Sit, Stay, Slay

cozy-mystery, dogs, murder, murder-investigation, law-enforcement, lawyers, Chattanooga, amateur-sleuth***** Bringing casseroles to the bereaved is NOT just a Southern thing! In Minnesota it's Green Bean Casseroles and in Wisconsin it's Tater Tot Casseroles! The road up Lookout Mountain, on the other hand... The last time I was on it was during an ICE STORM and it was even scarier than during fair weather! About the story. The sleuthing is good, the characters are very real and well portrayed, and the dogs are wonderful (but the Plott Hound is much more well behaved than my sister's). The publisher's blurb is pretty good, so there's no need to repeat it or do the spoiler thing. I requested and received a free ebook copy from Kensington Books via NetGalley. Thank you!

I didn't think it was possible but this series just keeps getting better. I was hooked from the first book and Sit, Stay, Slay captured me from the first page. I already loved the ensemble of two-footed and four-footed characters and would read the books just to spend time with them, but V.M Burns weaves a solid tale of intrigue that pulls me along with Lilly Echosby, her dog Aggie, and the dear friends she has made since her arrival in Chattanooga as they search for the murderous villain and seek to bring justice even for the least loveable victim. The villain in Sit, Stay, Slay has targeted members of Scarlet's class during a mock obedience trials to the point that when she is murdered, Scarlett becomes a suspect, drawing Lilly and the dog club into Red's investigation. For once, he is happy to let them apply their mixed bag of knowledge to help him locate the real murder. The dogs are so real and varied that I miss them between books as much as I miss the human characters. Even if I didn't not know from following her that Ms. Burns is a long-time poodle mamma, I would figure it out from her understanding of the love between a fur baby and his family. I appreciate that despite having recently had to say goodbye to another of her real-life babies, Ms. Burns does not bring the pain of that loss into her books she brings only the joy of the love they bring her. I love all of V.M. Burns's series so much that they are not only automatic pre-orders, I keep an eye open for a chance to request an ARC so I don't have to wait to get my hands on each book as it becomes available. I have never been disappointed even with my high expectations of her writing.