On Flashback Fridays I will share with you
the books I was not able to review
when they were first released that have been screaming at me
from my To-Be-Read bookshelf.
Dogged by Death: A Furry Friends Mystery
Cozy Mystery
1st in Series
Setting – Wisconsin
Crooked Lane Books (July 13, 2021)
Hardcover : 320 pages
ISBN-10 : 164385657X
ISBN-13 : 978-1643856575
Kindle ASIN : B08L5TPW4C
In Laura Scott’s Furry Friends series debut, veterinarian Ally Winter must collar the killer of a shifty lawyer. Does the dead man’s dog know who committed the arf-ul crime?
Ally Winter is going through a ruff patch. The thirty-something veterinarian lost her fiancé, her clinic, and her savings in rapid succession. So when Ally’s grandfather undergoes hip replacement surgery, she moves back to Willow Bluff, Wisconsin, to care for him. She arrives home, tail between her legs, only to find sleazy lawyer Marty Shawlin murdered in his home office. And the only witness was Marty’s faithful boxer, Roxy.
Quick as a greyhound, Noah Jorgensen is on the case. The good news is, he’s the best detective around. The bad news, at least the way Ally sees it, is that Noah is still just as fetching as he was back in high school. He also just happens to have witnessed every embarrassing incident that befell accident-prone Ally–including the fire-ant attack that set tongues wagging and won her the unshakable nickname Hot Pants.
Meanwhile, true-crime aficionado Gramps fancies himself a sleuth, and he is doggedly determined to sniff out the culprit himself…with Ally’s reluctant help, of course. Ally has no choice but to team up with Noah–and the irrepressible Roxy–to solve the case while keeping Gramps on a short leash.
Ally had better learn some new tricks, lickety-split. Because if she can’t bring the killer to heel, she won’t just be playing dead.
Dollycas’s Thoughts
Veterinarian Ally Winter has returned to Willow Bluff, Wisconsin to care for her grandfather after hip replacement surgery and to hit the restart button on her life following a bad breakup. She has bought the clinic of a retiring vet and is working hard to build her client list. Her Grandpa Oscar is recovering in an assisted living home along with three widows who all would like to be more than friends with Oscar. Oscar is more into true crime books and television shows but he eats up all the women’s attention with a smile.
One of Ally’s first clients is a boxer named Roxy, owned by lawyer Marty Shawlin. He has hired her to walk Roxy daily. When she arrives to take Roxy on her walk she makes a gruesome discovery. Martin Shawlin stretched out on the floor, eyes staring vacantly into space, his head matted with blood, and no pulse. Roxy is barking like mad. Marty Shawlin has been murdered and the only witness seems to be his beautiful boxer.
Ally Winter is a wonderful protagonist. She’d been knocked down and she got back up and is slowly succeeding at getting her life back on track after leaving her cheating fiancé in the dust. She has a great bond with her grandfather. Oscar thinks it will be easy to catch a killer and encourages Ally to investigate with his help, of course. Harriet, Lydia, and Tillie reside with Oscar at the Willow Bluff Legacy House, a small assisted-living facility. The “Willow Widows” are all trying to outdo each other for Oscar’s attention. We also meet Detective Noah Jorgensen. He went to school with Ally and knows all of her embarrassing history. And then there is Roxy. She immediately stole Ally’s heart and mine as well. All of Ms. Scott’s core characters are very well developed for the first book in the series. They are genuine and for the most part, engaging. Noah hit me wrong from the start so I haven’t made up my mind about him yet.
The mystery was very well-plotted. The victim had angered several people which meant a nice pool of suspects. I got a real kick of Grandpa Oscar. He doesn’t let a little thing like a hip replacement slow him down especially when the police have him on their suspect list. Ally tries hard to reel him in but when the threats hit close to home she knows she needs his help. I enjoyed tagging along with them as they followed the clues and came up with theories.
The author adds a whole bunch of humor to the story too. The Willow Widows bring their share but Gramps and Allie have their moments too.
Dogged by Death has set this series off to an excellent start. Tailing Trouble
is impatiently waiting on my Kindle. I can’t wait for my next trip up the road to Willow Bluff.
Your Escape Into A Good Book Travel Agent
About Laura Scott
Laura Scott is a registered nurse by day and an author by night. She has written over sixty books and has more ideas than time to write. She lives with her husband and a variety of pets, including a beautiful chocolate lab named Moose, in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin.
Author Links – Website – Facebook – Twitter –
Laura also writes Christian Romance. Find those books here.
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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.”