Heartwarming cozy mystery with sweet characters who work in a vet office, help each other out, help rescue dogs and cats, etc. Highly recommend to animal lovers, fans of Christian reading, etc.

Off the chain was a funny sort of mystery. Not the usual run of the mill. Lots of laughs with all the unpredictable situations involving Mari, a vet tech and the clinic she works for. If you need a few chuckles be sure to read this book by Janice Thompson.

All words and opinions are my own. I was given a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher for my honest review.

Off the Chain by Janice Thompson was the first book I have read by this author, and it was so cute! 4 stars. If you love a good dog rescue story, cozy mysteries and just a fun light-hearted Christian read, this is the one!

There is a lot going on here! The story begins with Marigold Evans trying to rescue an abandoned dog from a drainage pipe in Texas with her friend when she almost ends up arrested from a misunderstanding from the situation. Parker Jenson comes to her rescue, as usual!

This was a crazy start to a fun story! The day continues down this wild ride when their Veterinarian Clinic, where Park and Marigold both work, is vandalized and the list of suspects start to climb. Who did this and why? The team sets out to solve the crime and help more dogs in need.

I enjoyed this read! It has some good faith content such as a few scriptures, prayers, discussions of faith, church, and God. This was more of a real-life story of the dog rescue/veterinarian lifestyle than a mystery, but I liked seeing their daily lifestyle at work, with different animals and how Marigold’s passion for dogs shown through as she worked through her interest in building a dog rescue non-profit organization.

It had some great southern references too, and ya’ll know I love a good southern reference! 😊 It had humor, characters, faith, mystery and all the cozy vibes of a small town!

If you are a dog lover, you are going to LOVE this story! Thank you to NetGalley and Barbour Publishing for providing me with an Advanced Reader Copy to honestly read and review.

A barking good time!

Thompson’s first book in her “Gone to the Dogs Mysteries” series was just good, clean, tail-wagging enjoyment.

Her ability to spin plot in a mostly dialogue novel is inspiring. She has created a true hero in her main character, Marigold, who is determined to create a dog rescue, when she isn’t busy as a vet tech, a granddaughter, friend, volunteer, and, oh yes, crime fighter!

The well-rounded characters and swift pacing of this book were a perfect summer read. And the wholesome vibe with Christian overtones made it a very engaging adventure.

I’m panting with anticipation for her next adventure in the series!

Such a fun little story....

In addition to Janice Thompson's normal rom-com writing we get a cute cozy mystery about who's doing minor vandalism at the vet's office. The result is a light, funny small-town rom-com-cozy sort of story, with lots of pets and plenty of vivid small-town characters.

Marigold and her rescue dog Beau Jangles dance across the pages with boundless energy and interest, and her Grandma Peach is a major character as well.

I enjoyed each minute and the story is an excellent palette cleanser to read between heavier novels. I'll definitely be reading the next in the series. Suitable for any age.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a free reading copy. A favorable review was not required.

What a great story! Filled with a bit of humor, a lot of mystery, the chance for true love, a faith element, and very interesting characters, this story captured me from the beginning. I look forward to reading more by author Janice Thompson. I received a complimentary copy of this book from Barbour Publishing and was under no obligation to post a review.

This was a fantastic read! Kept me hanging turning pages with all of Marigold’s quirkiness. Great characters, I loved them all and thought the clinic would be a fun place to work at. The camaraderie amongst the employees was more like family. I had fun trying to figure out who the bad guys was and seeing how things would all turn out. Enjoyed the different animals and how they all were characters that contributed to the story. The romance between two of the characters kept me glued to the pages to see if they would begin a relationship. So many things to like about this story. Definitely a fun read, looking forward to the next book!

Off The Chain
Gone To The Dogs, Book 1
Janice Thompson
5 Stars

Synopsis:

The Town of Brenham, Texas, Has Gone to the Dogs!

Curl up with your pup and sink into a delightful small-town mystery as riddles and rescues stack up in book one of a new cozy mystery series.

Marigold Evans’ first attempt at rescuing an abandoned pooch lands her in a drainage pipe in Brenham Texas. . .and almost in jail, until Parker Jenson comes to her rescue. Then a bad day only gets worse as the Lone Star Vet Clinic, where they both work, is vandalized and the list of suspects starts to climb. With the help of her fellow employees, Marigold sets out to simultaneously solve the crime, rehab the rescued dog, and help more dogs in crisis. But why would anyone continue to work against all their good efforts?

More in the Gone to the Dogs Series:
Book 1 - Off the Chain by Janice Thompson
Book 2 - Dog Days of Summer by Kathleen Y'Barbo
Book 3 - Barking Up the Wrong Tree by Janice Thompson

Review:

This is the first book in the Gone To The Dogs Series. It was a good read and had what I look for in a cozy-type book: fun characters, a great setting, a good mystery to solve, and adorable animals.

The characters are well rounded and well rounded. The people who work at the clinic are great people and they love animals completely. Mari, Cassidy, Parker and Tyler are trying their best to help all in their care and make a difference. And Grandma Peach was quite a character.

There is a lot of action taking place and much of it will make you smile. The writing style flows smoothly and the book was an easy read. There are good messages contained within the book. I enjoyed this book so much and I am looking forward to reading the second book in the series when it comes out.

I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book provided by the publisher, Barbour Publishing, and NetGalley, which I greatly appreciate.

Cute start to a new series, but our protagonist is a bit too ditzy and judgy for me. The mystery was frothy and fun though and the side characters are fun, so I’ll be checking out book 2!

Off the Chain
Book One - Gone to the Dogs series
by Janice Thompson
Pub Date 01 Jul 2022
Barbour Publishing, Barbour Fiction
Christian | Mystery & Thrillers | Women's Fiction





I am reviewing a copy of Off the Chain through Barbour Publishing and Netgalley:



Get ready to curl up with your pup and sink into a delightful small-town mystery as riddles and rescues stack up in book one of a new cozy mystery series.





Marigold Evans’ first attempt at rescuing an abandoned pooch lands her in a drainage pipe in Brenham Texas. . .and almost in jail, until Parker Jenson comes to her rescue. But a bad day only gets worse as the Lone Star Vet Clinic, where they both work, is vandalized and the list of suspects starts to climb.





With the help of her fellow employees, Marigold sets out to simultaneously solve the crime, rehab the rescued dog, and help more dogs in crisis. But why would anyone continue to work against all their good efforts?




I give Off the Chain, five out of five stars!


Happy Reading!

Marigold will do anything to rescue a dog, including crawling into a drainage pipe. She’s a veterinary technician who hopes to start a dog rescue. The vet clinic deals with saboteurs, angry neighbors, hostile clients, and threatening ex-boyfriends. Mari’s Grandma Peach sews dog costumes.
Not a lot of mystery here. My favorite character is Beau Jangles, the dog rescued from the pipe. I sneaked a look at the ending before going back and reading the middle. Light and light-hearted.

I had high hopes for this book - being a fan of the ‘cozy’ mysteries - and a big fan of dogs - but.. unfortunately this one was a miss for me. There were a few exciting moments - a burglary, a car chase - but the dialogue between the characters and predictability of the story wasn’t super enjoyable for me and fell pretty flat. I didn’t find the main character very believable or likeable for a good chunk of the book - she seemed a bit flighty and dim witted. There were also a few storylines that didn’t make sense/didn’t wrap up - for instance, the vet office was vandalized with the word ‘Murderer’ but the guilty culprit (I won’t spoil it for anyone else) had no reason to write that on the wall - so why was it there? There also was no resolution between Tyler and Cameron (two vets who butt heads early on) - they had an argument in the office where Cameron hurls insults and threatens Tyler, but nothing comes of it. And in fact, later in the book, they’re working together and there is no acknowledgment at all! There wasn’t a lot of mystery in this book either which I was a bit let down by. It felt like the book was primarily about the main character starting up a rescue - which is great - but this book probably shouldn’t be advertised as a mystery.

Thank you NetGalley and Barbour Publishing for the advanced electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A cute story that is labeled a cozy mystery but it fell a bit short on the cozy mystery theme. The characters were almost likable but they seemed to all lack “personality” and “intelligence “. The dogs were cute though. It falls short on the cozy mystery element for me and I doubt that I will read book 2 of this series.

I received an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley and voluntarily reviewed it. All thoughts and comments are my honest opinion”

Marigold Evans is a vet tech in Brenham, TX. She wants desperately to start her own rescue. So one evening she finds herself in a drainage pipe seeking out an injured pup, when she comes out of the pipe she and her best friend are almost arrested, and she finds out the Vet's office where she and Cassidy work has been broken into and vandalized. When I first began the book I thought the author was maybe trying to write humor like Janet Evanovich, but if she is, she failed.
I wanted to like this book, what could be better, but a cozy mystery with dogs. But it was not to be, first of all, the only mystery was the burglary and vandalism. The main character is dimwitted, she wants to start a rescue, but has no clue about what is needed to get her business off the ground. Her main expectation is the owner of the Vet practice will give her free vet care for her rescues, but she hasn't asked him, and that eventually he'll fall in love with her. The entire cast of characters are so religious that their response to most issues is "God's got an answer for you" or "It's all up to God." That's fine if you're looking for Christian Fiction, but not okay if you're looking for a well written cozy mystery. In fact, the police actually solve the crime, the main characters have a very tangential link to the solution. Overall it might be a great book for a teenager looking for a cozy mystery, but not for the hardcore fan of mysteries.

This was...not good. There were a lot of unbelievable scenarios, to the point of being irritating. The characters were very dim witted, and it felt like the author was trying to make them quirky but the execution wasn't right. The dialogue is very cringe and unrealistic. There was too much going on. I am really disappointed because I thought I would really like this, but I cannot get past the tropey, juvenile characters. It was just a hot mess.

5 stars, personally.

About this book:

“The Town of Brenham, Texas, Has Gone to the Dogs!
Marigold Evans’ first attempt at rescuing an abandoned pooch lands her in a drainage pipe in Brenham Texas. . .and almost in jail, until Parker Jenson comes to her rescue. Then a bad day only gets worse as the Lone Star Vet Clinic, where they both work, is vandalized and the list of suspects starts to climb. With the help of her fellow employees, Marigold sets out to simultaneously solve the crime, rehab the rescued dog, and help more dogs in crisis. But why would anyone continue to work against all their good efforts?”


Series: Book #1 in the “Gone to the Dogs” series.


Spiritual Content- Proverbs 12:10 at the beginning; A couple Scriptures are mentioned; Prayers; Many talks about God, praying, having faith, & dreams; ‘H’s are capitalized when referring to God; Many mentions of God, callings, & dreams; Mentions of prayers, praying, a prayer chain, & blessings over food; Mentions of those & events in the Bible; Mentions of churches, church going, church events, & a pastor/reverend; Mentions of callings; Mentions of ministries & one that witnesses to and helps the homeless; Mentions of miracles; Mentions of denominations & someone being raised Presbyterian but becoming a Baptist as an adult (his mother being “nearly wrecked” by it (though, they’ve now ironed out their theological differences)); A few mentions of working with like-minded people who are believers; A few mentions of if someone was charismatic they would say a certain man has a demon & a friend being full-gospel and finding demons under every bush (which Mari responds that there are plenty of them to be found); A few mentions of a man possibly skimming off of a church’s tithes; A couple mentions of Mari’s grandmother saying a man’s so mean that her prayers couldn’t reach him, which Mari isn’t sure that’s theologically sound; A couple mentions of a mission trip; A mention of a Godsend; A mention of a hymn; A mention of fasting; A mention of a blessing; A mention of calling for a priest; A mention of a the phrase that a man is “so cheap he wouldn’t give a nickel to see Jesus ridin’ a bicycle”;
*Note: A few mentions of a cat being called the “spawn of Satan”, a “demonic cat”, & a “demon cat”; A couple mentions of a man being called evil; A mention of someone scowling at Mari like she’s “some sort of demonic entity”; A mention of a (church) event being at an ungodly hour.


Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘stinking’, a ‘suck it up’, two ‘dumb’s, three ‘idiot’s, and four forms of ‘stupid’; Some sarcasm & eye rolling; A couple mentions of curses (said, not written); A couple mentions of someone making an obscene gesture; A mention of someone being “enough to make a preacher want to cuss”; Helping a friend who’s ex-boyfriend is stalking her & witnessing his reckless driving (barely-above-not-detailed); Many mentions of vandalism (the word ‘murderer’ is painted on a wall), vandals, thieves, burglaries/robberies, stealing, & stolen items; Many mentions of an ex-boyfriend threatening, stalking, gaslighting her, showing signs of violence, following her around with a gun, the woman being scared of him, & filing a protective order; Many mentions of jail & arrests; Mentions of threats; Mentions of injuries; Mentions of blood, vomit, throwing up, & poop; Mentions of alcohol, someone being addicted, going to AA, & becoming sober; Mentions of drugs, a cartel, dealers, runners, & drug houses; Mentions of injured dogs, the passing of beloved pets, & grieving (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of owners abandoning their pets when they move; A few mentions of a man threatening to hurt a dog if it comes onto his property; A few mentions of rumors; A few mentions of divorce; A few mentions of lies & lying; A couple mentions of a hateful man; A mention that someone could be an axe murderer; A mention of partying in college;
*Note: Mentions of brands (Dollar General, Dollar Store, Jiffy Lube, Lady Clairol, Mary Kay, Easy-Bake ovens, Gucci, Dr. Pepper, Blue Bell ice cream, & Sonic); Mentions of car brands; Mentions of a singer & songs (Kenny Chesney); A mention of a soap opera (The Young and the Restless); A mention of the Mutt & Jeff duo.


Sexual Content- An few embraces & hand holding; A tiny bit of teasing/flirting & winks; Some noticing (barely-above-not-detailed); a ‘hussy’ (Grandma Peach calls another woman that because she’s always flirting); Mentions of boyfriends, girlfriends, exes, dates, & dating; Mentions of flirts, flirting, & swooning; Mentions of thinking about a man often & crushes; Mentions of handsome & cute guys; A few mentions of songs about cheating; A few mentions of having the hots for someone; A couple mentions of jealousy; A mention of hunky firefighters; A mention of a woman ‘honky-tonkin’; At the beginning of the story, Marigold has a bit of a crush on a guy who happens to be her boss (but it’s really more of respect and admiration); A bit of love, falling in love, & the emotions;
*Note: A couple mentions of female co-workers staying at a male coworker’s place when they need a place to stay (not sexual at all, he’s just a nice guy with a heart for helping people).

-Marigold Evans
1st person P.O.V. of Marigold
256 pages

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Pre Teens- One Star
New Teens- Two Stars
Early High School Teens- Three Stars
Older High School Teens- Four Stars
My personal Rating- Five Stars

{ Add a full star for dog lovers and/or those who are interested in working at/as a vet. }

This was everything I hoped and more.

Easily my most anticipated book of the year, this book was just so much fun.

I thought it would be more of a mystery, but it wasn’t so focused on who broke into the vet clinic, it was more on day-to-day life and craziness and Marigold’s heart for rescuing dogs. Which I really liked. Bonus that it was in first-person POV, which reminded me of Erynn Mangum’s books with the wit and humor.

This was such an entertaining read and I can’t wait to read the rest of the series!


Link to review:
https://booksforchristiangirls.blogspot.com/2022/07/off-chain-by-janice-thompson.html


*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.
*I received this book for free from the Publisher (Barbour) for this honest review.

Cute story involving a rescued pup and a veterinary clinic. This is the first book in a new series which will give animal lovers a cozy mystery series to read.

Janice Thompson has been an absolute favorite of mine for over a decade. Her books are auto buys for me. Her stories are always chock full of humor, fantastic characters and a fun plot. This one did not disappoint! This was a fun mystery with lots of laugh out loud moments. I liked Marigold and her desire to open a rescue for dogs and cats. The mystery held my attention, and I really liked the wrap up. I also enjoyed the cast of supporting characters and I look forward to the emerging romance that is sure to blossom in future installments of this series. This was a winner for me!

What a great start to a new series! This book is a fun mystery that will keep you turning the pages to see what happens next. If you enjoy a book that has a cast of wonderful characters, an adorable dog and is a fun read, grab this book. I loved it!
I received a complimentary copy from Barbour Publishing and was not required to write a review. All opinions expressed are my own.

I enjoyed this lighthearted mystery very much. I definitely want to read the next book in the series. Marigold is the main character who works as a tech at a veterinary clinic. The book opens with her trying to rescue a dog that is living in a drainpipe. Her dream is to operate a dog rescue. Living in a small Texas town, Marigold easily finds trouble and dogs.
I had laugh out loud moments while reading this story. I really appreciate the advanced reader's copy from the publisher and NetGalley. I recommend this series to readers who like a clean mystery with interesting and humorous characters plus dogs! I love dogs and the inclusion of their characteristics and the need for rescue services makes for a touching beginning to the books ahead. A love for God is shown in the characters.