Dollycas’s Thoughts

Jazz Ramsey works at St. Catherine’s Preparatory Academy, an all-girls school as an administrative assistant. She has been working on Assembly Day at the school where professional women come into speak about careers to the students. Jazz is given the chance at the last minute to share her passion, cadaver dog training. She is training her new Airedale puppy but brings along Gus, a fully trained dog as well. After hiding a few bones for Gus, the students are pretty impressed with his first find. His second find confuses Jazz because it is focused behind a door where she didn’t hide anything.

After clearing the room of students, Jazz opens the door to find a grisly discovery, a human skeleton wearing a necklace Jazz immediately recognizes. The necklace belonged to Bernadette Quinn, a teacher who left the school at Christmas break 3 years ago.

Now, tons of questions arise. The teacher had been difficult during her time at St. Catherine’s. Very demanding of her students and not friendly with her co-workers. She was on probation when she submitted her resignation. Jazz can immediately think of several suspects other than the police’s prime suspect. She just needs to dig into all the clues, but she is putting herself in danger too. She knows when all the secrets are revealed, the killer will be revealed as well.

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I enjoy these characters. Jazz is a strong protagonist. She is clever and thinks on her feet. She has the full trust of her boss, Sister Eileen. She is dealing with such huge things in her personal life too and needs a little TLC. Her best friend, Sarah Carrington, an art teacher at the school, tries to keep Jazz grounded, focused on her rekindling romance with Nick, but also is a great sounding board. These characters continue to evolve nicely throughout the book. The dogs did not play much of an integral part after the body was found, but Wally is a curious pup still coming into his own. It will be fun to watch him continue his training.

The mystery was pretty straight forward until the author served up a nice twist. I was tuned in early to where the story was leading but the clues were not adding up right. A murder at Catholic school really drew me in, the delay in finding the body believable, the investigation was intriguing, and that final twist set everything into place.

The author has a wonderful descriptive writing style which was so important in this story. A little-used part of the school is pressed into service and it needed to have a backstory and reason for its lack of use. Ms. Logan presented this in a believable way and depicted the area so well with her words.

The cadaver dog training is something that interests me. I hope there is more of that in the next book.

The Secrets of Bones is a great addition to this series. Quite the whodunit!

This is a book geared to lovers of women sleuths and dogs. This is book 2 in the Jazz Ramsey series and can be read as a stand alone. Jazz works at the St. Catherine's school as an administrative assistant and has been planning a professional women's career day for the girls. When the Religious career lady can't make it, Jazz is pressed to give a dog demonstration with cadaver dogs. They move her group to the unused attic for the space and when the demonstration finds a dead skeleton in a closet the police become involved. An unusual plot line but a fairly good mystery. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

My thoughts

Would I recommended it? Yes

Would I read more of this series? Yes

Would I read more of this author? Yes

Second book in the series and once again I liked the story , the characters and the story line as well as the while as the mystery and while I'm giving this a 4 star rating I wish you could see more of her working with the dogs on cases. As for the story itself its slow space but very relaxing and easy to follow as well as to get lost in to and with the type of day I was having that's just what I needed. I loved how every time Jazz thought she had something figured out there would be another surprise waiting for her which would led to more unanswered questions that would leave you guessing at what just happened. With that said I would like to thank Netgalley for letting me read and review it.

Jazz Ramsey, Administrative Assistant to the principle, is helping with career day, introducing a seasoned, now retired, cadaver dog to demonstrate the service these well-trained canines provide. She has a new puppy, an Airedale named Wally, but he's still young and untrained--simply along for the adorable factor. The demo comes to a skidding halt when Gus finds not just the bone she hid, but a whole skeleton (good dog) and judging from the remaining clothing, she knows just who the skeleton belonged to.

The skeleton from an over-zealous teacher unfortunately had few friends and rubbed a great many people the wrong way, so there was an abundant number of possible suspects. Jazz feels she must defend her friend Sister Eileen the principle, as the cop in charge eyes her as the possible perp. The victim was never seen after Christmas vacation several years ago, leaving a resignation letter following a strong disagreement with Sister Aileen.

Eileen is a great character, smart, charismatic, and efficient in her handling of the school. Nick is apparently a previous love interest, a detective, and another great support character. Jazz is dedicated to her cadaver dog training and presents as a dedicated and competent assistant at the school. She'll figure out what happened all those years ago if it kills her--and it might.

Lots of red herrings, but really, it wasn't difficult to figure out. In the meantime, the storyline was well-paced, cleverly written, and engaging. The conclusion answered all the questions with the reveal. I easily read as a standalone and enjoyed the setting of the school as well as the Cleveland area descriptions. It's a well-plotted cozy that keeps the reader entertained. My problem was the lack of focus on the dog(s). Hopefully, the dogs will be working more in the next installment.

I received this digital download from the publisher through NetGalley and greatly appreciated the opportunity to read and review. Recommended for those who enjoy cozy mysteries.

The last thing = last thing!- Jazz expected to find when she took the 7th graders of St Catherine's up to the fourth floor was a skeleton. Not only a skeleton, but the skeleton of Sister Bernadette, who, everyone thought, had simply left the area three years earlier. Turns out there was much more to Sister Berrnadette than met the eye. She was an odd one who was great at teaching and not so great with parents or other things one does at a School. Jazz, the assistant to Sister Eileen, finds herself investigating, looking into Bernadette's past. And what a past it was! This has some serious twists and an ending I didn't see coming. No spoilers! Jazz is a great character, you gotta love a book with dogs, the storytelling is smooth and it's set in Cleveland (with a detour to the Niagara area). Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. I missed the first book so this was a wonderful standalone for me and now I'm looking forward another installment (and more on Nick!)

When Jazz and her cadaver dogs find a real body during a Career Day demonstration, she discovers they've stumbled upon a three year old mystery. Jazz is determined to find out what happened and to find the murderer.

An enjoyable second book in the A Jazz Ramsey Mystery series. I really like Jazz and her dogs. And the mystery kept me guessing until the twisty conclusion.

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

Really enjoyable cozy that came close to being 5 stars for me, but after an exciting opening section, it dragged a bit for me. But by the last third of book, the pages just flew by. I also wish there were a bit more about the dogs and their training. Mystery was well plotted with a fair reveal that I never saw coming. I'm hoping the next book will look into solving the mystery of death of Jazz's father. Jazz works as an administrator at a Catholic girl's school when a skeleton is found in the fourth floor. Jazz and Sister Eileen deal with the repercussions with the students. Jazz starts to look into the death when Sister Eileen is implicated. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed the first in the series, The Scent of Murder but was disappointed that the cadaver dogs were not a large part of the mystery. After reading this entry and enjoying it just as much, I see that the dogs will probably remain a bit to one side. They find the body and then Jazz takes over. Now that I know that, I can shift my expectations. That's not a bad thing and I gave this book one more star because the mystery kept me engaged from the start.
Jazz is the administrative assistant to the school head of St. Catherine's Preparatory Academy for Girls and has a very good relationship with her boss, Sister Eileen Flannery. The day starts out with lots to do and Jazz has to work hard to not let her mind wander to her new pup, Wally, a dog she hope will be trainable as a cadaver dog. Jazz trains them in her spare time. The day will be filled with women from the area giving career advice to the students but one woman is a no show so Jazz is asked to fill in. Borrowing a fully trained cadaver dog, Gus, she goes up to the vacant fourth floor and hides two bones for Gus to find. All goes well as he finds the first hidden bone but then he deviates from the plan and Jazz is shocked when he homes in on a full skeleton hidden in a closet. Even more shocks come when the skeleton turns out to be the remains of a not very well liked, extremely religious nun who taught at St. Catherine's and was thought to have resigned and left the area. She didn't leave at all but who, of the many people who disliked her would have killed her and stuffed her in a closet three years ago?
Jazz has a bit more reason to investigate this homicide than I felt she had in the previous book. Not only did she find the body, on school property but the detective assigned to the case doesn't seem to be up to catching the killer. The mystery was well plotted, there were plenty of twists and red herrings and the writing style flowed smoothly. I will definitely add the next book in the series to my TBR list and keep my fingers crossed that her new pup, Wally, has a bigger role to play in her next investigation.
My thanks to the publisher Minotaur Books and to NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

It’s Assembly Day, a day set aside near the end of the school year when professional women from Ohio come to talk about their careers. Jazz winds up as a last-minute replacement, so she sets up in the unused fourth floor, hiding a few bones for Gus, a friend’s cadaver dog, to find during a demonstration. However, Gus goes to an unused closet. Sure enough, Jazz opens it to find a skeleton. Things left with the body make it easy enough to identify the victim as Bernadette Quinn, a teacher who resigned abruptly 3 years ago. Obviously, she didn’t really resign, but what happened all those years ago?

After enjoying the first in this series, I couldn’t wait to get back and visit Jazz again. I wasn’t disappointed at all. The book is so well written I was engrossed from page one. Jazz’s world and the characters all come to vivid life, and the animals are fun. The plot gives us several good suspects and clues that are confusing until Jazz pieces it all together at the end. If you are familiar with some of Kylie Logan’s lighter cozies, know that this is a few shades grayer, falling more in the traditional realm instead of being a pure cozy. However, that is no reason to skip this book. I was so engrossed in this book, I read almost two thirds of it in one day instead of saving some for the next day like I normally would. Now comes the long wait for the next book in the series.

I had really enjoyed the first book in this series and when I got a chance to read and review the second, I jumped on it. I could hardly put this book down. It wasn't so much that there were exciting actions, but I just wanted to know what was happening. I had my own theory, and part of it was right, but wow what a surprise twist toward the end! I can't really say too much or risk giving away spoilers.

Once again, I found that I really liked the character of Sister Eileen known simply as Eileen in the book. She was the nicest and coolest nun but a firm leader at the all-girls' school that she ran. Jazz had borrowed a retired cadaver dog to demonstrate how they found things like a tooth or a bone, things that she'd hidden. But imagine her surprise when Gus found something that she hadn't hidden! I'm really looking forward to more books in this series!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book provided by the publisher via NetGalley, and my opinions are my own.

The Secrets of Bones by Kylie Logan is the 2nd book in the Jazz Ramsey mystery series, and another good addition. Jazz Ramsey is an admin assistant at an all girls Catholic school, and on the side, she helps train a cadaver dogs. Jazz is taking part in career day, by talking about her lifelong passion, cadaver dog training. Jazz borrows Gus a fully trained dog, and he easily found the first bone she hid, but seems to have lost his scent finding the 2nd one. As Gus wanders away, he leds Jazzy to a human skeleton, of an ex teacher who never returned after Christmas. I really love this book, but it kept popping into my head for days after I read it. And I am looking forward to the next book in the series, to see what happens. I am use to reading Ms. Logan's cozy mysteries, and this book is definitely not a cozy. I highly recommend this book.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Jazz is busy finishing up the school year with career day. When one of the speakers cannot make it, she is pressed into showing off her cadaver dog work. The demonstration goes a little too well when a body is found in the fourth floor of the school. One of the teachers had resigned three years ago and it looks like it is her body in the attic. Jazz world to discover what went on and it leads to several surprise twists.
This book is well written and very entertaining. The characters are well written and the plot well done. I really like this series and hope their will be more.

This book has some serious intrigue and mystery here and Jazz wow what a fascinating MC!

I love her interactions with her Sister Eileen. I am excited to see how training goes for the new puppy and for Jazz to take him in the field.

This book was full of so many twists and turns and much to my surprise I was wrong about where the story would lead. Would definitely read more from this author and I really enjoyed the book!

I received this book from NetGalley and St. Martins Press for an honest review.

This book was full of so many twists and turns. At a few points I thought I knew where the story was going, which only made me want to read faster. I enjoyed the way the author wove in more serious topics in a way that didn’t get too deep or stressful for the reader. I am a dog lover, but did not know anything about cadaver dogs or what training they go through, so the nuggets of info sprinkled into this series on that topic are always of interest to me.

The first book in this series, The Scent of Murder, showed a lot of promise, and this second entry certainly begins fulfilling a lot of that. Jazz has learned a better way to question her suspects (in the first book she tended to infuriate everyone which is dangerous), and her relationship with a local detective aids in her investigation. There's the usual cop who poo-poos everything she says, but he's not obnoxious to the point where I wanted someone to run him down with a patrol car. (I take out any latent aggression in the fiction I read.)

Logan has a main character with a voice that captures my attention and won't let it go. In The Secrets of Bones, she's also crafted an excellent mystery that kept me guessing all the way to the reveal. I'm definitely looking forward to the next book, although this author stomps all over one of my pet peeves.

Cozy mysteries usually have some sort of "hook" to capture a reader's attention and make them pick up and read the book. When Logan once again fell hook, line, and sinker for one of my peeves, I had to look up two things. One was my reading history with this author. She's written several series, and I've read books in two of her others. One button shop series I picked up because I love buttons. Yes, there was some information about buttons at the beginning of the book, but if they showed up again it was because someone threw all the buttons on the floor and the main character had to pick them up. Buttons were the hook that was quickly dropped after the beginning of the book.

The second thing I had to look up was more information about the literary or narrative hook: "It appears at the beginning of the story and may contain several pages of a novel, several paragraphs of a short story, or it might be only an opening sentence..." So I learned that my expectations were rather high, and Logan is following the letter of the literary hook law. But... my expectations are still high. If this series is supposed to be about a woman who trains cadaver dogs, may we please have more than a couple of pages about the process? Pretty please?

Will I read the next book in the series? I've already said yes because I do like the main character and the mystery was excellent. I just wish I could train myself not to be so annoyed when hooks don't last as long as I want them to!

I think this one just might be a little better than the first one. There was some serious intrigue and mystery here [and boy was I as flabbergasted as Jazz by the end]. I *WAS* annoyed when I figured some stuff out and then had to wait for the characters to catch up [I texted a friend about how annoyed I was. Clearly I have been alone with my books for too long], but they finally did and it was all takeadeepbreathanddontletitoutuntiltheend from that moment on. And I like a book like that. And that is what keeps me reading book series'.

At one point something happens to Jazz and I was annoyed because I thought the author had used the same kind of thing in both her first book and then this one - turns out I was in the wrong mystery. LOL LOL LOL I had just finished another mystery where something similar happens to that MC as what happens to Jazz and I just had them both totally confused. It was hilarious when it finally dawned on me. This is the kind of stuff that happens when you read close to 100 mysteries a year!!

Jazz is a great main character and I love her interaction with Sister Eileen and even with Nick [he's much less of an asshat in this book and that is a nice change] and I ADORE the addition of Wally. I cannot wait to see how training goes for the pup and for Jazz and he to go out on a case together. That was the only thing that was really missing here - more about the cadaver dogs and what they do. This one was based more in Jazz' day job [and was very good - I just missed the dogs].
This is absolutely a series that I will keep reading.

Thank to NetGalley and St. Martin Press/Minotaur Books for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3 1/2 stars
I can't put my finger on it but the story wasn't as impressive as the synopsis sets it up to be. The story is simple and the "Twist and Turns" are either dumbed down or I have come to expect a lot from Mystery writers.

The story has it moments and while most girls do not like Jazz because of her rebellions. The story is well paced and is what you expect from a very average mystery.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy of Kylie Logan The Secret of Bones.

Really enjoying this series! (Crossing my fingers for a book 3 that leans more heavily into Jazz's cadaver dog training gig.) This one had a lot of good plot turns (not all unpredictable), and I liked the general premise, which felt fairly original. I felt like we got to know Jazz quite a bit better in this one, and it was a good second book in the series for the way it moved characters along.

It's nearly the end of the school term at St. Catherine's girls school and Jazz Ramsey is excited for the school to quiet down. It is career day and when one of the speakers is unable to attend, Jazz is recruited by Eileen to demonstrate the cadaver dogs techniques she uses at her volunteer job. Jazz plants the two items for the dogs to find, but much to her surprise, the dog finds a real victim. It is former teacher Bernadette Quinn, who everyone thought resigned and left the area three years ago. And Bernadette's hiding place seems to imply she was murdered. Jazz threads her way through the maze of questions about Bernadette and comes to a shocking conclusion. Another excellent book in this series.

The protagonist’s work with cadaver dogs only comes into the story briefly. The mystery was well-plotted, with one or two interesting twists; and the setting in an inner-city girl’s school seemed realistic, and well-done without being exploitive. Some of the characters—particularly the potential villains—are so unlikeable that I never got very invested in the story.

I think this is a sophomore effort—I haven’t read the first in the series—but the central characters are appealing enough that I’d be willing to try the next.