It’s a Wonderful Woof is a fun mystery, full of clues, red herrings, and surprising revelations along the way. But the secret to its magic definitely lies in its canine narrator Chet, one-half of the Little Detective Agency. The other, human, half, Bernie Little, is a large, rough-and-tumble kind of man, a tough PI with a heart of gold and a soft touch for his investigating partner.

Bernie knows nothing about art, so when a potential client comes to him asking for help on an art world case, Bernie refers him to another PI, Victor Klovsky. The case involves lots of online research and little action, and seems more Victor’s alley. Except that Victor disappears while investigating, and his mother elicits Bernie’s help in finding him.

The case itself is fascinating. Chet and Bernie’s investigation leads them to an old church, an archaeologist excavating some ruins, and a museum dedicated to local history and culture. As someone who likes art and museums, I was fascinated by all the talk about Caravaggio, and some of the finds (which, from Google, I figure are fictional) they come across got my inner art nerd all excited. There’s a moment when the museum’s director receives a donation that makes her burst into tears, and honestly, I fully understand why — such an acquisition for a small museum would be phenomenal. (Though a practical part of my brain can’t help but wonder about how they would afford the insurance required.)

Like I said, though, the key to the novel’s magic is Chet himself, who narrates the case with huge dollops of doggy enthusiasm. It’s a joy to see Bernie through Chet’s eyes — however other characters may respond to the PI, Chet genuinely believes Bernie is perfect and can do no wrong. So even when Bernie is discouraged about an aspect of the case, Chet’s narration assures us that things can’t be so dire, because obviously Bernie will know just what to do. Chet’s perspective is just so pure and full of joy and love, and it’s sheer pleasure just being in his brain. The case does get a bit violent at times — for example, a man was found murdered by waterboarding in a tub, and another scene shows a man getting shot by a sniper rifle. In many ways, the story has the elements of a hardboiled detective noir, but Chet’s narration softens the edges significantly, and gives it more of a cozy mystery feel.

It’s also fun to see the suspects and other characters through the perspective of a dog. For example, the archaeologist is described as becoming nervous all of a sudden, because of an unmistakable shift in her scent. In other scene, the museum director and Bernie have their heads close together; Chet notices how her scent changes, and she seems about to close the distance even more, but Bernie’s scent stays the same and he shows no inkling of moving closer. It’s a subtle moment, but beautifully portrayed; the author does a great job of showing how much dogs pick up that humans don’t.

Yet in other ways, Chet is also hilariously confused by human behaviour. There’s a scene where Bernie and a potential love interest are clearly on the verge of arguing. Chet can sense the shifts in moods, and the tension in both characters’ tones, but has no idea what’s going on. Chet’s also super self-aware of the limitations of his knowledge sometimes, which makes the scene even funnier.

Overall, this is a fun book. Bernie’s a great series co-lead, and I absolutely love how the author handles Chet as an equal co-lead and main narrative voice. The story wasn’t a super page-turner for me — it took me a while to finish it — but the series itself seems really charming. Chet and Bernie make a fantastic team.

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Thank you to Forge Books for an e-galley of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Death by Beach Read is the 9th instalment in the Lighthouse Library Mystery series, but as a total newbie to the series, I had no problem diving right in. Lucy, a librarian, has just purchased a historic home with her fiance, Connor, the town mayor. One night, Lucy and Connor come home to find a man strangled to death in their kitchen.

The victim, Jimmy, turns out to be the estranged twin of the Ralph, man who’d sold Lucy and Connor the house, and his death soon causes old stories and rumours to resurface. The house is reportedly haunted by the elderly patriarch. His ghost is said to have scared away Ralph and Jimmy’s younger sister Jo decades ago, when she was a teenager. The experience traumatized her so much she became a recluse, and never set foot in that house again. Along with the house’s complicated family history, Lucy has to deal with a woman claiming to be the victim’s widow, and the town mean girl, who hates Lucy and seems intent on closing the library down.

I was drawn in pretty much right from the start. The mystery is a lovely cozy, not a very gripping page-turner, but a low-key comfort read with cookies and hot cocoa. The story of Ralph, Jimmy, and especially Jo, was very compelling, and like Lucy, I sympathized with Jo for having the trauma of a teenage experience have such large and long-lasting effects on her life.

Another major standout for me was Charles the cat. He saves Lucy’s life at least two times that I can remember, and possibly many more times throughout the series. He’s a darling side character, with his own personality, and his own responses to the various other characters. I also love how he and Lucy work together, and how much Lucy clearly cares for him as a valued member of her family.

The ghost story elements were fortunately not at all scary. Similar to ghosts in Nancy Drew mysteries, it’s pretty clear from the start that there are non-supernatural reasons behind the ‘hauntings.’  There was a plot thread involving one of the suspects that I think could have used a bit of a clearer resolution — that suspect just disappeared from the story, and we never quite understood why they acted as they did.

That being said, the overall ending was satisfying. The big reveal took me by surprise — I didn’t guess the villain at all, nor their motivation. And I liked how things turned out for Ralph and Jo by the end.

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Thank you to Crooked Lane Books for an e-galley of this book in exchange for an honest review.

When potter Abigail Mast advertises for a mail order groom, she doesn’t expect two eligible bachelors to show up at her door. The bishop comes up with an unusual solution: Abigail must court them both, and decide whom she wants to marry by Valentine’s Day!

From the novel‘s narration — and its title! — it’s pretty clear from the start who, between Caleb the handyman and Phillip the farmer, will win Abigail’s hand. To the author’s credit, she doesn’t belabour the love triangle aspect too much. Abigail and Caleb hit it off almost immediately, and their kisses send heat and sparks through both of them. In contrast, Abigail and Phillip have many pleasant conversations about seeds, and at multiple points, Abigail has to remind herself to give Phillip a fair shot at her hand.

To the author’s credit, she gives Phillip a well-developed romance of his own. While Abigail and Caleb are wonderful characters as well, there were times I found myself more drawn to Phillip’s romantic subplot. Partly, it’s because while Abigail and Caleb hit it off immediately, Phillip and his love interest have a more contentious start to their relationship. They also have a legit barrier standing in their way — the fact that Phillip is technically in town to marry Abigail, and neither he nor his love interest wants to hurt Abigail’s feelings. And finally, the secondary heroine’s backstory is more complicated, with present-day implications that make her understandably reluctant to pursue a romantic relationship. In contrast, Abigail’s tragic backstory, about her guilt over the death of a childhood bully, doesn’t seem as big a barrier.

Both romances develop at a pretty good pace. I do wish Abigail had announced her decision earlier, only because she had a clear preference so early on, and her delay in announcing this caused unnecessary pain to the secondary couple. But I’m glad the author didn’t delay Abigail’s decision to the very end.

There’s also a rather sweet subplot about an elderly man named Birchbark who seems to have magical powers. He sets Caleb up to do some tasks that are intended to teach him valuable life lessons, and he has a pack that seems to yield more abundance than what is put in. This was a cute plot thread, and well-suited for the holiday theme of some of the scenes, but it didn’t really add too much to the story for me. The romances were magical enough without the existence of actual magic.

But the subplot that I thought actually was unnecessary, and added a nasty sheen on an otherwise feel-good story, was the one about the man who abused his wife and was also having an affair. This plot thread is somewhat linked to Abigail’s story — the man makes a physical threat towards her and her two suitors, and his mistress played a role in her tragic backstory. I also see how this subplot added tension to the otherwise almost perfectly smooth sailing of Abigail and Caleb’s romance. But overall, it just felt tacked on for drama. I may have understood if the abusive husband was being set up as the Big Bad of the entire series, but that doesn’t seem the case. I only hope his wife gets a romance of her own later in the series.

The author also has an annoying habit of ending chapters with ellipses. She often uses it as a fade-to-black mechanism when the scene starts heading in a steamier direction. And it’s totally unnecessary. I admit this is a minor quibble, and it’s nitpicky to even bring it up. But it just makes the dialogue or the narration feel artificial, and that pulls me out of the scene.

Overall, though, it’s a good romance. I love the unusual angle of having the woman court the man. I find the bishop hilarious, and I love both main couples and the broader cast of characters.

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Thank you to Kensington Books for an e-galley of this book in exchange for an honest review.