scene of his death. As a bitter, generations-long feud between Leo’s kin and the local Ahern clan comes to a head, Whit and her police diver not-so-ex-boyfriend must lead a dangerous investigation into years of scandal and bad blood to figure out who’s innocent . . . and who’s covering a killer’s tracks.
Dollycas’s Thoughts
Whitney Dagner owns the Dame of the Sea gift shop on Santa Catalina Island. Her grandmother Goldy helps out at the shop quite often and even orders merchandise she thinks will sell well. Her latest craze is for painted rocks, some with uplifting messages. They are just flying off the shelves.
Whitney leaves Goldie in charge of the shop while she goes out to bury one of the treasure chests her shop is known for. But when she arrives at her destination she finds two men arguing and a dead body on the ground in front of them. They are trying to assert that the young man took his own life. Whitney is even more confused when she realizes that instead of calling the police they called their family, the Ahern family, who have all started to arrive on the scene.
Whitney knows the deceased, Leo Franklin was a fun guy, newly engaged, and had his whole life ahead of him. There has been a long-time feud between Leo’s family and the Ahern clan, but after all these years would they actually kill someone over the feud? A feud that no one really knows how it started.
With the help of her friend Maribel and her boyfriend Felix, she needs to try to find something that will show he didn’t die by suicide, even if it means uncovering everything about the feuding families.
This story takes place on the idyllic Santa Catalina Island. The author’s descriptions of it really make me want to visit. I would love to see all the sights and enjoy a tour in a glass-bottomed boat.
There is a nice set of core characters, Whitney, Maribel, Goldie, Pops, Nick, Felix, and of course Whiskers. These characters were fleshed out a little more in this second book but there is still much more development needed to really get readers invested in these characters. The relationships do feel genuine. The new characters introduced needed more development as well. Again Goldie was my favorite. I love her confidence and that she goes after whatever she wants. She also mans Dame of the Sea while Whit is chasing down clues.
For me, the story opened with a very slow pace and traveled hither and yon without really getting anywhere. I guess I needed more action mixed in with the humorous passages and Whitney starting her investigation. Whitney always had a lot of irons in the fire but she couldn’t get the clues to fall into place. Then in the last chapters, she had her A-Ha moment the pace picked up with the mystery solved very quickly. The reveal happened in a unique way that was really great.
Something Fishy This Way Comes
There was a suicide trigger for me in this story but I knew about it beforehand and knew that the character did not take his own life.
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About Gabby Allan
After writing plays for her friends to act out as a kid, bad poetry in high school, and her high school Alma Mater song, GABBY ALLAN finally found her true passion—cozy mysteries. Being able to share her world with readers, one laugh at a time, and touch people’s hearts with her down-to-earth characters makes for the best job ever. This California girl now lives with her husband, daughter, and two insane dogs in Central Pennsylvania where she is hard at work on her next novel.
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Great Escapes Praise for Something Fishy This Way Comes (A Whit and Whiskers Mystery)
by Gabby Allan
I enjoyed turning the pages and following the twists and turns. This was a fun read!
~My Reading Journeys
If you’re looking for a new cozy mystery series with a beautiful setting, give Whit and Whiskers a try.
~Christy’s Cozy Corners
The mystery is contained in this book, but it’s so much more fun to read book #1 and get to know the characters better. A fun, suspenseful page turner. Yes, there is a cat involved too! I hope a third book will be coming out soon!
~Socrates’ Book Reviews
Something Fishy This Way Comes by Gabby Allan delivered all the things I enjoyed about book one, with some added twists that give this book its own flavor. Dry humor, warm relationships, colorful characters, and a quaint paradise setting draw readers into the story and the well-crafted mystery keeps them turning pages until the end. I’m looking forward to visiting Catalina, Whit, and her enigmatic feline sidekick Whiskers again!
~Reading is my Superpower
SOMETHING FISHY THIS WAY COMES is a fast-paced quick read. Charming characters, lots of laughs, and a complex puzzle make this second Whit and Whiskers Mystery a fun and refreshing delight.
~Cozy Up With Kathy
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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of this book. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
I love cozies, Great giveaway!
Sounds like fun.
I think these sound adorable! I love the cats on the cover!
What an interesting mystery! Great cover too.