With the grand re-opening of her Urban Tails Pet Shop just days away, Shell McMillan has her hands full planning entertainment for the festive event, including a fortune-telling parrot. But her jubilant mood is soon threatened by ominous rumors of the return of Johnny Draco, a former investment guru who swindled money from most of the residents of Fox Hollow and then vanished without a trace. And when the parrot predicts a dire future for Draco and his dead body is found just hours later, no one can say they’re surprised—but no one will say who did it.
With virtually everyone in town a suspect, the police turn their focus on a good friend of Shell’s who was seen arguing with the victim shortly before his death. Determined to clear her friend’s name, Shell begins investigating Draco’s past, his former employer, and everyone who lost money to him. And when the trail of clues suggests there may have been a completely different motive for the murder, Shell suddenly realizes she’s uncovered a secret someone would kill to keep hidden—and that if she’s not careful, the parrot may be predicting she has no future at all. (NetGalley synopsis)
I have read another series by T.C. LoTempio before this, and have enjoyed the author’s writing style.
I love the relationship between Gary and Shell. It’s nice to see a partnership with “adoptive” siblings as opposed to romantic partners. Gary is very much the cautious one while Shell is the “head straight into danger”, which is a big pet peeve of mine. That said, I am not a fan of Shell and how she handles the evidence. It’s not as if she can’t work with local law enforcement. She is dating Detective Josh Bloodgood, so he would actually listen to her.
The plot was also very good. I loved the whole “innocent until proven guilty” approach Shell took towards Johnny Draco. The suspects were a mile long, and seemed as if any one of them could be the killer. With a couple of exceptions, the reader could have gone in any direction. I wasn’t expecting one of the individuals until very late in the novel.
The animals were fantastic. The cats, Purrday and Kahlua, acted just like my two, which made it hilarious for me. I would love to meet parrots that could do fortunes like Honey Belle. I also liked the domestic drama of Shell’s mother arriving, but how it didn’t seem to take over the original plot. It was a very healthy balance.
Overall I rate this novel 4 out of 5 stars.
Comments
Post a Comment