I really, really wanted to like Murder at the Falls, especially as I learned more about Persephone "Perri" Morgan. An orphan, foster child, and army veteran, her voice drew me right into the story. I also liked the working dog aspect and how Keats and Poe (both war heroes with the medals to prove it) could be retrained as therapy dogs to work with seniors and in such programs as Children Reading to Dogs. But... there were problems.

One resident at The Falls, the upscale senior living facility, described what Perri and her friends were doing as "Murder, She Wrote with dogs." That's a superficial fit all right, but Jessica Fletcher wouldn't write such a disjointed story. Too many aspects were trotted out and then disappeared for many chapters. Magdalen Melmoth? Here for a few chapters and then gone. The hunt for the Oscar Wilde manuscript? A hot topic, and then it, too, disappears. The whodunit wasn't particularly difficult either once I began tallying up which characters vanished for a while and which ones didn't.

However, when all is said and done, there are two things that got right up my nose more than the disjointed plot: the characters of Wing Pruett and Babette Croy. Wing Pruett did help out from time to time, but his main function seemed to be window dressing-- as if Perri was supposed to have a handsome boyfriend so-- ta dah!-- here he is. As for Babette Croy... I'm afraid that, once I get started on her, I won't know when to stop. Suffice it to say that she's a "diva-Zilla," the one type of character guaranteed to make me want to throw a book against the wall. Southern-deep-fried, beauty pageant winner, Miss Congeniality winner, she calls in airstrikes on any gray hair or wrinkle that comes within ten miles. Naturally, her clothes and makeup must always be perfect. It goes without saying that she must also be the center of attention at all times, and... gack! Consider that subject closed, y'all!

This is the first Creature Comforts mystery that I've read, and although there are things about Murder at the Falls that I liked, I won't be returning. I'm afraid of what I would do to Babette.

(Review copy courtesy of the publisher and Net Galley) ( )

amateur-sleuth, journalist, therapy-dog, retirement-community, greed, theft, murder-investigation, cozy-mystery, octogenarians*****

I couldn't pause while reading it! Perri is over thirty, a US army vet, orphaned and fostered, a leather worker and therapy dog owner, and prone to amateur sleuthing with her journalist boyfriend and also with her over-the-top BFF. While working with their dogs at a nearby ritzy retirement home, they meet a delightful octogenarian, Magdalen, who bonds immediately with Perri. The next thing they know someone is murdered and while it is not Magdalen, she has disappeared! And so the sleuthing begins! Talk about plot twists, misdirection, and red herrings! There are plenty here. I loved it!
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Kensington Books via NetGalley. Thank you! ( )