Best Selling Author of The Secrets of Bones
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- Rating: ☆☆☆☆
- Title: A Trail of Lies: A Mystery
- Author: Kylie Logan
- Genre: Cozy Animal Mysteries
- Length: 320 pages
- Publisher: Minotaur Books
- Release Date: May 11, 2021
- Excerpt
Description
A Trail of Lies is the third in the Jazz Ramsey mystery series from national bestselling author Kylie Logan.
Jazz Ramsey is just getting used to the idea that her on-again-off-again beau, Nick, might actually be a permanent fixture, when she gets an alarming call in the middle of the night from his mother, Kim: there’s a dead man in her backyard. Kim has a long history of drinking and a vivid imagination, so when Jazz’s human remains detection dog, Wally, finds no evidence of a body, Jazz thinks she can breathe easy.
But when the body of a middle-aged man, Dan Mansfield, is discovered in a nearby park, and a photo of Nick and his mom is found in his pocket, Jazz has to admit that something isn’t adding up. Kim claims not to know who Dan is, but the cops find out soon enough: he’s a recently paroled convict who served thirty years for murder. And when Jazz traces his crime back to a bar fight with an antiques dealer, she ends up with more questions than answers.
Meanwhile, no one wants her poking around―not Nick’s mom, nor the Motorcycle-riding ex-con she connects to Dan, nor Nick himself, who seems worried about Jazz’s safety, but also about what she might find. But Jazz has never been one to take no for an answer, and she won’t give up now―even if it means risking her own life.
My Thoughts
Jazz Ramsey is an assistant administrator at Cleveland’s St. Catherine’s School for Girls, but she and Wally, her Airedale pup, quickly get involved in a captivating mystery.
When her boyfriend’s mom calls her in the wee hours of the morning to inform Jazz that she just shot her son Nick Kolesov, Jazz is jolted awake. On one hand, she is sure this is just the alcoholic lady talking nonsense. But, on the other hand, she can’t be sure. Time is not a factor. She is heading to Kim’s house.
Finding no dead body she dismisses the conversation to an alcoholic’s fuzzy brain speaking. But when she brings a cadaver dog to check Kim’s backyard, there is evidence that Kim might know what she’s talking about.
Nick, a police detective, has been located. But it’s time to do some discovery work, since Kim is determined that there was a dead body in her yard, and she thinks she may have killed him.
While I definitely liked the start of this story, I felt there was a little unevenness to it. After it started, I came to a few repetitive scenes that didn’t take the story forward. But then it took off again. Only to slow down. It felt a bit like a kiddie roller coaster with slight highs and lows.
However, even with the highs and lows I liked the story and I recommend it. I liked Wally, her cadaver dog in training and I’m sure dog lovers will too.
My Concerns
As I mentioned above, the pacing felt a bit bumpy. Also, it felt like a little too much was added into the story but not really covered. By that I mean Jazz has a cadaver dog in training, but I would have liked to see more of what that really meant. Also, the job Jazz held felt like it worked around her investigative work. In other words, the two things felt a bit slighted and not covered fully.
What I Liked
This is the third book in the Jazz Ramsey Mystery series, but it worked well as a standalone novel. And even with my concerns, this is a series I will definitely continue reading. There was enough interest in the story that my pages kept flipping and I didn’t have to work hard to keep engaged.
My Final Thoughts
Even with my concerns, this is a series that I recommend. Especially if you are a fan of dogs and amateur sleuths.
My thanks to Minotaur for a copy of this book and the ability to post my review without any stipulations.
Rating
About the Author
KYLIE LOGAN is the national bestselling author of the Jazz Ramsey Mysteries, The League of Literary Ladies Mysteries, the Button Box Mysteries, the Chili Cook-Off Mysteries, and the Ethnic Eats Mysteries.
