Loved it! A delightfully amusing read. Dogs, Italians, Southern sass, divorce, death, romance, scones, bimbo, and so much more. I am eager to read more of Lilly's adventures. Dixie and the dogs are sure to add to the fun.

In The Dog House
Dog Club Mystery, Book #1
V.M. Burns
5+ Stars

Synopsis:

Recently divorced Lilly Echosby finds a community of new friends at a Tennessee dog club, never guessing she’d be groomed to solve a murder close to home . . .

Sure, Lilly Echosby’s husband dumped her after thirty years of marriage, but there’s an upside, too. She’s recharging her CPA career, trading brutal Michigan winters for the sunny south, and best of all, she can finally get a puppy. Enrolling her new toy poodle, Agatha Christie, at the Eastern Tennessee Dog Club also comes with a new best friend: club trainer and southern belle, Scarlet “Dixie” Jefferson. Unfortunately, not everything in Lilly’s life is quite so cuddly. Her neighbor, Bradley Hurston, is a cantankerous, growling, poodle-hating blowhard. For Lilly, snapping back at him in public wasn’t exactly the best revenge. The next day Bradley is murdered in the community pool and Lilly becomes number one suspect. Now the fur is really going to fly . . .

On the scent to find the real culprit, Lilly and Dixie discover that Bradley’s bad-neighbor policy was blocks long. So is the list of suspects. But is aggressive behavior a motive to kill? Lilly and Dixie think there’s more to Bradley’s past. Something more sinister. And they have every reason to fear that Bradley won’t be the last in the community to be put down. (Goodreads)

Review:
This is the first book in the Dog Club Mystery series and I thought it was excellent. The characters were great, the mystery was well plotted and there was a lot of humor in this book.

The characters are well developed and well rounded. Lilly is a smart, strong caring woman who was betrayed by her husband in the worse way. She is a mom with two grown children with whom she is very close to. And she has an old friend named Dixie that she is excited to reconnect with. So when her husband is killed and she is the prime suspect, she has friends and family standing beside her. She knows she has to find the real killer before she is put away for life.

I really liked the fact that Lilly was an older protagonist with a family. I also liked the fact that she did not stumble upon a dead body like in so many of the cozies that I read. Another thing that I liked was the fact that Lilly did not have any type of love connection with the detective working on the case. I thought all of these things gave this cozy a unique perspective.

The writing style flows smoothly and defined the characters very clearly by their actions and words. It was a quick easy book to read and kept me swiping pages as fast as I could. Her descriptive writing pulled me into the story right from the start and took me on a wonderful journey. And there was plenty of humor that kept me laughing throughout the book.

The mystery was well plotted and fast paced. There were enough suspects to consider and clues to sift through and was not easy to solve, which is how I like my mysteries.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a well crafted cozy. This is the first book in this series and I cannot wait to read the next book. And I am going to have to check out this authors other series, she is very good at her craft.

I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book provided by the publisher, Kensington Books, and NetGalley, which I greatly appreciate.

A fun new cozy series! Lilly's remaking her life with the help of her friend Dixie and her new poodle Aggie. The last thing she expects is to be accused of the murder of her neighbor Bradley. Bradley was rotten to a lot of people, not just Lilly, as she finds out when she and Dixie start poking around. Burns writes good characters- good mature women who stand up for themselves= and this is no exception. Lilly's not taking any guff anymore. This has the added charm of some background info on the dog show world. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. I'm curious where this is going next.

Really a cute cozy that had me giggling out loud which was fine at home but people thought it was odd on the bus:)

This involves some of your normal cozy things, a cheating husband with a dancer named Bambi Love no less, and a divorce. It also has that handsome blue-eyed, necessary in a cozy type of cop for someone to fall in love with. He has a canine companion named Turbo that you’ll fall in love with. There are gorgeous poodles brought to visit by Lily’s best friend Dixie and a teensy mini rescue poodle for Lily to cuddle. What better to cuddle than a sweet little puppy when you have a cheating husband. While Lily might be smart about dogs, she is a pushover about husbands and agrees to give a birthday party for the cheater husband’s grandmother. The cheater tells his family Lily is a lesbian because he needs a reason to have Bambi at the party of course. This all leads up to exactly what you’re thinking. It’s the cheater that gets murdered. Seems like V.M. Burns sure picked the most deserving person for her murder. I mean you have to have a murder in a cozy, don’t you?

To be perfectly honest, if you are a fan of Berenson’s Melanie Travis series, I think the beginning of this book will seem as if that’s what you are reading. Lily’s best friend brings her standard-sized poodles and is full of talk about showing them at dog shows. However, as it turned out it was a very different storyline and Burns gives her characters their own unique personalities. In fact, Burns made her characters real, funny, and enjoyable. Even the bad guys or girls were entertaining.

This is Book 1 in a series titled “Dog Club Mystery”. It’s a great one and I’m anxious for Book 2.
However, Burns has two other series and they have great reviews as well. Check them out.

***This book was provided to me free of charge by NetGalley and all opinions are definitely my own.

Will post on Amazon & B&N as soon as they let me.

In The Dog House is the first book in the A Dog Club Mystery series.

I love this wonderful new series from V. M. Burns.

Lilly Anne has been married for twenty-five years and the marriage has provided two adult children, Stephanie and David. The story begins with Lily Anne shouting at her soon-to-be ex-husband, Albert: You Two-Timing Low Life Weasel. Words that she might wish she hadn’t said out loud. Well directed words at her soon-to-be ex had the nerve to bring his bimbo, Bambi Love to divorce settlement meeting.

The day after the disaster at lawyers office Lily Anne contacts her college friend, Scarlett “Dixie” Jefferson asking for help in finding a place to live in Chattanooga. Two days later she arrives in her RV, along with her two Standard Poodle show dogs and an equally adorable rescue miniature poodle. The next morning they are awakened by some serious barking of the dogs. They find Albert backed up to the door by the dogs. When things are settled down Albert has the gall to remind Lily that “they” are hosting his grandmother’s 95th birthday. The evening at the party Albert informs his family that they are divorcing because Lily is a lesbian. Needless to say, the party went downhill from there. The next morning the police arrive at Lily’s door to inform her that Albert has been murdered. As the polices investigation progresses Lily soon becomes a prime suspect.

With this news, Lily, Dixie, and Stephanie set out to find Albert’s name and clear Lily’s name. Albert had claimed that sales were down severely at his used car lot, but there seems to be a good selection of inventory. Plus, they need to find out where all the money that is in an off-shore bank came from.

The story is well-plotted and told story with an enjoyable cast of well-developed cast of believable characters. Also enjoyable was reading about the Standard Poodles and help they provided in tracking down the murderer.

I’m looking forward to the next book in this fabulous new series to see if Lily follows through with her move to Chattanooga.

Normally you would want to avoid being in the dog house, but in the case of this fun, laugh out loud mystery, you will definitely want to make an exception.

With its perfectly balanced blend of suspense, action and laugh out loud humor, In the Dog House makes for a fantastic read. It is easy to cheer for Lily and her slightly overwhelming friend Dixie (Not to mention fall in love with Aggie <Lily’s new toy poodle> and Chyna and Leia <Dixie’s standard poodles fresh from the show circuit>), as they search for who killed her soon to be ex- husband, Albert. The investigation quickly becomes a family affair, with her daughter, a defense attorney, and her son, an actor joining in. Lily even has the chance to do a little matchmaking when a certain blue eyed policeman agrees to help.

Albert’s antics are more than enough for any self respecting woman to WANT to kill him (cheating with bimbo, telling his family they were divorcing because Lily is a lesbian, still expecting Lily to hold a party for his grandmother’s birthday), but Lily certainly didn’t give in to temptation. That means Lily and the gang need to look at other aspects of Albert’s life.

I enjoyed the humor that permeated In the Dog House. It was the kind that arises naturally when people are thrown together in unusual situations. The dogs were a wonderful addition, and little Aggie in particular had quite the personality. It was a nice to see Lily, her children and Dixie working together. I also liked V M Burns’s portrayal of the police. Even though Lily was the main suspect, they treated her with compassion and respect. The police were professionals focused on discovering the truth, as opposed to stopping once they found a suspect. Put those aspects together, along with a well plotted mystery, you get a winner. In the Dog House is an excellent cozy mystery that will appeal to those who enjoy humorous cozies as well as animal lovers.

5 / 5

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

— Crittermom

This book took my by surprise. It starts with Lilly Anne staring at her soon-to-be ex-husband and his bimbo girlfriend. Not the way I expected a cozy to start. There is some angst as she faces the divorce and betrayal she feels. Wisdom from a stranger on the train guides her to seek what makes her happy and one item that does that is to re-establish her friendship with Dixie, a friend from college. Dixie (Scarlet Jefferson) arrives with her 2 standard poodles and a toy poodle she rescued. She is thrilled that Lilly Anne is thinking of moving to Chattanooga which is where she lives. Now comes the mystery--after Lilly organizes a a birthday party for her husband's grandmother he turns up dead and Lilly becomes the main suspect. With the help of her children, Dixie, and a cute policeman who has eyes for her daughter, Lilly sets out to discover who killed her husband. Very entertaining. I enjoyed the writing style and the characters are fun. I also loved the dogs!

Lily can’t catch a break. First her husband is divorcing her for a younger woman, then she’s charged with his murder, then suspected of another murder. The bright spot is her new dog Agatha Christie, Aggie for short. It’s up to her, her friend and her kids to find the true murderer.
Goodreads & Facebook

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I was not expecting to enjoy it as I felt the whole premise had been done to death (no pun intended).
However, I found the characters entertaining and the whodunit was top notch.
I would certainly read the next in the series.
I voluntarily reviewed an advance reader copy of the book.

In the Dog House is the first book in V.M. Burns’ A Dog Club Mystery series. The storyline is well plotted and the well-developed characters are affable. The story flows at a steady pace, with humorous moments, and an interesting mystery with enough twists and red herrings to keep the reader engaged and guessing. I’m looking forward to reading the next book in this series.

Lilly and Albert Echosby have been married for twenty-five years and have two adult children, Stephanie (a lawyer) and David (an actor), but Albert cheated on Lilly and they’re getting a divorce. After an unsettling meeting with her soon to be ex-husband and his young stripper girlfriend, Bambi Love, in their daughter’s Chicago law office, Lilly took the train back to their home in Lighthouse Dunes, Indiana. While on the train, she met Miss Florrie, who listened to her problems and gave her sage advice. Following Miss Florrie’s advice, Lilly decides to find her happy place and contacts her friend and college roommate, Scarlet “Dixie” Jefferson, who lives in Chattanooga, Tennessee. They reconnect, Lilly falls in love with a toy poodle rescue Dixie had with her along with her two champion standard poodles, and Lilly starts planning to move to Chattanooga. Lilly reluctantly agrees to host a birthday party for Albert’s grandmother, he brings Bambi, tells his family he’s divorcing Lilly because she’s a lesbian rather than tell them he broke his marriage vows, and they get into an argument. The next day, police officers show up at Lilly’s door to inform her that Albert is dead. Stephanie calls her grandmother and learns that Bambi said they surprised a burglar and Albert was shot. It doesn’t take long for the authorities to start taking a hard look at Lilly. The books at their car dealership look suspicious and Albert had a million dollars in an offshore bank. When the murder weapon shows up in one of the family cars, Lilly, Dixie, Stephanie, and David believe she’s being set up. Her attorney, Christopher Williams, arranges for her to turn herself in, but before she can, her wheelchair bound neighbor is murdered and the police place her under arrest.

I received an Advance Reader Copy of this book from NetGalley and voluntarily reviewed it.

Talk about a really good read THIS one! The plot was interesting, exciting, funny, smart and has dogs! Now I never knew much about poodles but I do know it's all about the training and what a trainer the Chattanooga friend in the motor home is- and a terrific shot. Strong characters who come through in a clinch enjoy!

A drastic life change and a new dog is just the beginning of this series! When the main character finds herself newly single, with her husband shacking up with someone new, Lilly finds herself with a brand new poodle to love instead of a cheating husband. But when she is suspect number one in a murder, she finds herself having to clear her own name with help. I loved this story, and I cannot wait to see what the author has in store next.

I love cozies, poodles, and strong, capable female characters, so I definitely loved this debut book! Protagonist, Lilly Anne’s hubby of 25 years is divorcing her, and their daughter, Stephanie, is her lawyer while Albert lawyers up with high-powered attorney, Charles Nelson. Let the fun begin! Lilly’s longtime friend, Dixie (Scarlett Johnson), arrives to visit with 3 poodles along. One is a black toy poodle, Aggie, who absolutely stole my heart and Lilly Anne’s, too! Now, these two girl friends are going to have fun together and the dogs are going to help them! Before you can say ‘woof!’, however, somebody offs Albert! The books at the car dealership they owned look suspicious. Lilly Anne can’t believe Albert was so stupid and left her such a mess to decipher.

Humor scenes galore kept me giggling throughout this entertaining storyline. The poor old man in the wheelchair—bless his heart—I loved his connection to Lilly Anne. I really liked Officer Joe and his K-9 dog, Turbo. Reading this new cozy mystery was a treat! I look forward to the next book in the Dog Club series.

I reviewed an arc provided by NetGalley and Kensington Lyrical. Thank you.

In the Dog House by V.M. Burns was a great beginning to a new series (I hope). I've enjoyed her Mystery Bookshop series; and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to read this new series.
Lilly Echosby and Dixie Jefferson are best friends and women who I would love to know in person. Ms. Burns' descriptive writing painted a clear picture for me of Lilly, her daughter and son, Dixie and Lilly's ex-husband and his family. As in her other series, Ms. Burns included dogs, 3 poodles who stole each scene when they appeared. The plot moved swiftly with twists and red herrings that kept me turning the pages to find out more. I confess that I did have an inkling of who the culprits might be before the reveal; but I was greatly surprised by how much more was involved than just murder. A well-crafted mystery that kept me totally intrigued until the last page. I want the next one in this series now!

I received an ARC of this book for my honest review.
I loved this book. I had a really great time reading this book. It had everything great characters, fast paced plot and lots of dogs. I laughed out loud and can't wait till the next adventure.

Awesome book. Very fast read and very entertaining. Loved the mystery, the dogs (of course!), the family dynamic. Really fun book! Excited to read more!

I loved this new cozy mystery filled with strong intelligent women, a great sense of family, a puzzling crime and lovable poodles. Lilly's husband of 25 years, Albert, has left her for Bambi, a woman younger than their children. During a divorce negotiation session Lilly tries to attack Bambi but on the train ride home she meets Miss Florrie who convinces her that she should put that in the past and move on with her life. That convinces Lilly to reconnect with her college friend Dixie, who comes to visit, bringing her poodles, one of whom soon adopts Lilly. And soon after, during a party at their house, Lilly tries to attack Albert (after he tells his family that the reason for their divorce is that Lilly has become a lesbian) by throwing items at his head. When Albert is shot to death that night, Lilly becomes the prime suspect and her family is convinced that she is being framed. Lilly then decides to investigate since the police are only focusing on her and looks into who would benefit from Albert's death - was it his finances and the hidden million dollars in an offshore account, his relationship with Bambi or something entirely different? I was hooked on this story from the very first page and hope to see more of Lilly in future books.