This was such a cute cozy mystery! I honestly wasn’t sure who the guilty party was in this but I had my suspicions. I love that Vera and Maggie are so different even though they are twins. Vera was slightly annoying though with her refusal to believe Tyler was scum. I like Jack! I hope he’s in the next book. I’m also curious as to what Maggie will spend most of her time doing since there isn’t much gator trapping.

A fun start to a new series, featuring a young female gator trapper in Central Florida. When a rival trapper is killed soon after an altercation between twins Maggie and Vera, and Vera's gun is stolen, a whole world of "Florida Man" trouble erupts. Perfect for fans of Dave Barry and Carl Hiaasen.

Everybody is familiar with the wild stories of Florida man and all of the crazy antic associated with the state of Florida; and now comes a new mystery series that highlights just that.

Maggie Andrews has recently returned to Wahoo Florida to help her twin sister open a bookstore and take over her late father’s gator trapping business. But when the rival gator trapper turns up dead, it’s up to her to solve the crime and clear her family name.

This reminded me of the mystery series Tita Rosie’s kitchen in the best way possible. The setting of backwoods florida was so new and fresh and the quirky cast of characters really made this an easy and bingeable read. There were multiple times I laughed out and loud and had a smile on my face for the majority of the book. I could definitely visualize this one but the mystery itself wasn’t anything super thought provoking or exciting. It wrapped up quickly but I do believe this book was just to do all the groundwork of introductions and that the rest of this series has the potential to be more.

Will I remember this one for a long time to come? Probably not, but it was the perfect palate cleanser and exactly what I needed for right now.

Final Thoughts: It is a pretty solid 4-star read. It's a very quirky, fun, cozy mystery. Gives A for Aunties, possibly Finlay Donovan vibes! I read this in one sitting and laughed out loud at several parts. The characters can be frustrating at times, and the dialogue was stiff, especially in the first few chapters; however, none of that took away from my enjoyment. As a start to a series, I think this was strong enough to keep me coming back for the next book.

The Premise: Set in small-town Florida with all its unique charm. A female gator trapper (yes, this is a real career) named Maggie comes home to take over the family business and fulfill her father's dying wish. Meanwhile, Maggie's twin sister Vera brings home some mess! A fellow gator trapper is dead, and bullets from Veras's gun are found in the body.

Maggie, with a very handsome criminology professor, Jack, intervenes to solve a mystery and save her sister. Fake dating, a romance bookstore, and a slew of hijinks ensue.

4.5
“To the gator queens, May they trap alligators, sell books, and solve crimes”

I loved this cozy mystery with a sprinkle of romance. This book is about Maggie who returns to Florida and goes into her dads business of gator trappers with her twin sister Vera who is in the process of opening a book store. Out of nowhere their rival trapper ends up dead and you follow Maggie and Vera as they try to solve this mystery. The romance aspect is fun and flirty and just the perfect amount for this cozy mystery.

I think it was super fun to read about a female gator trapper since you don’t really read about those in books and I loved their personalities and am excited to continue the series!

Thank you NetGalley and Tara Lush for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a hilarious cozy mystery that will keep you laughing to conclusion. I loved this cozy mystery ! Thank you to the author, Net Galley and the publisher for the opportunity. My review opinions are my own. This is the debut book in the new cozy series "Critters And Criminals." Based in a unique smalll town in Florida with all the atmospheric culture of Florida is a fun setting for this series. The author has all the elements we readers lover in vivid fun characters, a great setting and a well crafted intriquing sleuth.

Maggie and Vera are twins but not identical. They are close sisters and when their Father died recently Maggie took over his "Gator catching" business very determined to honor her Fathers reputation and Vera open a romance bookstore. This combination alone leads to many fun parts of this book. They are sorting out their Fathers estate and adjusting to life without their Father. I loved Maggie and how honest she speaks and her foils throughout life that make the reader laugh at every turn of the page . I loved the way the author infused so much laughter into the books and has created such vivid characters including the small gator infested small town in Florida. All the Florida culture , weather and charm is featured in this book for the reader. The gators are truly a wonderful part of this series. I love that the author writes the sisters as enviornmentally concious and respectful of the gators. Maggie has a adorable kitten that is a fun part of this book with all the kitten antics readers adore.

Maggie is endearing as she questions her life choices and being a "gator catcher:" Her interactions with others are hilarious and real. The sisters live together and are renting a room to a "hot " catch.. When a murder occurs of the nemisis of their Father Vera falls under suspicion and Maggie and her potential suitor are on the case. They must step up to a false romance to work with finding clues and soon red herrings abound in the investigation. Will they be found out or will they save Vera and solve the case ?

The sleuth was well crafted to conclusion and kept me guessing throughout. I enjoyed this book from cover to cover and highly recommend this new series for a fun addtion to all cozy readers library. I look forward to the next in series. I hope we have many more adventures with Maggie the Gator queen.. Well done to the author.

Maggie is a gator hunter in Florida. She used to work in Boston Zoo, after her father died she came back to take over the family business and look after her twin Vera.

They decide to run their own business and help each other along the way, Maggie will catch alligators and Very is about to open a romance book store.

When their biggest competitor and known enemy ends up dead, shot with a bullet from Vera's gun, she becomes the number one suspect.

Maggie is not the one to stay still. She suspects Vera's creepy boyfriend has something to do with it and decides to investigate it on her own. Luckily their newest tenant is a criminology professor, there to write a book about serial killers. They team up and investigate under the pretense of dating. Their investigation of the way they spend a lot of time together and fake starts to feel very real.

It's such a fun book, I had a blast reading it. The mystery is full of twists and turns, so it kept me guessing till the end and the romance is just the sweetest.

Highly recommend it!

This book is one of my top 10 favorite books that I’ve read! The characters have REAL reactions to a murder mystery AND realistic reactions to budding romances and so much more!

The writing felt like stepping into a warm bath. Absolutely cozy, but modern. It has some “curse words” and some light almost-spice that made this feel one small step more intense than a cozy mystery.

MINOR spoiler (maybe?) If you are a cozy mystery LOVER like me and if “bad” words don’t bother you and some intimate smooching descriptions (and maybe a bit more 👀👀) then I would HIGHLY HIGHLY Recommend this book!!!!!

I received an arc of this book but all my reviews are honest because I don’t have time for anything else

Let’s get one thing straight. I’m a die hard romance reader. Like, a book outside of the romance genre has to really catch my attention for me to give it at shot and I am beyond delighted that Gator Queen did just that!

Not only did the cover and title stop me in my tracks the moment I saw them, but after I read the blurb, I knew I had to read the book.

And then, when I started reading, I couldn’t put it down! Twin sisters that co-run an all romance bookstore and an alligator trapping business who get mixed up in a local murder? It might sound far-fetched, but as a self proclaimed Florida Woman (in the good way) who lives in a town much like Wahoo, FL, I know things aren’t always what they seem!

Gator Queen was an absolute five star read with enough turns to keep me guessing, enough Florida references that had me laughing, and an adorable cat named after Patsy Cline.

Romance, who needs it?
Give me the Gator Queens any day!

I did not like this from the first page. I tried to keep going but it was not for me. I found the voice and attitude of the FMC to be very unlikeable. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this arc ebook in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

This delightful cozy mystery blends the warmth of sisterhood with a dash of the infamous "Florida Man" antics, creating an irresistibly charming tale. Set against the backdrop of Florida's eccentricities, the story gains an extra layer of intrigue and humor. With its perfect balance of romance and mystery, the plot unfolds seamlessly, keeping readers engaged from start to finish. I eagerly anticipate diving into the next installment of this series and following along with the captivating adventures it promises.

I absolutely loved Tara Lush's last cozy mystery series, Coffee Lovers, and I was sad to hear that series was done. So I was looking forward to reading her new book, Gator Queen, Book #1 in the Critters and Criminals series.

I absolutely adored this book - and this new series is so fun. The plot was interesting and I learned a lot about conservation of animals. I also love the fact that the main character's main focus is to conserve the animals, and not harm them.

I also loved the romance sprinkled in this cozy mystery - a good balance of both. I am looking forward to reading the next installment in this new series.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

My desire to read this book started with the title. My family has an inside joke about gators and fences not able to contain them. This book had the right amount of gators.

I really loved the sisters Maggie and Vera. I absolutely would love to visit Vera and Maggie’s bookstore. Catsy’s an absolute vibe. And Jack WOOOWEEE hello new book boyfriend. A man who snuggles up with cats AND can cook! Sign me up!

I really enjoyed the book. It was just the right amount of mystery for this romcom lover. I wouldn’t necessarily use the word steamy to describe Gator Queen however.

I liked the fake dating used as a cover for the investigation. While I initially thought relationship between Maggie and Jack felt a little shallow, I had to stop and remind myself of course it’s going to be shallow they just met. They don’t know a lot of each other and they’re trying to clear Vera’s name.

I would love a little more information onto WHY Jack is in Wahoo aside from his book.

Overall I really enjoyed Gator Queen and will definitely recommend it to everyone when it comes out. It was a really fun read.

I really hope we get more Jack and Maggie as well as some of the other characters in Critters and Criminals Book 2.

family, family-dynamics, Florida, small-town, small-business, new-series, first-in-series, family-business, sisters, twins, relatives, former-librarian, rental-units, political-corruption, political-intrigue, contemporary, romantic, tenant, professor, self-worth-issues, situational-humor, verbal-humor, snarky, punny, pet-cat, suspicion, suspense, murder, murder-investigation*****

Maggie and Vera Andrews are in their mid-twenties, not identical but they are twins and have made major changes in their lives since their father died a short time ago. Maggie has taken over her father's gator trapping business after leaving her job as a zoo employee in Boston and ditching the boring boyfriend. Vera gave up her position as librarian and is about to fulfill her dream of opening a bookstore and is sure that she has found her forever boyfriend. Then a town bully is murdered with Vera's gun, there's a new chief detective in town, and a criminology professor has taken a six-month lease on a cabin on Vera's land. Let the madness begin! Great start to a fun new series!
I requested and received a free temporary EARC from Boldwood Books via NetGalley. Thank you!
#CrittersAndCriminalsBk1
Pub Date 26 Mar 2024

Gator Queen was a fun mystery that's pretty charming and a great light-hearted trip into the world of catching gators. While this is fun and lighthearted there are moments between Maggie and her sister that I found myself being frustrated with. There is romance is book but not as much as I was hoping. However, the romance we do get between Maggie and Jack is fun and flirty which made me want to see where their relationship went next. Overall this was an enjoyable read!

I loved Gator Queen by Tara Lush. It was such a fun book with quirky characters.

I also loved that it was a romance book and a cozy mystery. It was a little more steemy than regular cozies but not as detailed as romance novels, so I enjoyed the balance of the 2 genres.

It's interesting that one sister is a gator trapper while the other runs a romance book store. It will be interesting in future novels to see how the balance of 2 such different businesses play out. I'm not a fan of alligators (terrified of them), but the book had enough of a story that kept me wanting to read more. Also, the plot was very interesting learning about politics in taking over swamp land. I'm a big animal supporter, so I loved seeing that the main characters don't hurt animals and are big into conservation. I recommend this series, especially if you love animals.

This is a fun unserious type of book. It's super short under 300 pages and while sometimes I don't thin it's to it's benefit because parts feel rushed I do think this is a nice book to jump into if you are looking for a quick contemporary "murder mystery" that doesn't take itself seriously.

"Gator Queen (Critters & Criminals #1)" by Tara Lush gets a bit more on the romance mystery side than your typical cozy mystery. I say this mostly for those cozy mystery readers who prefer their cozy mystery romances extremely mild. This one gets a tiny bit of a boil going in a couple of chapters.

Maggie and Vera are twin sisters starting out their reptile catching business and their romance book store in the more Florida of Florida cities after the death of their father. I mean, you hear about the crazy stuff that happens in Florida and this city has it all. Maggie is the main character and runs the Gator Queens side of things with assistance from Vera as needed. Vera runs the bookstore side of things with assistance from Maggie when needed. They also have an extra cabin that gets rented out to the super attractive criminal studies professor on sabbatical who also doesn't seem to like to wear much clothing while home.

The mystery was around a competing gator trapper who the girls were framed for murdering. It really wasn't much of a mystery as to who but more how to prove it. At least, that's how it came across to me. Over all, I would keep up with this series. It had quite a few funny moments. The more romantic moments were few and mild, easily skipped over if not your thing.

This was a delightful romp through the swampy world of gator trapping in small-town Florida. Maggie, our pint-sized protagonist and her adventures kept me hooked from start to finish.

The dynamic between Maggie and her sister adds an extra layer of depth to the story, although I found myself yelling at the pages as Maggie's sister struggles with her self-confidence. Despite their challenges, the sisters' determination to make ends meet in their unconventional careers is both admirable and entertaining.

And let's not forget the romance! The sparks between Maggie and Jack add a fun and flirty element to the narrative, keeping me eagerly turning pages to see where their relationship would lead.

The ending had me chuckling out loud as the bad guy gets their comeuppance in a hilariously unexpected way. Overall, Gator Queen is a cozy mystery that's as charming and perfect for anyone looking for a light-hearted escape into the wild world of gator trapping.

Thank you Netgalley and 8th Note Press for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

less out of left field than I expected, a really fun mystery with a nice romance subplot. cozy, and very reptile loving. thanks for the arc.