Kari wins the lottery and plans to think through what she’ll do with her winnings. One tiny kitten later and she buys a rundown sanctuary. Kari, her best friend and workers from the sanctuary work together to get it up to code, when late at night she finds the dead dog warden at her fence. Good first mystery in a new series.
Goodreads

From the looks of this adorable book cover and the brief description, I knew I was going to find myself making some new friends.
While the story itself is very good and well written, I did struggle a bit with warming up to Kari, the main character. I find her to be likable, but I think I need to get to know her a bit better.
I’m looking forward to getting to know these new friends.
#FurbiddenFatality #NetGalley

cozy-mystery, law-enforcement, family-dynamics, friendship, amateur-sleuth, murder, murder-investigation, animal-welfare, animals, verbal-humor, situational-humor

Kari thought her life was at a dead end. Graduated from college with double major but only able to get jobs waitressing and divorced from a bully. Until she randomly bought a lottery ticket and won a few million. While trying to see how this could improve her outlook she found herself buying a foundering animal shelter. The idea was good, the new friends fantastic, and rescue animals are her very thing. But. Enter the Best Candidate To Be Murdered. If only she hadn't been the one to find the body, and if only it wasn't on her property. Now add in the bumbling deputies, the suspicious sheriff, lots of problems left by the deceased, a fear of being railroaded, two separate and costly episodes of vandalism, and both the new animal control officer and the new veterinarian.
The sleuthing needed a little work but the story was cohesive and very entertaining, and the light on the plight of private shelters was fantastic. I absolutely loved it!
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Berkley Publishing Group via NetGalley. Thank you!

Great debut of an incredible new cozy journey filled with adorable pets and spunky saviors who love them and are constant champions for their well-being. A satisfying roundup of bungling criminals who get what they deserve for messing with pet owners while providing laugh-out-loud chuckles throughout the book!

The mystery is light and fun and moves at a brisk pace. It’s so captivating, it was hard for me to put aside to do anything else. Several arrests brought a smile to my face. Little kitten, Queenie, brings a touch of magic and plenty of cute, entertaining moments as she helps protagonist, Kari Stuart, investigate the crimes. I absolutely loved the story concept and how events made me laugh and feel happy about the pet sanctuary—including workers and pets. Author Deborah Blake has found her writing niche for sure and has me looking forward to many more stories in the Catskills Pet Rescue series.

I honestly reviewed a digital arc provided by NetGalley and Berkley Publishing. All opinions are my own. Thank you.