A MIDWINTER'S TAIL



A Midwinter's Tail (Lucky Paws Petsitting Mystery) by Bethany Blake

About the Book

                                       
Cozy Mystery 4th in Series 
Kensington (November 27, 2018) 
Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
ISBN-10: 1496717333 
ISBN-13: 978-1496717337 
Digital ASIN: B07B7C8XQY

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 . . . Includes recipes for homemade pet treats!

 A MIDWINTERS TAIL EXCERPT

· Moxie Bloom might’ve been caught off guard by the unexpected appearance of an imperious and wealthy, not to mention impeccably dressed and perfectly coiffed, high school bully, who wasn’t supposed to arrive in Sylvan Creek before the Bark the Halls ball, according to Moxie’s rumor mill. Yet I had to give my best friend credit for grace under pressure when CeeCee French rudely brought up cheating with Moxie's old boyfriend - a topic that most people would’ve been ashamed to mention.
        “How have you been, Celeste?” Moxie asked politely, her voice level but her chin high. She wisely ignored CeeCee’s reference to Mike Cavanaugh, whom Moxie certainly did remember. She forced a smile, trying hard to be kind. “It’s been a long time.”
        CeeCee took a moment to coolly survey the lobby, her angular jaw jutting as she absently stroked her poodle with long, red-tipped fingers. Her toes, encased in sharply pointed, distinctive crimson shoes that contrasted with her black, form-fitting shift, tapped the thick carpet, as if she was already impatient with the whole affair. I supposed that I should’ve been awed by our multi-millionaire classmate, but, to be honest, I couldn’t muster more than mild curiosity and a bit of disappointment to learn that she was still arrogant, and, let’s face it, mean.
“Yes, it has been a while,” CeeCee finally agreed, again looking Moxie and me up and down, her cool gaze taking in Moxie’s vintage outfit and my old barn jacket. “And I find that nothing’s changed.” The corners of her lips twisted upward, and she got a knowing, almost secretive gleam in her dark eyes. “At least, nothing’s changed... yet.”



You can read this wonderful mystery by itself but I strongly encourage you to invest yourself in the entire series. You will better appreciate how far relationships have come and the emotional struggles and personality quirks of the main characters. I believe you will love this series.

Getting ready for the most wonderful time of the year often includes visits from people from your past, people who you wouldn't care to ever see again. One such person is the popular mean girl from high school. It doesn't help that she has become wealthy and even more self centered.

She drops a bomb at the annual town gathering, announcing moving her company headquarters to town, potentially putting half the businesses out of business. Then she is found dead, and her prize poodle is dropped in Daphne's lap, much to Socrates delight. Add in her best friend being top suspect and an elusive pug who no one else happens to see and this book takes many twists and zags.
The only slow moving events are romances which seem to get thwarted at any forward motion. Something dramatic always sidetracks them.

Even when the murder is solved there is more mystery to unravel. A five star addition to an amazing series.

About the Author


  Bethany Blake lives in a small, quaint town in Pennsylvania with her husband and three daughters. When she’s not writing or riding horses, she’s wrangling a menagerie of furry family members that includes a nervous pit bull, a fearsome feline, a blind goldfish, and an attack cardinal named Robert.
 Like Daphne Templeton, the heroine of her Lucky Paws Mysteries, Bethany holds a Ph.D. and operates a pet sitting business called Barkley’s Premium Pet Care.

  Author Links Webpage BookBub Twitter Facebook

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