This is Book 2 in the Minokee Mysteries series, but the stories stand very well on their own.
The story, characters, and mystery were well developed keeping my interest to the end and I read it in one sitting. Looking forward to more books by Iris Chacon. This was a fun read, I highly recommend for an entertaining mystery.

#TheMammothMurders #NetGalley

I liked reading this as I really liked the main character and that they were quirky. The mystery was great and I look forward to more in the series.

Given the way the previous book ended, I had to check out the next to see where the story went from there. We are still in Florida, and there is a hush-hush discussion that happens at the very beginning, which sets the tone of how secrets are revealed throughout the book. The play is that we are told what is being said and where, but not all the whos. This leaves massive holes in our information that only time and more pages can fill. 

Shep and Miranda have moved up their relationships, but higher powers are putting their oars in and muddying the water. This last description is to further draw your attention to the fact that a lot of the story happens on the water. There are sinkholes, and hidden discoveries and convoluted plots all set to derail the steady relationship of our lead pair. Miranda has moved on to a more average quiet person and feels loved and accepted in the community and Shep is recovering. There are hilarious moments involving parents and double agents within the 'family'. It was a little confusing as to the first move made by one culprit at the beginning that I did not think made sense given the later events. But the fast-paced dialogues and the daring rescues and not to mention a most entertaining cat pushed me past any disgruntled mutterings. I hope I get a chance to read the next in the series because all the people in this little world are a treat to watch going about their daily routine. The writing is quirky as well, adding to the ambience of it all.

I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

You know it's a good book and you have to tell everyone when you laugh out loud at the characters antics and then talk to them when they are headed for trouble. Original and entertaining are just two of the many, many descriptions you can add to this book. You owe it to yourself to enjoy this book!!!!

As always I enjoyed this authors storytelling. I very much enjoyed the further adventures of Miranda and Shep. I highly recommend this series it really enjoyable. Looking forward to the next in the series.

A blind DJ, Shepard Krausse and an invisible Librarian,Miranda Ogilvy are from a tiny, rural Florida town. They try to solve a double disappearance connected to a recent canoe trip. Shep and Miranda rely on their sense of humor as they face dangerous fossil poachers -- but even that is difficult when their engagement is broken amidst a river of troubles.

This is Book 2 in the Minokee Mysteries series, but the stories stand very well on their own.

The story, characters, and mystery were well developed keeping my interest to the end and I read it in one sitting. Looking forward to more books by Iris Chacon. This was a fun read, I highly recommend for an entertaining mystery.

I'm impatiently waiting for the next adventure!

Many thanks to BooksGoSocial and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

#TheMammothMurders #NetGalley

I love this series and hope we are going to read more of Shep, Miranda and Miz Martha. I love the characters and enjoy tagging along on their adventures.
Many thanks to BooksGoSocial and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

The second book in this series, but the stories stand very well on their own.

Miranda is a shy librarian, engaged to blind ex-dj Shep. In the last book there was a traumatic event that still casts its shadow, but the happy couple decides to celebrate their engagement with a canoe trip which leads to an exciting discovery.

I like these books, althought the writing style is not my favorite. The characters do have a lot of heart and I do look forward to a third book!

I was not familiar with the Minokee Murders, Iris Chacon's romantic mystery series featuring Miranda, an intelligent and insecure librarian, and Shepard, a blind businessman and trust-fund baby. This oversight has been corrected with the Mammoth Murders, the second in this series. The Mammoth Murders is a cozy-type mystery (well, for everyone but the victims) set in rural North Florida. As a Floridian, I can vouch for Chacon's accuracy in describing the area.

The Mammoth Murders is a breezy and enjoyable read. Miranda and Shepard recently got engaged. They thought the engagement was a secret. They're happy, until their overbearing mothers get involved and--worst of all--team up. Amidst all this, a farmer discovers what could be the valuable skeleton of a mammoth on his property, and enlists his professor friend in Gainesville (home of the Gators) to help him out. Shepard, who does not let his disability limit him, enlists Miranda to guide him as he takes a canoeing trip with the good professor. Shortly thereafter, one of the professor's teaching assistants disappears....

Chacon's novel is driven by characters and place. She refers to events in the Mammoth Murders' predecessor, Finding Miranda. The characters, including an intelligent kitten and an across-the-road neighbor who knows everything going on in town, are mostly charming and a bit quirky. Chacon could definitely dial back on the reminders that Shepard and his friend Carlos are handsome and that Carlos is Italian. That said, things are fairly realistic, but maybe just a tick nicer than in the world we readers must live with.

Chacon's world is also welcoming for most people. However, there is an short and rather unfortunate characterization of an androgynous computer hacker as an 'it". I especially recommend the Mammoth Murders to more conservative readers, and those looking for book gifts for more conservative readers. While the novel is not an explicitly Christian one, characters pray and refer to God often, swearing is minimal, and Miranda and Shepard are abstaining from sex until marriage. I recommend a quick visit to Minokee, Florida and look forward to Finding Miranda later.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Miranda and Shepherd have had life changing events after the first book, in the Minokee Mysteries - Finding Miranda. The Mammoth Murders finds the mystery solving duo tackling the disappearances of several people, surrounding a discovery of mammoth fossil, in the swamps near Minokee. The second book is just as wonderful as the first and introduces the reader to lovable, frustrating and quirky characters. Now, along with a mystery - love has bloomed - for Miranda " Bean" and Shep.

I loved this book as much as the first! The antics of Martha Cleary kept me laughing and her devotion to Shep and Miranda was touching. I loved the bittersweet addition of Zeus and Carlo. The dialogue was as wonderfully written as the first book and I loved the subtleties the author created, in the story, to show how the life changes affected all the characters. Seeing how Miranda goes up against Shepherd's domineering mother made me cheer for her!

I'm impatiently waiting for the next adventure!

I received an ARC from Net Galley for a fair and honest review of the book.

A great Story about secrets, murder,auf love. All a bit complicated to solve, but in the end everything works out the way it should. It ja the second Books bu t even without reading the first book, easy to follow.

I saw this book on NetGalley and it synopsis sounded interesting so I requested it. I found it a fast reading and very good book. I noted that this is second book in the Menokee series.
Miranda Olivby is a librarian in Live Oak, Florida but lives in Menokee next door to Sheppard Knarse who is blind and both are morning the death of friends from first book. A young is kitten is found after a storm and adopts Sheppard and has an important part in the story. Sheppard's Mother is planning their wedding and it becomes even more messed up when Miranda's Mother joins in the plans. There is a new sink hole opening up on a rural farm. You can see a fossil of a mammoth. It would be worth money and originally the farmer wants to donate it to the university. Two persons disappear and Sheppard and his friends are looking for one and find the other person who is missing. Where are the missing persons and are why they are missing? I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK.
DISCLOSURE: Thanks to NetGalley for a copy. The opinions expressed are my own.

The Mammoth Murders is Book 2 in a series by Iris Chacon and can be read on its own without having to read the first book. (Although reading both is definitely more fun!) The mystery behind The Mammoth Murders is only part of the fun of reading this novel. The comedy is hilarious and the characters and all their vivid personalities- they all belong in a tv series as they are so entertaining!

The writing really draws me in to the storyline, as well as the character development. I think if you are looking for a fun, mystery comedy then this is the book you should grab right now. I love all the subplots!! Definitely an entertaining read!!!

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an advanced reader copy for me to read and enjoy. As always, my opinions are my own.

This is book two of the Minokee Murders series, and it is unclear if there will be more. Both books are complete stories within themselves although there are some continuing storylines between the two main characters, Miranda and Sheppard, and secondary characters in the book. While you can easily read the second book in the series without having read the first one, reading them in order will add to your enjoyment of this light-hearted approach to a cozy mystery.
Miranda has moved to the small town of Minokee, located in the middle of a swamp in Florida. Minokee is so small, there are only two roads which parallel each other and they only extend for a block each. Miranda has moved there from Miami upon inheriting her aunt’s house. Shep lives there by choice, in part to escape his overbearing mother. Other than Miranda and Shep, the town is inhabited by several older women whose primary entertainment is watching Shep go on his morning run, hopefully shirtless and Pieto, friend to Shep who is working for Shep and also as a spy in Shep’s mother’s house to keep an eye on her controlling efforts.
All the characters are slight exaggerations of people, almost as if they are verbal representations of the best possible caricatures of each individual. There’s Miranda an almost invisible, quiet as a mouse librarian; Shep a golden god type figure like Fabio who just happens to be blind, and Miz Martha who is the wise and “never to be underestimated” senior citizen neighbor who can canoe a river and wield a shotgun and most any other activity she chooses. There are numerous other characters who round out the book, including Shep’s mother, Miranda’s parents, and numerous people involved in a possible discovery of prehistoric bones in a newly developing sinkhole.
The entire book is light hearted and fun while maintaining some excellent characteristics of a mystery. There’s a murder, lots of red herrings, and a clear-cut path to the truth if the reader is paying attention to all the clues. It’s easy reading and perfect when you want to just relax and enjoy something totally light and fun, perhaps as a respite from the intensity of a regular day.
My thanks to BooksGoSocial Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced digital reader copy of this in exchange for an unbiased review.

I received a free copy of THE MAMMOTH MURDERS (Book 2 of the Minokee Mysteries) by Iris Chacon in exchange for an honest review. Though he has mostly healed physically, Shepard Krausse is still in emotional recovery from the events of the last book when his best friend and he guide dog were killed in a car bombing. Shep has quit his job as a deejay and has sworn off uncovering the cover-ups and shenanigans of others. Miranda Ogilvy continues to work as a mostly-unnoticeable librarian and has finally accepted Shep’s proposal. They celebrate their engagement by taking a canoe trip hosted by the anthropology department of a local university. While on the trip, they learn about a new archeological discovery; a sinkhole has opened and has revealed a mammoth fossil. When one of the students who served as a river guide goes missing, the professor in charge asks Shep to help find the young man. Shep can’t say deny his old friend, so he, along with his friend Carlo Fratelli, begin to investigate. Meanwhile, Shep’s snooty mother joins forces with Miranda’s snobby parents to manipulate Shep and Miranda’s nuptials.

I like this series, and I enjoyed this book. The characters are quirky and likeable. The intrigue, personal and murderous, is complex and entertaining. I highly recommend this book and this series to fans of humorous cozy mysteries featuring small towns, manipulative relatives, and a chorus of man-ogling senior citizens.

#TheMammothMurders #NetGalley

As soon as I saw the cover for this book, I instantly remembered the fun I had reading "Finding Miranda", so it took less than a nanosecond for me to grab my copy of "The Mammoth Murders".

Meeting up with Shep and Miranda was like catching up with old friends. Since the incident that took the lives of Pietro (Shep's closest friend) and Dave (Shep's dearest canine friend), Shep was still struggling to be 100% the man he used to be. But, with the help of Pietro's twin brother, Carlo, one particular activity he had avoided - his morning jog -was now forced upon him - in the nicest possible way, of course.  And, as if that were not enough, after asking Miranda to marry him every day since, she finally said yes. But, take note - it was a secret (and possibly the worst kept secret in the whole of Minokee)

Talking of Minokee, how wonderful it was to catch up again with Miz Martha Cleary and the Coffee Ritual ladies, whose daily highlight was to see Shep and Carlo jog past, preferably shirtless, each morning.

And so it came to the couple's 'secret' wedding - a secret that had morphed into a major event, organised with military precision by Shep's mother, the high-society Hermione Montgomery Krausse. With her team of spies to hand, she was just waiting for the couple to set the date before her grand plans could kick in.

Shep had other ideas, a plan to marry quickly and quietly, but first a canoe ride to visit an ever-growing sinkhole on the land of a local farmer was in order. Together with some students from the university, the group enjoy a great day on the river, and peering into the vastness of the hole wondering what might be down there.

And so began the mystery - not just of the sinkhole. When one of the students - David Chang - disappeared, Shep and Carlo were asked to look into the case. The farmer's strange 'new' behaviour, and some odd emails raised their suspicions - it was time to employ Shep's secret weapon in the form of one of his fans from his radio days, and so began the surveillance exercise.

While all this was going on, Hermione had roped in Miranda's parents too, and the wedding plans were getting more extravagant by the hour, something that did not sit well with Shep, and particularly with Miranda - the strain on the relationship was tested to its limits.

However, despite all of the issues facing them, it was an astonishing kitten, named Zeus (Carlo insisted the cat chose his own name!) who acted like the glue that would bind them together - eventually. Should Zeus finally decide to adopt Shep and Miranda, then expect those crazy, charming interactions to continue. I so hope they do.

The story includes a great balance of laughter and danger, of mystery and resolution, of hope and frustration, and all in all a good clean read that will keep any lover of cosy mysteries entertained from start to finish.
My thanks go to the author, and to Books Go Social via NetGalley for an advance e-copy, and I have reviewed this voluntarily.

I'm loving this series and i think this is an entertaining and engrossing instalment.
It's well written, the mystery is solid and the cast of characters well written.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

This book is equally as lovely to read as the first, again, the same lighthearted prose and easy read made it a joy and I cannot wait for book 3. The characters really come into their own in this story and I hope in the next book there is more around the older ladies of the street who sit on their porches in the morning waiting for our hero to complete his morning run as there would be some great stories about them to be told.

Neighbors Shepard (a blind radio host) and Miranda (a shy librarian) have decided to get married. But as their mothers plan an epic event, the couple finds themselves in the middle of a mystery. A Chinese University of Florida student and an old Florida farmer have disappeared. Their only link is a canoe trip to a secret sinkhole. What happened to this pair? And how do the bones of a mammoth, an Italian caregiver, an old lady with a rifle and a stray kitten play into the drama?
Find out in "The Mammoth Murders." Author Iris Chacon weaves an exciting and funny tale that combines adventure, mystery and romance. I laughed out loud numerous times as I read and didn't want to put this book down. It's an easy read that kept my attention and has a surprise ending. I also appreciated that it's a clean book with references to morals, church and prayer, but it's not preachy. I can't wait to read more books in this series!
Note: some violence, one curse word

I fell in love with Miranda.
I agree her description of Shepard made him seem hot but a beard - not for me. Apparently a good set of abs though, I can see why the Ladies of Minokee liked to watch him run past.
I read book 1 and couldn’t wait to get my hands on book 2. Unfortunately for me, some of the quaintness and curiosity had gone as we now knew about Minokee and Shepard and Dave and Pietro and Miranda’s parents - although we only met them in the second book.
But the storyline is about how people should not be judged by their external appearances. It is their inner being that is important and it is this inner being of Miranda that Shepard falls in love with and brings out in her, so she stops being the Librarian Mouse and becomes the Librarian Lion instead.
And in book 2 we meet Zeus. He is a wonder. And I look forward to reading about his adventures in future books.
This is a series I shall follow.