Book Review/Giveaway: Collared for Murder by Annie Knox

From the publisher: Groomed for Murder’s Izzy McHale is back, and her pet boutique, Trendy Tails, is raking in the green. But someone else in town is seeing red.…

The Midwestern Cat Fanciers’ Organization is bringing its annual weeklong retreat to Merryville, Minnesota. While that’s perfect for Izzy’s business, it unleashes headaches for everyone else. The event has lots of workshops on the care and breeding of cats, and it culminates in a cat show with a fabulous prize—a platinum collar dangle worth some big bucks.

Cattiness, of course, ensues. But the claws really come out after the prize disappears, and the wealthy director, Phillip Denford, is done in with a pair of grooming shears. Now Izzy and her furry friends, Packer and Jinx, can’t waste time pussyfooting around. They have to solve this case before a killer pounces again.

I've been looking forward to reading Collared for Murder ever since turning the last page of the previous book in Annie Knox's Pet Boutique mystery series, Groomed for Murder, knowing that it was going to be set at a cat show.

Everyone in Merryville is thrilled when their little town is chosen to host the Midwestern Cat Fanciers’ Organization's annual retreat. Izzy and Rena particularly see it as a great way to grow their business, until Izzy learns that the organization's director Phillip Denford has plans to steal Izzy's designs and mass produce them at a much lower price. Shortly after he drops this bombshell on her he's found dead - a pair of grooming shears plunged through his neck - and the extremely valuable grand prize is missing.

There's nothing better than picking up the latest book in one of your favorite series and discovering immediately that it's going to be the best one yet. In addition to the new characters introduced at the cat show and all of the excitement that takes place there, including feline agility, major changes are afoot for all of the characters we've grown to love in this series: couples Izzy/Jack, Rena/Jolly, Ingrid/Harvey, to the Trendy Tails boutique and even Gandhi the guinea pig. So much is resolved that while reading this I had a nagging dread that it might be the last book in the series, but by the end new doors have opened up that make me hope I'm wrong.

I loved every single moment of this page-turner and my only complaint is that it was over too soon!

Giveaway: Leave a comment by noon eastern on Friday, June 5th for your chance to win a copy of Collared for Murder. (US entries only, please.)