Book Reviews: Yappy Hour by Diana Orgain and Faux Paw by Sofie Kelly

Yappy Hour
Diana Orgain
Minotaur Books, November 2015
ISBN 978-1-250-06911-5
Hardcover

Maggie has left NYC and her life as a financial adviser (thank you, economic turn-down) to return to her hometown, Pacific Cove, CA, and apply for a purser’s berth at a local cruise line. But before she can, her sister Rachel texts, asking her to take over The Wine and Bark, Rachel’s bar, which caters to a dog-loving clientele. Maggie isn’t a dog person and knows nothing about mixing drinks or running a business and there’s a dead body on the tile floor of the bar. What is she to do?

This book has a slapstick vibe. I thought of Evanovich right away. Maggie sometimes acts like an idiot, but at least she knows it. Rachael’s customers, especially Yolanda, and her horse-race-mad Uncle Ernest, AKA Grunkly, provide plenty of complications as she tries to figure out who killed Dan, a man Rachel once dated, now possibly her enemy. And where is Rachel? On a cruise? Eloping? Running from the cops? A hunky policeman and a hunky chef-next-door add even more complications for our heroine.

I enjoyed the story and the setting. Yolanda’s Beepo, a Yorkie who behaves badly at every opportunity, made me laugh. He also made me glad I have a sweet, friendly Papillion. I’d happily read another book about Maggie and her new world.

Reviewed by Marilyn Nulman, October 2015.

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Faux Paw
A Magical Cats Mystery #7
Sofie Kelly
Obsidian, October 2015
ISBN 978-0-451-47215-1
Mass Market Paperback

Librarians are my heroes. And I love cats. Especially magical cats, like Owen and Hercules. So I was happy to find Sofie Kelly‘s latest book about Kathleen Paulson and her boys. A traveling art exhibit is about to grace Mayville Height’s library. As library director, Kath is excited and a bit nervous. If all goes well, the show will benefit the library and the local artists who were invited to contribute to it. But disaster crashes her hopes. Kath finds the exhibit’s curator dead on the library floor. Murdered.

This is a small-town mystery, so Kath knows who to ask about this and that as she tries to help her policeman boyfriend discover the killer. Ryan has built an interesting cast of characters who help move the investigation forward, or shove it sideways. I was glad to see old friends and meet some new ones.

Though magical (Owen can become invisible, Hercules can walk through walls,) they are still cats, with all the charm and all the ability to frustrate and annoy of their kind. They are feuding. Why is another mystery to be solved, if possible.

I was happy to return to Mayville, where friends help each other and the gossip is not toxic. Most of the time. I recommend this book.

Reviewed by Marilyn Nulman, October 2015.