This was a fun read. Reading the author's bio I was not surprised to see that she was a veterinarian herself as Kate was incredibly believable and capable at her job and honestly the vet parts were my favorite. I really enjoyed seeing all the animals and how Kate and her staff treated them. The mystery was interesting and the end a bit of a surprise. Since I'm new to the series I didn't fully grasp all the undercurrents between Kate and Luke but that's a small enough part of the story that it didn't both me at all. I do have opinions on Luke himself though. If you're an animal lover and a mystery lover this is a great cozy series that I think you'll really enjoy!

Chained is the third entry in the Kate Turner, DVM mystery series by Eileen Brady. The protagonist is a practicing vet in a rural area of New York state. She's a temporary replacement for the clinic's owner, Doc Anderson. When one of her dog patients discovers a human arm bone, she gets involved in solving the cold case disappearance of the arm bone's original owner.

I enjoyed reading this book. Though I read it as a standalone, the necessary backstory is included in the story and it doesn't suffer for being read out of order. I really like Kate. She's no-nonsense and unpretentious and not superwoman. I also liked the interaction and small town feeling between the characters in the book and the good relationship she has with her coworkers. There's a lot of humor in the book and it's a fun and diverting read. (The scene with the hamster in the bottle made me giggle).

The plot resolution does depend on a deus ex machina, but it wasn't completely over the top. It's a cozy mystery and the book adheres to the 'rules' in every other way. The author is an experienced vet herself and it shows in the narrative. They say 'write what you know', and I've no doubt that some of the dialogue and situations in the book have their origins in the author's experiences.

It's a diverting read and at 269 pages, a good length for a cozy. It's well written and plotted and doesn't drag.

Released 5th Dec, 2017 by Poisoned Pen Press, it's available in hardcover, paperback and ebook formats.

Four stars, enjoyable, escapist, cozy fun.

I am so glad I got the chance to read Chained.  It’s a great mystery filled with plenty of suspense and just a touch of humor and romance.  Kate Turner is a believable, well-rounded individual that you can easily imagine working in your local veterinary office.  I absolutely loved the wide range of quirky clients and their pets. More to the point, I also loved the mystery.  Flynn Keegan disappeared a decade ago.  Most believed he had set sail for Hollywood, but only one person knew what really happened - until Flynn’s remains are discovered by one of Kate’s more exuberant clients.  What starts as curiosity, becomes a formal investigation when Flynn’s family asks Kate to find out who killed Flynn and why.  Kate doesn’t have access to a forensics lab.  What she does have is persistence, and a willingness to ask uncomfortable questions.  She also has the help of an old flame, an anthropologist looking to rekindle their relationship.  Delving through Flynn’s life and unearthing old secrets is liable to show whodunnit, but will Kate discover the truth before she becomes a victim?

Chained is a great novel, perfect for animal lovers looking for something a bit different.  Kate is an amazing heroine - kind, intelligent, vulnerable and persistent.  I definitely would recommend Chained to anyone looking for a well written mystery that is not formulaic and has memorable characters - particularly if they love animals.

5 / 5

I received a copy of Chained from the publisher and Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

--Crittermom

Chained

by Eileen Brady

Chained is a cozy mystery about a veterinarian, Kate Turner, written by a veterinarian, Eileen Brady. When you read a book like this one, you can be sure that the animal and medical details are accurate. But can a scientifically inclined person author a work of fiction with interesting characters and a complex plot? Perhaps even some romance? The answer in this case is a resounding yes.

We follow Kate and her assistant Mari as they attend to a variety of animals both in and out of the animal hospital. One of her “patients” digs up a human bone, and Kate finds herself being asked by the family to discover the murderer in a ten year old cold case. There are a lot of suspects, many lies, and countless emotions rising to the surface as Kate and others deal with both the present and the past.

I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to Poisoned Pen Press for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 5/5

Category: Mystery

Notes: #3 in the Kate Turner, D.V.M., Mystery Series, but worked well for me as a standalone

Publication: December 5, 2017—Poisoned Pen Press

Memorable Lines:

“Come on. Come here, Mr. Katt.” I patted the corner of the desk. He looked away in disdain, but it was all an act. The next moment a plump load of furry feline landed full-force on my lap. As soon as I stroked him, his purr motor began to rumble.

Dina narrowed her eyes. A pink fingernail lightly caressed a loose curl. Her focus tightened, like a lioness on the Serengeti Plain noticing an antelope separated from the herd.

After we hung up I thought about all the angst of high school, and the crazy meaningless ups and downs that enveloped students every day. Between classes, wave after wave of raw emotion flowed like lava down the halls. Imagined slights. Painful encounters. Bottled up feelings. They all added up. Some of us carried those slights around for years and others never put them down.

Being a vet who does house calls, Kate Turner comes upon an amusing and eccentric cross-section of Hudson River Valley denizens whose pets need some of her tender loving medical care. In Chained, one of her patients was injured while adventuring in the woods, but the bone he brought back as treasure was human, not animal. It turns out to be from the body of a high school golden boy Flynn who left for California dreams ten years ago–or so people thought.

In true Jessica Fletcher tradition, the community expects Kate to solve the mystery by asking questions as she goes about her vet business. The romantic element is complicated by her police officer friend going back to his former girlfriend and the visit of her college boyfriend, on sabbatical from his anthropology dig in Africa. He’s matured into quite the dashing man, but her feelings are conflicted.

Talking to family, teachers, and classmates of the murdered Flynn, she gets an idea of his character. Her strategy is to cast a wide net and narrow it by learning more about his milieu and then about that final day when he left, only to be murdered.

I was disappointed by Chained. While the mystery is basically fair in that we get the clues as Turner does and none are hidden from us, the resolution is through revelation, not reasoning. Someone feels threatened by Kate’s investigation and cracks, exposing everything. That’s never as satisfying as the detective figuring it out.

That would not be enough to disappoint me, though. For me, the biggest problem is how flat the characters feel. Frankly, the book feels workshopped, with characters developed in writing software. They aren’t interesting. Of course, Luke’s girlfriend is a mercenary Barbie whose no better than she should be. Of course, the stepdad is abusive. Of course, her assistant is hyper-competent, ready to do a style makeover or muck about with a muskrat. Kidding, no muskrats were harmed in the writing of this mystery. Even the “write what you know” veterinary medicine feels more like a public service announcement than reality.

Here’s the thing. This is not a bad mystery. It’s fair. It’s competent. It’s just not as good as it should be. The foundation is there for a great series, but Brady needs to free herself from conventions and stereotypes. If Luke’s love interest could have been a charming, fun, and woman-friendly woman, that would have been interesting. As it is, she is banal because she is completely typecast as the romantic competition of a dime novel, catty, oversexed, grasping, and materialistic. There’s also the eccentric, the recluse, the mad mountain man, the grifting realtor, and so on. Brady has the foundations for a good series, but she needs to be more surprising.

Chained is the third in the Kate Turner DVM series. I received an e-galley from the publisher through NetGalley.

Chained at Poisoned Pen Press
Eileen Brady author site

I love this series. Kate Turner DVM Mysteries series is set in the Hudson Valley and deals with Kate's veterinarian practice. Her off and on again relationship with Luke is off again and Jeremy, an old college flame is visiting. In book 3, Kate is investigating a 10 year old murder after a dog discovers human bones in the woods. These books are funny and have a good cozy mystery to solve. The title, Chained refers to a captured bear that Kate befriends and helps heal. Along with Kate's human clients that are a little eccentric the animal clients will certainly have you smiling. Don't need to read the series in order but you don't want to miss the previous stories.

I absolutely love this series for the details of Kate's life as a vet. Eileen Brady has been a practicing vet for over twenty years, so no matter how silly some of those patients (and their owners) may seem, I have the feeling that they are all based upon fact. This verisimilitude makes me feel as though I could walk right into the book and ride along on Kate's housecalls.

The mystery is a good one, and I also think I relived a few of my high school days as I read. With the defecting current boyfriend and an old one coming to town, I was worried that the mystery would take a backseat to romance, but my fear was groundless, I'm happy to say. Kate's grandfather the retired arson investigator is the voice of reason in her life, and Kate needs one because she had some low points in her investigation-- what I call Too Stupid to Live Moments. Like what? The snowpocalypse is going to close down the town completely, but that's the precise moment when Kate just has to go up into the mountains to take photos for evidence. Are you kidding me? Killer on the loose who's mad because you're learning too much. A bear roaming the area you're traveling to, and a blizzard that's already begun? Shame on you, Kate!

It's a good thing that those veterinary house calls and the mystery are so good because, as a rule, I don't react well to Too Stupid to Live Moments. I'll be keeping an eye peeled on Kate during her next investigation to see if she toes the line.

Chained
Kate Turner DVM Mysteries, Book #3
Eileen Brady
5 Stars

Synopsis:

Everyone in the charming Hudson Valley town of Oak Falls expected Flynn Keegan, their handsome blond "Golden Boy" to make it big in Hollywood. So when veterinarian Kate Turner identifies a bone dug up by one of her dog patients as human, no one thinks back ten years to remember Flynn. Until DNA and a smashed skull prove he was murdered.

With few clues available to the forensic team, the grieving family begs Kate to investigate. His four closest friends plead ignorance. Neighbors and teachers remember the charismatic young man but offer no real help. Meanwhile, Kate is juggling her eccentric house call clients, a silly pot-bellied pig wedding and the sudden re-appearance of an old college boyfriend. Anthropologist Jeremy Engels, who returns like Indiana Jones from an African dig, is eager to rekindle their romance and offer his help. Together, they plan to crash Flynn's high school reunion, a re-creation of his senior prom, and interview his fellow students. Time isn't of the essence with a ten-year-old cold case. Right? Her Gramps is convinced the killer is long gone, just like the illegally captured brown bear she helped save, now roaming free in the woods. But Kate soon discovers that chains of love can be as strong as those made of steel - and some deadly secrets have put her next on the kill list. (Goodreads)

Review:

I have read the other two books in this series and I have loved them And I felt the same way about this book. The characters are likeable, Kate’s work as a veterinarian is fascinating and the mystery is top notch.

The characters are well developed, well rounded and three dimensional. Kate is a smart, strong, caring woman and she enjoys her job very much. The people that she works with are funny, nosy and friendly and they are not above getting into Kate’s business if they think it is necessary. They work together as a great team and I would not hesitate to take any of my animals to be checked out by them. Add in an interesting love interest and you have unforgettable characters.

The writing style flows smoothly and the book is an easy read. The author is very talented in her descriptive writing and through much of the book I felt like I was right there with Kate, going on house calls to take care of all of the animals. I really enjoyed this aspect of the book, reading about all of the conditions that Kate treated and all of the animals that she helped.

The mystery was was well plotted and there were plenty of suspects to consider and clues to sift through, even though the case is over ten years old. I was surprised when the culprit was revealed.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a well crafted cozy. And if you are an animal lover, then this becomes a must read book. I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed this book so you will have to read it for yourself to see what I mean.

I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for a honest review. I would like to thank NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the opportunity to read and review this great book.

When I requested to read Chained by Eileen Brady, I wasn't sure what to expect. From the moment I opened my digital ARC, I was instantly transported to the Hudson Valley, into the quaint town of Oak Falls.
Dr. Kate Turner is filling in at the vet practice and spends her days catering to much loved family pets, including a pair of pot bellied pigs which will leave you laughing out loud.

Living life in a small town has it ups and downs, and when a loved pet happens to bring back a bone, it sets the small town of Oak Falls back to a time no one wants to remember.

When the results prove that the bones belong to a local resident, everyone is shocked ans stunned, Flynn Keegan was thought to have left Oak Falls behind, never contacting anyone again.

Fans of cozy mysteries will enjoy this top notch story. Grab your copy on December 5th, when Chained is released.

I voluntarily read an ARC of this series provided by the publisher and NetGalley.

This is #3 of the Kate Turner, DVM mysteries, but could be read as a stand alone. Kate is fairly new to the Hudson Valley town of Oak Falls. When their home town golden boy disappears, everyone thinks he's made good on his vow to go to Hollywood. Unfortunately, one of her dog patients turns up a bone deemed to be human and it proves to be Flynn. His smashed skull proves murder--ten years ago.

His family want answers, but there is no real remaining evidence. In the meantime, the animal hospital, patients, and life must go on. Life for Kate includes old college boyfriend, anthropologist Jeremy Engels, returning to the U.S. after an African dig is stopped and it looks like he might want to rekindle a romance.

Kate has history of her own that includes her "Gramps" as major caregiver after her mother and brother are killed following a hit and run. She tends to turn to the ex-fireman for advice and turns to him again in her forensic investigation into the death of Flynn. She is working an established hospital for a vet friend with whom she exchanged his practice and over-the-garage apartment for the approximate year he is to be on traveling sabbatical. His practice includes a wide variety of animals and she is apparently used to throwing bag and tools in an old truck with her assistant, Mari, who runs duties from prep to GPS tracker. I really liked the character of Mari. And, for that matter, the character of Kate without a lot of back story still makes for a charismatic vet.

The opening chapter grabs the interest, only slowing somewhat in the middle for the swelling of the romance. I enjoyed riding in the back seat, figuratively speaking, and looking at her patients. Her discovery of the brown bear was definitely one of the more cringe worthy discoveries on her rounds.
Dialogue is believable and particularly natural between Kate and her office staff. Red herrings steer you in one or the other direction, keeping you guessing the culprit. The climax comes as expected, if not exactly who, and all loose ends wrap up very neatly.

I downloaded this digital ebook from Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley and appreciated the opportunity to read and review. Recommended cozy mystery (even if it does include romance) and animal stories. A slightly different bent to the plot and an enjoyable one.

When Kate visits a dog owner to examine a cut on the dog, the owner shows her an old bone the dog brought home with him. The tone changes when Kate tells her the bone is human...

Poisoned Pen Press and Net Galley allowed me to read this book for review (thank you). It will be published December 5th.

Kate visits several homes to take care of their animals and she picks up gossip on the way. When the body is identified as a high school student who disappeared ten years ago, his family asks her to look into it. She takes some photos, finds out who is in the pictures and then she goes looking for them so she can ask nosy questions. Her cop friend wants her to stop. Her "once" boyfriend comes home from a dig in Africa and helps her investigate.

Between the stories she hears (someone has to be lying), the lack of evidence, and two men interested in her, she's not sure where she's going.

This was a good read. I had no idea who the real villain was and Kate's savior that keeps her alive at the final confrontation was a surprise, too. Now if she'll just pick her man, she'll have it made.

A big thank you to NetGalley for the ARC. First time reading this author. I knew going in it was #3. It reads like a stand alone. I enjoyed the book but was hoping more about the bear and less about people. I admit I didn't foresee the ending. I will definitely read this author again. Let me hear your thoughts.

3 stars

This book is almost a cozy mystery. It is told with a touch of humor and moves along nicely. You can follow Dr. Kate on her way through her daily rounds and meet her various pet clients. She has an easy way with animals that I appreciate. I liked the book very much and will most likely look into others that Eileen Brady has written.

I want to thank NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for forwarding to me a copy of this fun little boo kto read and enjoy.