Beaglemania by Linda O. Johnston

About the book: Lauren Vancouver is the head of HotRescues, a no-kill animal shelter north of Los Angeles, but it's often human nature that puts her in the path of danger. Just like when she helps rescue four adorable beagle puppies that were dumped down a drainpipe at a nasty puppy mill. One of the mill's employees has a history of dog abuse-and a bone to pick with Lauren. And when he's found dead at HotRescues after threatening her, Lauren will have to sniff out the real killer to keep herself out of a cage...

Pet Rescue #1
Berkley Prime Crime
March 2011
On Sale: March 1, 2011
Featuring: Lauren Vancouve
298 pages
ISBN: 0425240215

First line: I am not a killer.

My thoughts: I love cozy mysteries and don't read nearly as many as I would like to, so I was really looking forward to this one. The name was cute and the cover fetching. The blurb says that adorable beagle puppies were rescued. In my head I had pictures of the adorable beagle puppies running rampant throughout the story causing trouble, laughter and warmhearted moments. Not so. They were barely mentioned. This disappointed me.

What was good were the details about animal rescue. This is a subject that is close to my heart. I liked the way HotRescues was set up and described. The mystery was a nice little cozy mystery with characters that I could relate to. I guessed who the murderer was early on, but that was ok. I liked Lauren, the main and most developed character. It dragged a little in the middle. Over all it was a nice light read, I'd suggest you check it out at the library.

Rating:

Quote: I screamed. Had I made a huge mistake? As he launched himself toward me, I turned, protecting my throat with one hand and using the other, plus one leg, to shove him as hard as I could into the enclosure.