I really wanted to like this book. It starts out a little bit rough though. Just about as soon as the book begins, Belinda finds the dead body and then we are off and running. I don’t mind finding the body fast, but it feels like the book just zipped through plot point to plot point way too fast and never gave us much of a chance to really feel invested or engaged in what was going on in Belinda’s life.

Sometimes I liked Belinda and sometimes I didn’t. For the most part, she was pretty cool. A fellow introvert gamer who loved animals. She was kind and seemed like a nice person to get to know. BUT. Sometimes she drove me nuts. Ok, so, she just meets this guy for the first time, and starts paling around with him trying to solve the murder. She has literally only known him for a couple of days. She starts getting super pissy pants that he “lied” to her because he didn’t tell her all the deeper, embarrassing things he was going through. Uh, hello, he JUST met you. Of course he isn’t going to just come out and tell you every little thing about him! Especially if he finds it humiliating! And, Belinda is keeping things from him as well, so she was being pissy and a hypocrite. -.- Thankfully she only acted like this only a few times and it didn’t ruin the book or the character.

From about the half way point to the end, Snake in the Grass begins to redeem itself and turns in to an entertaining read. Just when you think you have the killer pegged, a nice little twist is there to show you how wrong you are. I enjoyed the snake’s role in the novel. He was a very fun character. 🙂 By the end of the book, I was enjoying myself and happy with the conclusion. I wouldn’t mind at all picking up the next book in the series and seeing what Belinda does next.

This book had a nice message about being brave enough to be independent and do things your own way instead of leaning on anyone else. While there was a little bit of love interest, it was not a huge part of the story. I liked that in the end Belinda was standing strong on her own, not with a guy, not with her family, but on her own two feet, doing things her way. I hope Belinda continues on like that and has less hot guy and less family interference.

Even though Belinda Blake and the Snake in the Grass started off a little rough, it really came through in the end. No need to rush through the plot without giving plot points enough time to hook you. Turned in to an enjoyable read with a nice twist at the end. This series has a lot of potential and I’m looking forward to seeing how Belinda does in book 2.

Belinda Blake and the Snake in the Grass by Heather Day Gilbert is the 1st book in the Exotic Pet-sitter mystery series, and it is off to a great start. Belinda Blake has recently moved to a carriage house in Greenwich, Connecticut and is hoping to find new pets to watch. While walking a python at her new home, she runs into her landlord's handsome son, Stone Carrington the 5th. After getting the snake settled in his cage, Belinda heads outside to garden, when she discovers a body wearing designer shoes, the adventures begin. I enjoyed this fun book, with it's crazy laugh-out-loud moments. Who agrees to walk a snake? Belinda has no idea who to trust, and who not to trust. I can not wait for Belinda's next adventure with Wolves, coming out in October. I highly recommend this book, if you enjoy funny cozy mysteries.

I reviewed a digital arc provided by NetGalley and Kensington Publishing. Thank you.

Great start to a new cozy mystery series! Centered around a pet sitter, there should be lots of cuddly animals to come but this one features a snake. It made for several humorous scenes, The characters were well written and definitely fleshed out so that it did not feel like a new book but returning to old friends. The story had plenty of twists and turns to keep me guessing right up until the end. I would definitely recommend this book. I received a complimentary copy from NetGalley and the publisher and this is my honest opinion.

What a way to start a new series - red herrings galore, hidden killers, and mysterious motives.  All of these lead to an unexpected ending.

Exotic pet sitter - someone has to do it and Belinda is up to the task.  While we learn a little bit about her past, she seems quite happy not being stuck in a traditional type job and is building up a pet sitting business for those pets that traditional pet sitters may not want to take on, like a ball python snake.  I can't even imagine taking care of  snake, but I suppose it helps that Belinda's father is a veterinarian and she probably grew up around various types of animals.

Belinda has just moved into a cottage on a larger estate in Greenwich and she is barely there a day when she discovers a dead body.  Most people would probably move out faster than the Energizer Bunny, but she takes it all in stride and starts to investigate alongside Stone the Fifth, the son of the manor.  I was surprised at how quickly Stone and Belinda seemed to connect to start investigating the murder, it seemed like that part of the story was rushed.  That said, Stone and Belinda make a great team and play well off of each other around potential suspects and witnesses.

Speaking of suspects....I think I briefly suspected the killer but not long enough for this character to stay in the "guilty box".  In fact, I strongly suspected another character and was taken by surprise when the ending came about and the killer was revealed.  The author does a great job of throwing multiple characters under the bus as suspects and hiding the true one.

There is a little bit of potential romance between Belinda and Stone, but there is also another character, Jonas, that might come into play as well.  However, Jonas lives by her parents in upstate New York so not sure how that might work out considering the distance...but guess we will find out in the next book!

Overall we enjoyed this book and look forward to the second in this series.  We give this 4 paws up.

A delightful start to a new series. Least favorite pet and one I refused to pet sit, but the snake added some interest to the tale. Kept me guessing and was surprised by the culprits. A hint of romance. Family issues. Cool jobs: exotic pet sitter and video game reviewer. I look forward to reading her further adventures.

I love cozies. Cozies that meet the original definition as near as I can tell can be hard to come by, but Heather Gilbert’s newest had me smiling. Belinda Blake and the Snake in the Grass by Gilbert is a new favorite in this category. I don’t know that Greenwich is considered a “small town,” but the setting of a carriage house on the grounds of a mansion worked. The main character is an exotic pet-sitter. So no kittens or dogs. In this case, the snake Belinda is caring for plays an important role. Quirky characters? At least one, and Belinda is a little out-of-the-ordinary herself. Her other job is to review video games. How can she then hold Stone accountable for having a real job?
But what I especially liked was the fact there was no bad language nor scenes I was ashamed to read. Sure, there is hanky-panky somewhere behind the scenes. But if there were not, would there be any enemies or deaths?
This was just a fun(when not scary) cozy. The action really started to snowball faster than I had expected, and a great tension ensues as Belinda searches for the killer before the killer finds her. I was surprised at the outcome. Also, forbidden romances add romantic tension and puzzle to the novel as well. I truly enjoyed this offering and I can’t wait to see what Belinda is up to in the next book, A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing.
Fave quotes:
“My mom would tell me to embrace myself and stop trying to be someone I’m not...’Why fit in when you can stand out?’ she’d say.”
“I extended my foot and gave his leg a little nudge with the toe of my Doc Martins, a reminder that we’d come for more than just drinks and lies.”
“When money’s your god, everything else is a poor substitute.”
“...there were so many mixed signals coming from Stone, he could be a drunk referee.”
“Sometimes one forgot things when one was flying by the seat of one’s pants.”
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author and NetGalley. This in no way affects my opinions for which I am solely responsible.

Such a fun cozy mystery. I enjoyed reading about Belinda as she tries to unravel the murder mystery. Lots of red herrings, a cool snake, and Belinda herself makes this book with the read

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, Lyrical Press, via NetGalley. My thoughts and opinions are my own and without bias or remuneration.

As a fan of the author’s mysteries, I couldn’t miss her first cozy. It is even better than I anticipated! Heather Day Gilbert begins with a young woman who many readers can identify with and moves her to Greenwich, CT, where she rents a carriage house. Include the mixed blessing of petsitting a ball python and a murder just outside the carriage house, and the elements are in line for a perfect read.

Belinda has taken her time finding what she enjoys doing for a living. After being in remote, interesting locations with the Peace Corp, she is growing her exotic pet-sitting business that began in Manhattan. She is a video gamer who works as a reviewer. A self-accepted introvert, she appreciates time alone and reading mysteries. She is sitting a ball python between the owner’s Manhattan home and her carriage house. I’d enjoy being a pet-sitter – but not to reptiles!

When arriving at the carriage house with Rasputin, she took him out for a “walk”. She met Stone Carrington V, son of the homeowners, for the first time. As they talked, the python slithered into her clothing and started wrapping himself a little too closely around her for comfort. She was rescued by Jacques, the gardener, who snuck up on the snake and loosened its grip on her.

Belinda likes working in gardens. She doesn’t have to do anything in the Carrington’s gardens, but she decided to pull a few weeds. She found more than weeds outside the carriage house, however; first she saw the designer shoe…then the body of the young woman still wearing it.

The young woman was Margo Fenton, a friend of Stone V and his friends. Margo had been at the estate the night before for a Monday night billiards game. Stone V invited Belinda to dinner and to go with him to meet one of the Monday night guys that Margo had once seriously dated. He wanted to know if Dietrich, an artist, remembered Margo having any plans after the game that night but he shared nothing helpful. Stone and Belinda talked with other friends of Margo. Belinda learned things about Stone V that he neglected to tell her, such as he had dated Margo briefly after she broke up with Dietrich. Margo’s best friend, Frannie, knew Margo was seeing someone but she wouldn’t share who, even with Frannie. The police focus on Stone V, but there are at least a couple other potentials. Belinda receives an anonymous threat, and another young woman is murdered.

I am impressed at the author’s use of characters her father created when she was a child. He made up stories about Belinda and her sister Katrina for long car trips. What a delightfully creative mind both Heather Day Gilbert and her father have! This is very well written, and the characters defined so well I felt a kinship with Belinda by the end of the novel. I even have reasons to kind of like Rasputin! The mystery is unique, and a challenge to solve. I chased a couple red herrings, then was completely stumped. I considered the real whodunit, but simply wasn’t sure…so I had surprises at the end. The setting of Thanksgiving and Christmas are appealing, especially during this desert summer! Overall, I very much enjoyed this novel and highly recommend it to those who appreciate well-written cozies, unusual pets, and a protagonist who is an introvert. It is a great start to this new series.

From a thankful heart: I received a copy of this from the publisher and NetGalley, and this is my honest review.

Excellent book, close to perfect as a cozy mystery. It starts out right into the action, and the first part is funny as well as proceeding with the mystery. The best in the book, however, are the characters; very distinctive, varied, and well painted.

I am already looking forward to the other books in this series following Belinda Blake. The format of the story is so easy to read and I thoroughly enjoyed. About halfway through I was convinced I knew who was guilty, but boy was I wrong!

Belinda as our main character is relatable & down to earth and it is a total pleasure to read from her perspective. I do have further questions about what will happen in the future for the characters in this novel, and I'm hoping I will get some more in the next installment. These questions aren't important in relation to the while storyline, it's just me wanting to know as much as I can.

Sometimes when a book has an upcoming series, you feel as though there is a cliffhanger at the end, ensuring you reach for the next book as quickly as possible. Luckily, this novel is not structured in that way, because that is one of my pet peeves. I can see that the story will be continued in further novels, but am also pleased that the story within this book was finished in a way that was satisfying, with the most important loose ends being tied up.

I feel I need to also mention that all of the supporting characters were well implemented and fun to read, but my favourite out of them all was definitely Rasputin. He was very well written, and it was so interesting to see his relationship with Belinda change over time.

This is light reading, but very enjoyable light reading. The characters are likeable, credible and interesting. It is so refreshing to read a book in which the female lead is strong and not ditsy - she doesn't mind minding a python, so clearly not ditsy! Her family are actually kind and empathetic people without a smidge of nastiness - that in itself is such a refreshing change from a lot of current novels.

Relax, make a cup of your favorite brew and enjoy the read. I look forward to reading more of this author's work.

Thank you NetGallery for providing this book for review.

I am always game to try the first book in a cozy mystery but of late have not had much luck with them. This book might be the indicator of a change in that trend. It remains to be seen.

I need to say that the title does not accurately describe the story but is a play of words which all separately play a part in the narrative. This does not take anything away from the tale itself. Belinda Blake is completely aware of the alliteration that is her name and is in the job of pet-sitting for exotic pets as well as a reviewer for video games. This unique lifestyle lands her in a carriage house of a manor in Connecticut, USA.  On her first day there she finds a body and an investigation follows. Her role in this seems purely based on self-preservation due to the proximity to the murder site. She is roped in by the enigmatic young lord of the manor and the entire episode is packed tightly into a couple of weeks. 

I guessed the culprit a little before the final reveal but given the breadcrumbs, we are given to follow, I think we are meant to. I enjoyed the narration and the characters. Belinda's family is very supportive (although confused at her choices) and play the role of a sounding board when required. The cards were shown to us in a steady, believable fashion and the actual cops would have probably figured out the case given a couple of more days. The last bit is rare and improves the strength of the narrative. The dialogue delivery and conversations seemed natural and flowed (something which I am always on the lookout for). Since this is the start of the series, I look forward to the rest of it!

First in a new series Belinda Blake is a pet-sitter and a video game reviewer in Greenwich Connecticut, Just as she is moving in to her new rental (a carriage house next to a huge estate) she finds that the python she is watching is missing and she goes searching for it. She finds her snake and the the son of her landlord Stone Carrington V (who of course is gorgeous) then once she decides to settle in and go out into the garden she finds a designer shoe with a dead body attached. She begins to investigate because after all she did find the body. I am petrified of snakes so her dealings with the ball python Rasputin (good name) are humorous and makes me squirm a little. This mystery has all the elements of a good cozy with an entertaining heroine, little romance and lots of twists and turns. Good first installment and looking forward to the next in the series.

Belinda isn't happy with a rigid 9-5 job and she wants out of NewYork City. Her solution is to become an exotic petsitter and review computer games while renting the carriage house belonging to a wealthy family in Greenwich, Conn. Sounds great to her until the day she moves into the carriage house and takes the snake, Rasputin, for a walk in the garden. Finding a shoe which is being worn by a very dead woman in the hedge isn't on her moving in day to do list but there she is and one thing leads to another as they say. Belinda meets her landlords son, Stone V and a buzz starts between them. How far will their budding relationship go and can he be trusted? . He is very handsome and, because he was a friend of the dead woman and wants to find out who killed her, Belinda soon discovers that she is investigating it, too. Along the way a second corpse turns up. Will the killer focus on Belinda next?
Belinda has the advantage of having a country vet for a father who can answer all of her per petsitting questions and she spent many house making house call with him. I guess, given her devil may care attitude towards life, taking care of a ball python makes perfect sense. Boring it's not. Belinda goes with the flow of life, much like her mother. Her sister, on the other hand, is an anchor for her, her opposite in outlook and temperament - she works as a counselor. Belinda tends to be very trusting and that might get her into trouble if she is trusting the wrong person while searching for a killer.
I enjoyed visiting Belinda's world though I'm glad Rasputin was on the pages of a book and not in real life. Honestly, if I ever became a pet sitter I'd be sticking with cats, dogs, hamsters and I would have no problem with rats and mice. I would pass on snakes even one who seems to be a very nice snake like Rasputin. The next in the series is coming out in October and I'll be looking forward to seeing how the author develops various characters in her family and any future romance for Belinda. In the next mystery, Belinda Blake and the Wolf in Sheep's Clothing, she works with wolves - I like wolves.

Howdy, howdy! Can you believe it’s already the last Wednesday of the month? You know what that means! It’s time for another book review. Since my mind has been drifting to my own cozy mystery, I decided to see if any new series in that genre were releasing this month. Yup! I went with the Exotic Pet-Sitter series because who can resist animals and a good murder or two? Not me. It’s by Heather Day Gilbert and the first book is called Belinda Blake and the Snake in the Grass (kind of a mouthful, I know). Since it was only released yesterday (June 25th), you would be correct in assuming that I got an Advance Reader Copy (ARC) through NetGalley. So, I must thank them and Kensington Books for allowing me access to this ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review, which I’ll be getting to presently.

Belinda Blake and the Snake in the Grass follows (you guessed it!) Belinda Blake as she embarks on a new phase of her life. Moving from a studio apartment in Manhattan to a carriage house on some rich family’s property in Greenwich, Connecticut, Belinda works hard to keep her exotic pet-sitting business going strong. She’s currently taking care of a ball python for a client in Manhattan who insists she carts the animal back and forth from his place to hers (because snakes need vacations too) as well as taking it for walks and even bathing it. As if that plus an embarrassing run in with the homeowners’ handsome son, Stone Carrington the fifth, isn’t bad enough, she finds a dead woman in her garden. From there, things just get stranger.

The plot of this one is pretty standard. A young woman (26) finds a dead body and gets dragged into investigating it with the hot new guy in her life, who she falls in love with, of course. But could he possibly be the murderer?! Dun dun dun… It’s a cozy, so what do you think? He’s still shady, though. And I admit that I picked out the murderer as soon as they showed up, but it took me a little while to piece together the why part, so it’s still a fun journey.

My main problem with this story is the pacing and the odd scenes that feel tossed in for no particular reason. It’s super jumpy. Things would be going along nicely, then something completely random would pop up. Like the kiss. It doesn’t feel like it belongs there to me and it’s out of character for Belinda, so it seems really forced. Then, she goes home (upstate New York) for Thanksgiving and randomly gets sent to a neighbor’s house to pick up honey. I’m guessing he’s supposed to be the rival love interest, but his part in this particular book seems unnecessary and rushed. His introduction could’ve waited for a book or two until he’s needed. There’s also this thing with escaped cows that makes no real sense and does nothing for the actual plot of the story. There are some other instances, but these stand out the most.

As far as the writing goes, it’s a little stilted in spots. The book is in first person, so we’re in Belinda’s head when we’re not dealing with dialogue. I spent a lot of time telling myself that people don’t talk that way. It’s distracting, but I was still able to enjoy the story.

Ultimately, I enjoyed Belinda Blake and the Snake in the Grass enough that I’ll check out the next book to see if it’s better. Also, I kind of want to see just how much randomness makes it into the next one.

Overall, I gave it 3 out of five stars. While many, my complaints are actually pretty minor. If you like cute cozies and animals, go ahead and check this one out. If you have too many books on your TBR lists, you’re not missing much if you skip this one.

BELINDA BLAKE AND THE SNAKE IN THE GRASS by Heather Day Gilbert
The First Exotic Pet-Sitter Mystery

Belinda Blake has moved from NYC to a carriage house apartment in tony Greenwich, Connecticut hoping to garner some new clients for her exotic pet-sitting business. With her current charge, a ball python named Rasputin, Belinda meets the hunky son living in the mansion next door. Her next encounter isn't nearly as pleasant, as she discovers the dead body of a young woman in her flowerbed! Now Stone Carrington the fifth is bringing Belinda with him as he tries to find more details as to what happened to the woman. Is Stone trustworthy, or is he more of a snake than Rasputin?

I thoroughly enjoyed meeting Belinda and the quirky characters of BELINDA BLAKE AND THE SNAKE IN THE GRASS. From a homesteading mama, to a New York City artist, the blue bloods of Connecticut, and a book club running dairy farmer, Belinda Blake deals with them all. A snake is Belinda's steady companion in her first adventure. Although I think snakes' food make better pets, I really liked Rasputin, the ball python. Although quiet, he's steadfast, funny, and ultimately heroic.

The first Exotic Pet-Sitter Mystery has a lot to do with growing up, including the growing pains that come along with it. Belinda Blake is determined to prove herself and be on her own while still having the loving support of her family. In many ways she reads even younger than her late twenties, but she remains reliable, responsible, and smart. I look forward to watching her grow as the series continues. And as the plot develops we see that Belinda's not the only character who is forced to grow.

BELINDA BLAKE AND THE SNAKE IN THE GRASS is a uniquely themed mystery that proves a great start to a new series.

Such a fun, unpredictable mystery novel! I really enjoyed reading this novel, yet had no idea who did it! I was surprised and shocked! Definitely can not wait to read more in this series! Belinda Blake is a new character I want to read every book written about her! I received a copy of this book from NetGalley. All views stated here are my own.

“You know they’re just going to waste it on alcohol or drugs, BB,” she’d say,
using my initials as a pet name to soften me.
I didn’t really care how the homeless spent it. All I knew was that I had a
little money and they didn’t, and I couldn’t walk on by and do nothing.
I felt the same way about Margo’s death. I’d found her, so it seemed I should
go one step further and search for the one who’d viciously strangled her.
Heather Day Gilbert, Belinda Blake and the Snake in the Grass, Kindle Loc. 587

Pet-sitter Belinda Blake doesn’t rattle easily, but move-in day has been eventful, to say the least. The python in her care tried to slither to freedom—just as she met Stone Carrington V, her landlords’ disarmingly handsome son. With the constrictor back in its cage, she heads out to the garden, only to discover a designer shoe poking out of the boxwood hedge—attached to a woman’s dead body.

The victim, Margo Fenton, was a Carrington family friend, and no one in their circle seems above suspicion. Between client trips to Manhattan and visits to her family in upstate New York, Belinda begins to put the pieces together. But though she’s falling for Stone’s numerous charms, Belinda wonders if she’s cozying up to a killer. And soon, daily contact with a deadly reptile might be the least dangerous part of her life . . .
http://heatherdaygilbert.com/books/belinda-blake-and-the-snake-in-the-grass/

Heather Day Gilbert’s Belinda Blake and the Snake in the Grass, her first Exotic Pet-Sitter mystery, is also her first traditionally published mystery. She’s self-published many novels and has written a nonfiction book on self-publishing. She’s also garnished a few nominations and awards in faith-based fiction. To me, that’s an interesting way to get traditionally published.

Belinda Blake, Heather’s main character, pet-sits for exotic animals. When she moves from NYC to tony Greenwich, Connecticut, her rental is a carriage house on the Carrington family’s estate. Behind the carriage house is a garden, which seems to grow corpses. In life, those bodies were friends of the estate owners’ son, Stone Carrington V. He has lots of issues. Whether or not he is guilty of murder is Belinda’s problem. Her family, in upstate NY, is wary for her.

Please welcome Heather Day Gilbert to WWK.
E. B. Davis

How and why did Belinda start her pet-sitting business?

Belinda is the kind of person who doesn't relish a desk job. She likes adventure and is easily bored, so she kind of stumbled into sitting exotic pets when she was sitting more "normal" pets in Manhattan. She's comfortable with many kinds of pets because her father, who lives in upstate New York, is a veterinarian and she grew up working in his office and going on house calls with him.

What is Belinda’s sideline business?

She's a video game reviewer. As the series progresses, this aspect of her life starts to take on a bigger role, as her blogposts/articles become extremely popular in gamer circles. I grew up with video games and I still enjoy playing in my free time, so the gamer side job was quite natural for me to write about.

Although Belinda doesn’t seem fearful of Rasputin, a ball python, she also doesn’t seem very knowledgeable about snakes other than what the owner has told her. Is lack of fear the best attribute of an exotic pet-sitter? Does she have experience?

She does have some experience with unusual pets—after all, her dad was a vet in an area where farms are par for the course, so she's been around cows, chickens, and more. But in this book, we see this is her first encounter snake-sitting. She does her research ahead of time and she consults her vet dad before accepting jobs, and in this case, the doting snake's owner gave her a bullet-point list of expectations for his snake's care. :) She basically goes into it ready to follow the owner's wishes, because that's why he's paying her the big bucks!

Belinda knows Rasputin is a constrictor. Why would she allow the snake to rope itself around her neck? Is she suicidal?

I think she likely watched the same kind of YouTube videos I did, where you'll see ball python owners handling their snakes and allowing them to slither around on them (or even watch TV with them!). She was also following the owner's careful instructions about "walking" his pet so it could get fresh air. And Belinda's personality is not one given to fear. She's done some riskier things in her life, so this is just another on her list. She tends to dive into things before realizing she might be in over her head.

Why do ball pythons need humidity? How often do they shed? Eat?

From what I can tell in my research, answers vary with each snake. Some advise bathing the snake (as Belinda does in this book), and some don't. Some advise feeding rats, some mice. The pythons need humidity as they gear up to shed, which can be once a month, with younger snakes shedding more often and older snakes shedding less often. Feeding can vary, as well, but can be every ten days, give or take.

When Belinda finds Margo Fenton’s body in her garden, why doesn’t she just dial 911?

Hm. I'd have to reread it, but she might not have had her phone, and there are people milling around nearby at the manor house where the owner lives, so she runs for help first. Greenwich is a very exclusive town and I suspect she wanted to make sure the homeowners knew there was a dead body in their yard and see how they wanted to proceed, especially since she'd just moved into their carriage house and the Carringtons have a private security team. But the bottom line is that she was probably in shock, despite keeping a relatively cool head when she discovered the body.

Do formidable people usually have something to hide?

I wouldn't say that—I've known many formidable older people who are quite transparent. On the other hand, I'd say many people are hiding at least one thing.

Stone Carrington V is about Belinda’s age. Why does he start to investigate Margo’s murder?

He was a close family friend of Margo, and he regularly played pool ("billiards") with her. He wants to know why she died on his family's estate.

How is Katrina, Belinda’s older sister, who is an Albany psychologist, the direct opposite of Belinda?

Katrina is quite practical and has a "mama bear" personality—she's always advising Belinda to be careful. Belinda, of course, rarely listens. Katrina instinctively distrusts people, and Belinda tends to trust a little too easily. Katrina has always been an over-achiever, and Belinda is a fly-by-night personality who really doesn't plan ahead. And in looks, Katrina has dark, curly hair and porcelain skin, whereas Belinda has curly naturally blonde hair and freckles/light tan. You'll see how their personalities work together as the series goes on—Katrina often helps her sister by giving her take on the possible psyches of the murderers.

Why didn’t Belinda go to college?

Actually, she did, but then she went directly into the Peace Corps in China. Predictable jobs don't interest her much.

When Stone asks Belinda to help him interview mutual friends of his and the victim’s, Belinda thinks of the outing as a date. Why?

That would be because Stone set it up that way, at a very posh restaurant, etc. He also seems to be hitting on Belinda from the start of the book, which tends to confuse things for her. After all, he is incredibly rich and handsome, but he's also approachable, even though he's the "lord of the manor," so to speak. She's impressed he's so rich and yet so friendly to her. She instinctively likes him...but sometimes Belinda's instincts are wrong. ;) Still, she's not the type to sit around second-guessing herself when she likes someone.

Tell readers about Red, my favorite character, if you would?

I like Red too. Let's see...you'll get to know more about Red in the second and third books, so I'm not sure how much to tell! Let's just say he's a chauffeur, but he seems to carry out some bodyguard duties along the way. He used to be in the Army before he took the chauffeur job with the Carrington family.

Even though Belinda finds out Stone has kept secrets from her, she defends him to her mother, sister, and an old friend from back home, Jonas Hawthorne. Why does she have faith in Stone?

Again, Belinda kind of acts on her instinct about people, and she tends to look for the good in people (unlike her sister). She likes that Stone isn't stuck-up and that he seems to genuinely enjoy her company, even though she's not a Greenwich socialite.

Why does Belinda need alone-time?

She's a bookish introvert, so give her a rainy day, a book, and a cup of coffee, and she's happy. She doesn't love big groups, but she's great one-on-one with people. Sometimes I think she doesn't realize how winsome she is, because she spends a lot of time feeling she's messed things up. Like most introverts, she needs time alone to decompress and process the events of the day.

What’s next for Belinda?

She's about to accept a rather dangerous job at a wolf preserve. I had an absolute blast researching for book two, Belinda Blake and the Wolf in Sheep's Clothing, which is available for preorder here and will release this October. And she'll have another adventure—book 3 releases in February of 2020. I'm hoping this series will do well and I can write even more books about Belinda, because she's so fun!

AUTHOR BIO:
Heather Day Gilbert, an ECPA Christy award finalist and Grace award winner, writes contemporary mysteries and Viking historicals. Her novels feature small towns, family relationships, and women who aren’t afraid to protect those they love. Like Belinda Blake, Heather plays video games, although so far she hasn't done any exotic pet-sitting or hunted any murderers. Find out more on HeatherDayGilbert.com.





Heather Day Gilbert and Liesel, her Shiloh Shepherd

Is it OK to call a mystery including murder light and fun? I enjoyed my time spent with Belinda Blake.
Belinda has found her own calling and path in life. Her mom is a free spirit, doing her best to live off-the-grid, homesteading, while Belinda's father is a veterinarian. Her sister, on the other hand, has chosen a more powerful lifestyle. I tell you this because all of their personalities come into play as Belinda is figuring out her independent way of life.
Belinda enjoys video games and reviews them. She also knows a bit about pets and fearlessly takes on pet-sitting for some less than ordinary types. We meet her as she is taking Rasputin for a walk, with unanticipated results. This is also how she meets her new neighbor, Stone the fifth.

Stone is one of those characters you may have conflicted feelings about. At times you may find him both (or either) adorable or detestable. It is Belinda's feelings about him that matter.
She has just moved into a cottage on the grounds of Stone's family's estate.
Because of this proximity, we get to know more about how the wealthier residents live, including several of Stone's friends. We also meet the hired help. Ms Gilbert does a wonderful job of creating characters we are drawn to and want to understand or at least know more about.
When one of those people ends up dead in Belinda's flowerbed, she takes a personal interest in figuring out why and by whom. Although warned off by the investigating detective, he at least is willing to listen to the information she provides.

Naturally, no one wants to see Belinda in danger, yet Stone drags her into the investigation by introducing her to the main players, only for a second victim to be found in nearly the same spot. After that, there is no stopping Belinda Blake.

A wonderful start to an interesting series that shows much potential. We do get a sneak peek at what will happen next. The pets Belinda will encounter and the mysteries she is drawn to will make for enjoyable escape reading.

A very good start for a new series.
The cast of characters is well written and likable, Belinda has unusual works for a cozy mystery heroine, the plot is full of twists and turns and keeps you hooked till the last page.
The mystery was good, no plot hole, and it kept me guessing till the end.
I appreciated the style of writing and the humour.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to Kensington Books and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.