This is an interesting book, the second in the Helping Hands Mystery series. The premise is that this small town begins a program called Helping Hands where a social worker rides along with the police during their night shift, since the police frequently encounter situations where a social worker could be of use. Examples of this are when the police are trying to interview people who extremely distressed, or who have mental or substance abuse disorders. She can also help struggling people get set up with counseling or other services that the police can't. The combination of these two made me think of a police procedural from the view of a social worker. Hildy also brings her service dog along with her on the ridealongs with the police.

In this particular book, one of Hildy's former clients is having hallucinations, specifically that he saw a ghost in the cemetery, where he goes to walk at night, and that he saw someone murdered. Later that week, the police and Hildy go to a local farm to do an unrelated welfare check, and find a dead body. This is the beginning of a plot with lots of twists and turns, since Hildy's client with the hallucinations talks about seeing a man killed and that a 'purple and pink spotted dinosaur saw it all', and there is a purple and pink ceramic dinosaur in the kitchen where the body was found.

There is a developing romance between Hildy and one of the officers. I enjoyed it very much, and want to read the first book. The author also has another related series, the Mattie Winston Mystery series that looks very interesting. Mattie Winston is a deputy coroner and also is mentioned in this book also.

Thanks so much to Kensington Books and Netgalley for allowing me to read and review an advance reading copy.

3.5 Stars

This was a solid cozy mystery. I have never read any Annelise Ryan and didn't realize this was not the first book in the series, however that didn't matter. The author did a really good job of providing background about the protagonist and the main secondary characters. I did enjoy this book enough that I will likely go back and pick up the first book in the series, as there was a reference to the case in the first book and it had me intrigued.

I thought the mystery in this book was very intriguing and I did find myself wanting to continue reading so that I could find out what would happen next. I did end up guessing who the culprit was, however I still enjoyed the lead up.

I really liked Hildy, our main character. I really appreciated that she is a social worker in the hospital during the day and is working part-time with the police force at night. Social workers do so much good and are very underrated, so I loved that representation. As someone working in healthcare who works a lot of evening and nightshifts, I always love reading about her working the night shift!

Another thing I really liked about this book was Danny. I really felt for him throughout the whole ordeal as he struggled to deal with his mental health while many people didn't believe him about what he was saying and doubting his innocence. I thought the mental health aspect was portrayed really well and it was nice to read.

While this wasn't the best cozy mystery I've ever read, it was a good read. I will pick up more Annelise Ryan in the future!

Thank you so much to @netgalley and @kensingtonbooks for providing me with an e-ARC of this book. Night Shift will be released on July 28th, so you have time to pick up the first one and get caught up

Another winner by a great author. This is book 2 in the series of Hildy, a small town Wisconsin social therapist who is now working with the police by going out on the night shift with them. Her and her therapy dog help keep things calmer. When they find a murdered man, and a hidden lab of poisonous plants, the mystery deepens. Who is growing these? why? bio-terrorism? Scary stuff. Enjoyed this one, and highly recommend this book and author.

psych-social-worker, wisconsin, schizophrenia, therapy-dog, law-enforcement, murder-investigation, small-town

not an unbiased review: I live in Wisconsin, I share job history with author, daughter is a social worker.
Use of present tense very disconcerting much of the time, other than that, I loved the way the mystery played out! Complex characters that many of us could have met and interacted with, solid plot with misdirections, twists, and outright red herrings all add up to a very fine read. No spoilers here.
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Kensington Books via NetGalley. Thank you!

This is the 2nd installment in the Helping Hands mystery series. Hildy Schneider is a social worker who works with her therapy dog Roscoe take on a second job with the police when her hours at the hospital have been cut. Hildy and Roscoe are going to go on patrol with the police to help diffuse difficult situations. On her very first night she recognizes a former hospital patient Danny who is schizophrenic and has a history of hallucinations. Danny swears he saw a murder that involves a dinosaur. Hildy walks a fine line with her patients and the police and when the police find a body with strangely similar with the description given by Danny they need to figure out did he witness the murder of this farmer. Hildy and detective Bob Richmond work to figure this all out. Hildy is kind and supportive and wants to do right and there is a romance brewing between the two. I love Roscoe and learning how much these dogs can do and benefit others. This was a little grittier of a mystery than most cozies and keeps you engaged.

Hildy is a fun character who takes her job as a hospital social worker very seriously.
When her second job leads her to a troubled adult who swears he saw a murder take place.
Hildy will do whatever it takes to help, including putting herself in harm’s way.

Hildy Schneider is hustling like most people to pay the bills. When her hours at the hospital are cut she and her therapy dog, Roscoe, pick up a second gig using her social worker skills with the police department. She walks a fine line between her loyalty to her patients at the hospital and the police department and she is tested the first week in her new job when a patient is somehow mixed up in a murder investigation.

With threats coming from the murder investigation and her boss at the hospital, Hildy does her best to keep her responsibilities balanced between her two jobs. Not believing her patient is a murderer, Hildy works to put the pieces of the puzzle together to prevent a far darker scenario that seems to be looming on the horizon. She just has to hope the final piece fall into place before she’s swept up with the remaining pieces and tossed away forever.

The second book in this series gives us even more to love about Hildy and Roscoe. While flawed herself, she sees the good in others and strives to make life better for everyone around her. This gives Hildy and Roscoe a special place in my cozy loving heart.

Second in the series about a social worker and her dog; you need not have read the first book.

Hospital social worker Hildy has taken a second job with the police department, going on patrol calls with her therapy dog to help defuse difficult situations. On her first tour, she encounters a former patient whose schizophrenia seems to have worsened dramatically. He's talking about a killing witnessed by a spotted dinosaur. It seems bizarre until the police find a farmer with his head blown off - in front of a cookie jar in the shape of polka-dotted triceratops. How was Hildy's patient involved? And just what was the dead farmer growing?

I enjoyed this unusual take on a cozy mystery. Hildy is a sympathetic, hard-working, relatable character with a troubled backstory, a resilient outlook, a love for dogs, and a kind heart. Therapy dog Roscoe is loving, intelligent, soothing, and perceptive. Hildy has a flicker of romance with a coworker, mostly over sausage and pepper sandwiches. She is too busy for much more. She's got two jobs, a dog, a semi-dependent neighbor kid, a vengeful boss who wanted the police department gig, and oh, yes - she's got to solve the darn murder. Because that's what heroines do.

The murder plot itself seemed strained, and there was little mystery about the likely culprit. But this is an appealing series, and I look forward to the next book.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.