Penny Lively, winery owner, is busy not just with wine but trying to protect her cousin Annie. Annie is a vet and when Penny stops of at the vet clinic with her cousin and then founds her bending over the dead body of her partner with the murder weapon in hand, Penny knows she has to find someway of convincing others that Annie is not guilty even if that means figuring out who the real murderer is.

I love the cast of characters and how they relate with each other. I love the protectiveness of Penny but sometimes it is a bit much.

Plot was great and clues well disguised.

This is a great book with a wonderful story and well developed characters. The story flowed very well and was very enjoyable. This book will keep you reading long into the night and you will not want to put this book down until you finish. This was such a great read and full of surprises. I am looking forward to reading other books by this author.

Hair of the Dog is the third book in the Cypress Cove Mystery. Penny Lively owns the Joyeux Winery in Cypress Cove California, she is also an amateur sleuth. When Penny’s cousin and best friend Annie is found in a compromising position standing over a dead body, Penny knows her sleuthing skills are going to be needed more than ever. When Penny and Annie find another dead body, Penny becomes more determined than ever to find the killer before anyone else turns up dead. The most frightening thing for Penny and Annie is that someone they actually know is a murderer. Can they figure out who the murderer is before one of them or both of them become the target? An aside to the story is Penny’s underlying feelings for Conner, the manager of her Winery. Will Penny and Conner ever explore the feelings they both share?

Carlene O’Neil has added another great chapter to the story of Cypress Cove. You can’t help but care about the characters within the story. This cozy Mystery is well written and was a fun and fast read.

I truly enjoyed this story and highly recommend it. Looking forward to the next installment into the going ons in Cypress Cove.

This is the 3rd in the Cypress Cove series. Penny Lively works for her family’s winery and her best friend and cousin Annie works at the town Vet. She just had to fire an employee for missing medicine and then she finds her business partner Brian dead. Annie is the primary suspect and Penny goes to work to figure out who did this. This was a good mystery and very entertaining. Good supporting cast. I plan to go back and read the first two in the series. Definitely recommend.

Hair of the Dog is the third book in the Cypress Cove Mystery series. This is the first book that I have read in this series; however, it was easy to pick up and read as a stand-alone book. The story focuses on amateur sleuth Penny Lively, who is also the owner of a local winery. When one of the veterinarian's in Penny's cousin, Annie's, office is murdered, Penny goes out to attempt to discover the true killer and to clear her cousin's name. Hair of the Dog was a cute read, and a quick one, and I enjoyed it enough that I would read another in the series. There was an array of characters that Penny has to investigate, including the vet's receptionist, a former vet tech, a researcher and his assistant, an investor, and the deceased's wife. Thanks to Net Galley and Carlene O'Neil for an advanced copy of this book to review.

Penny Lively is outgoing, outspoken, and out of time if she is going to help her cousin veterinarian Annie who if found standing over her business partner holding the lethal weapon. Penny has plenty to keep her busy between the timing of the harvest and the not so perfect timing of the handsome vineyard manager. There's talk of missing money, missing drugs, a revolutionary rabies vaccine, and mayhem as the dead bodies become 2 and the suspects become more. Penny knows that there is no way her best friend and cousin could have possibly killed anyone. Some would say that Penny has the wit that bites like a crisp Chardonnay. She is no nonsense and gets right to the point which doesn't make many friends. Penny is the sort of friend you want on your side, going to almost any lengths to get to the bottom of the problem even though she knows her niece's boyfriend, the police chief has it well in hand, she still needs to do her part to get the answer.. I can't wait to read the next installment of the Cypress Cove Mystery Series as #3 was most excellent with a great cast of characters.

This is the first time that i have read any books in this series and hope to read the first books sooner or later. I am not usually fond of reading cozy mysteries, but something drew me to reading this book. Loved the characters and the twists. Certainly worth a read!

My thanks to Netgalley and the Publishers for my copy. This is my honest review.

First off I’d like to thank Netgalley, the author and of course the publisher, for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest review.
I do enjoy reading a good cozy in between some of the heavier reads or after a good psychological thriller, and this one hit the nail on the head for me! One thing I like about these books is there not hard to figure out…sometimes, other times I can change my mind several times, or I have been known to be completely wrong.

The book is set in a winery in California, Penny Lively is the main character and she is working to keep the family winery going. Drugs go missing from her cousin’s, Annie Moore veterinarian office, and Penny just has to get involved. Annie does have a business partner, Brian, and when he comes up dead, Annie is the top suspect, as the police finds more than enough reasons for motive on her part.

This story is fast paced, with wonderful descriptions, to where I see everything as though I’m standing right there. The characters are approachable including the ones you’re not supposed to like as well. The plot is good, it seemed as though the author really thought through this one with clues that lead you from one person to the next, making you think. This book, which is the third book in the series, was very enjoyable.

I adore this series ! I have read the entire series and highly recommend the first two in the series. This third installment can be read as a stand alone to any new readers to the series. The location of Carmel Valley is close to me and I recognize many landmarks in the authors exemplary descriptions of the area.
I enjoy the authors talent for describing the area and the beauty of the wineries.

Penny is our savvy sleuth/winery manager running the winery she inherited with her winery manager Conner. They have a mutual regard for each other which is slowly growing into a romance for further books. In the meantime they work together well and Penny is professional where her business is concerned. She manages to stumble across murders which she is compelled to help solve. She has proven to be a apt sleuth and this new murder is challenging for her skills.
The latest one she's found is the body of her cousin Annie's partner at their veterinary clinic. The suspects are piling up as are the clues she finds and when Penny discovers a second body, she knows the killer must be someone she is overlooking. She is asked by everyone close to her to not proceed but she does . . She is putting herself in danger and as always determined to find the suspects . I love how she is smart, savvy and a great protagonist . She manages to run a busy winery in between finding clues. The clues are many but I did not guess and I found myself engrossed in the book until the last page the sleuth was so well done.

I really enjoyed all of the supporting characters. Her writing has a sense of humor that is delightful. The author has a talent for developing characters, for describing the beauty of the location and building a outstanding sleuth full of twist and turns. I loved this next in series and am looking forward to the next. Thank you for the ARC which does not affect my personal opinion. Cross posted review. I highly recommend this series for all mystery fans and cozy mystery lovers.

Amateur sleuth Penny's cousin Annie is accused of killing her business partner Brian. Annie was found standing over Brians body so it doesn't look good. Soon there's another body and in between running her winery Penny is determined to find the real killer.

The town of Cypress Cove is an important part of the story and there are lots of interesting characters. A fun and easy read.

First her cousin has a problem with drugs being stolen from the veterinarians clinic and then she is caught holding a knife that killed her partner, Brian. She said she removed it by reflex trying to help him. It's a good thing she just arrived with her cousin so there wasn't time for her to do it. But try telling the cop that...

IBPA and Net Galley let me read this book for review (thank you). It has been published and you can get a copy now.

Brian had no enemies. The more evidence Penny gathers, the more confusing it gets it. Everyone has secrets. None are worth dying over. She has to find out why he died to save her cousin. Can she do it? Will she have any friends left after the investigation?

I enjoyed this cozy mystery; this the first book for me but in the series, it’s book 3. The characters are interesting and the storyline is entertaining. In the mystery, there are several twists and turns and no shortage of suspects. This was a quick read and everything is nicely wrapped up with a surprising ending. The Author Carlene O’Neil is great at her descriptions of the setting you can really picture what is taking place in the story. I recommend this book to other cozy fans. Although I feel I may have enjoyed it book a little bit more with the back story of the main character the book can be enjoyed as a stand-alone mystery. I have added the first two books to my TBR list.

*** I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in hopes that I would supply a review. All thoughts and opinions are my own and have in no way been influenced. ***

An awesome, compelling story. The characters are so real and the story is crazy good. I would definitely recommend this book to everyone. Enjoyed every minute from start to finish. Loved this book.

A good cozy mystery set in a small town with a coast and a winery. Interesting people, a couple of murders and several suspects. There is a crazy twist at the end. Third in a series, which may be running low on steam.

An appealing cozy mystery. Wine, pets, wide variety of interesting characters, and a cozy, California coastal town all add to the intrigue. Clever mystery and conclusion.

Penny's cousin Annie is found standing over the bloody body of her business partner Brian at their veterinarian clinic. Of course, Penny goes into detective mode to help Annie and discovers more mistrust and evil deeds than she bargained for. Drugs, murder, mayhem, and of course yummy wine make this a fabulous read. This is the third installment in the series and I went back and read the first two. They can be read out of order.

"Amateur sleuth Penny Lively is working her tail off trying to keep her family winery afloat. For the first time in her life she's too busy to go looking for trouble. But when drugs are stolen from town veterinarian Annie Moore, Penny is there to help. After all, Annie is her cousin and best friend."
I enjoyed reading this, my first book by this author. Set in central California, the main characters, Penny, Annie, Connor and Hayley were well developed and felt 'real'. I would certainly recommend this book to lovers of cozy mysteries and I look forward to reading more of the Cypress Cove series. A fast paced and fun to read mystery with a final twist that I didn't see coming.
Thank you to NetGalley and IBPA for the ARC

An enjoyable and fun to read cozy mystery. I liked the cast of characters even if I found the heroine a bit too blunt at times .
The plot is fun, no plot hole, and the ending was unexpected.
It would be better to read the previous instalment because it's quite hard to understand who's who at the beginning of the book.
On a general level a lot of fun and a good cozy.
Recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC

Hair of the Dog is the third book in a Cypress Cove Mystery series, and although I haven't yet read the first two books in this series, I didn't feel like I was missing anything with regards to the setting or the characters. The author was pretty good at laying out who the characters were without giving away too much information from previous novels and I had no trouble understanding who was who.

The main character, Penny Lively, is a hoot. I love her personality and found myself laughing out loud quite a few times at her irreverent thoughts about those around her - nothing ever really rude, just really funny, the kind of thing to which most of us as women would really relate. Sometimes her inner voice would be echoing my inner voice and I couldn't help but laugh. Despite all of that though, Penny is really quite nosy, but has this way about her that endears her to people and they open up to her even though they realize she can be quite abrupt and really shouldn't be asking the questions she does. There are definitely some people who can get away with that and some people who should never open their mouths in public, you know? I like how loyal she was to her friend, despite the fact that Annie was caught standing over a dead body with a knife in her hand, also discovering later about a huge insurance payout in Annie's name should anything happen to her partner. And being caught with said knife and body in front of the person whom you fired just hours ago definitely didn't look good. So, Penny definitely had her work cut out for her.

The twists and turns leading up to the big conclusion were quite lively and fun, even if it was easy to spot who the murderer was from the beginning; I only had trouble trying to figure out the motive as it was not what I initially thought even though it was there in front of me the whole time. I have to commend the author for that one as she did keep me guessing as to the motive. Although the book is a slow starter, it picks up rather quickly and moves along rather nicely. I didn't find it bogged down with too many suspects, and could keep track of their whereabouts and actions quite easily. What I truly enjoyed about the book though, is that it wasn't just about the mystery; there was a number of winery events thrown in with good food, good company, and fun, kind of showing you what a winery does although that grow grapes and create different kinds of wine. I also like how this book showed how the weather can really affect a winery as it was constantly raining and it showed the effects the water had on the grapes and vines. Even though I grew up close to wine country, I was never really involved in a winery, other than to go to tastings and weddings, so it was interesting to see the inner workings of one.

Hair of the Dog was a fun cozy mystery and I recommend it to anyone who has an interest in reading this genre. The characters were interesting, and there was even a touch of romance between Penny and Connor, Penny's estate manager, which I hope to see develop in future books. And even though I knew who did it early on, it didn't take away from the fun of the novel and I enjoyed following the twists and turns, and I definitely did not figure out the motive, did not even suspect what it was. Cypress Cove is a place I would definitely love to visit.

Hair of the Dog by Carlene O’Neil is the third installment in A Cypress Cove Mystery series. Penny Lively lives in Cypress Cove, California where she owns Joyeux Winery. Penny walks into the veterinarian clinic that her cousin, Annie Moore co-owns with Brian Grasser. She overhears Brian accusing vet tech, Nicole of stealing medication. Nicole is dismissed, and they hope they have seen the last of her. The next day, Annie and Penny arrive at the clinic at the same time as Nicole who is picking up her last check. Annie proceeds into the clinic ahead of Nicole and Penny. The pair find Annie holding a knife over Brian with blood pooling on the floor. There was no forced entry, the murder weapon belonged to Annie, and she had a $1 million-dollar motive (plus she was standing over Brian with the knife in her hand). A distraught Annie asks Penny to investigate and find the murderer. Penny knows Annie did not harm Brian and agrees to nose around. There are a couple of suspects who could have committed the crime (Nicole, Claire, Dot) and the people leasing space from Annie and Brian for their rabies vaccine research have been acting secretive. When a second person connected to Annie turns up dead, Penny knows she must work quickly before the killer strikes again.

Hair of the Dog can be read as a standalone. Penny’s background is provided for readers. The book is nicely written, but I found it to be a slow starter. It is just the right length for a cozy mystery (300 pages). The mystery has several components and the author provided good misdirection. There were just the right number of suspects and each had a good motive. Chief Lucas continually tells Penny to stay out of the investigation, but Penny is dogged (she is very nosy) in her pursuit of the killer (she cannot help herself). I did notice that he did not mind the information she provided him. It was interesting to find out more information about how a winery operates. The author provides beautiful descriptions of the vines, the buildings and the town. Penny is romantically interested in Connor, the manager of her winery. There was some flirting between them, but we will have to wait and see how their relationship develops. There are good characters in Hair of the Dog and the author has developed them as the series progresses. There are plenty of cozy moments with food, wine, chatting with friends, and the events that take place at Joyeux Winery. I am giving Hair of the Dog 3.5 out of 5 stars.