Cozy mysteries are my go to and I read this book in just a few hours! The story sucked me in and held my attention from beginning to end. This is the first book in a new series about Dr. Ally Winters and her vet clinic. Ally has recently moved back to her hometown and taken over for the retiring owner of a vet clinic and is struggling to get settled. The only thing bad about this book is that I have to wait for the next one to come out to see what happens!! This author’s hilarious storytelling reminds me of one of my favorite authors, Janet Evanovich. I can’t wait to read more about Ally and in the meantime, I’m going to read some of her other series!

I really enjoyed this debut. The characters are great, setting and mystery. Ally Winter is the main character that comes back home and buys a vet clinic. Ally’s Gramps fancies himself a sleuth and she has to keep an eye on him. A lawyer is murdered and the only witness is is dog Roxie. It was a cute mystery.
#DoggedbyDeath #NetGalley

small-business, small-town, Wisconsin, veterinarian, law-enforcement, murder, murder-investigation, amateur-sleuth, pets, family, situational-humor*****

Have to admit that I'm pleased to see more cozies set in the Upper Midwest (where I live). This fun thing is about a thirtyish veterinarian who was swindled by her fiance/business partner and has returned to the small town where she grew up and her grandfather is residing in a small assisted living home. He is addicted to crime stories in books and TV, so when she comes across the body of the man who hired her dog walking services he gets busy investigating. Much to the irritation of the local law who was known to her in high school. Lots of situational humor and beloved pets. Loved it!
I requested and received a free temporary ebook copy from Crooked Lane Books via NetGalley. Thank you!

Usually when I read a first in a new series, I'm overwhelmed by all the new characters, however, with Dogged by Death, I was hooked and read it page to page in one sitting. I could not put it down.
Ally Winter is a great character, I loved her ambition and tenacity, and her relationship with her grandfather is sweet.
The mystery was well written and I found myself rooting for Ally and her grandpa to solve the case.
I love Roxy, they are definitely meant to be together, and I see a lot fun things in their future. I'm excited to follow this series.

This was a cute enough start to a new series. The characters had a good foundation and good interaction throughout the book. This is a good little read on a cold afternoon while stuck inside. I will be interested to see how it progresses with the next book.

After her life in Madison blows up in her face, Ally returns to her hometown to run the local veterinary office. While she struggles to get her business off the ground she's met with many challenges, clients with no money, a local detective who remembers all too well her past embarrassments, and (of course) murder.

Ally's a great character. She's down but not out, struggling to make it but not feeling sorry for herself. I loved Gramps, he's a lively and energetic 78, held back only by a still-mending hip. Gramps's love for true crime shoehorns them right into the middle of the investigation, infuriating Noah (the detective who knew too much). And of course we can't forget Roxy, the boxer, who is also down but not out. She worms her way straight into Ally's heart (not to mention the reader's).

The storyline is very typical of a cozy mystery, filled with amateur investigations and the killer fighting back to try to keep themselves from being caught. The culprit was hiding in plain sight, but I wasn't able to figure out who it was. An ideal ending!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.

First in a new series.

After her ex-veterinary partner and fiancé embezzled money from their joint clinic and fled the country, Ally Winter is left with just enough money to buy a veterinary practice in he hometown of Willow Bluff after settling all the debt. To help make ends meet, she offers boarding and dog walking services along with her practice.
As she enters the garage for her dog walking appointment, there's a horrible smell. the As the boxer Roxy is released from the dog crate, she leads Ally to the dead body of her client, lawyer Marty Shawlin.
Her grandfather Oscar is questioned by the police due to the argument he had with the lawyer prior to the lawyer's death. Oscar is convinced that the lawyer was trying to swindle one of his housemates by having her rewrite her will and set up a trust.
Ally and Oscar start their own investigation of the lawyer's clients and who would have reason to kill hm.
Pleasant start to a new series.

Thanks to NetGalley for a copy.

I received this ARC via Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books, in return for an honest review. This is the first book in a new cozy mystery series, featuring Dr. Ally Winter, veterinarian. Returning to her hometown of Willow Bluff, Wisconsin, Ally looks forward to growing the veterinary practice she bought, as well as seeing her grandfather on a regular basis. Financially challenged after her cheating ex-fiancée and business partner absconded with their money and she paid all the debts, Ally’s looking forward to her new life in Willow Bluff as a new start all around. In addition to her veterinary services, she also offers pet grooming and pet walking.
While her grandfather delights in true crime books and tv shows, Ally just wants to grow her practice and out-grow her childhood nickname of ‘Hot Pants’, based on a fire ant incident in front of her classmates. Ally discovers a dead body when she goes to collect a dog for its first walk. From there, Ally’s grandfather is determined they can ‘help’ the police detective solve the crime. Since Detective Noah is one of Ally’s first high school crushes, she just wants to let him do his job, while trying to keep her grandfather out of trouble and not land in either Noah or the killer’s crosshairs.
This is a lovely cozy and a nice start to a new series. My one caveat, as other advance readers note, is that Ally spends way too much time dwelling on ‘eating too much’ when she shares meals with her grandfather and the three widows with whom he shares a group home. It’s a bad signal to send and, unless the author changes the character, so Ally focuses on the right balance of exercise and diet, I think it’s both unnecessary and does nothing to improve the storyline which is a shame.

Fun cozy mystery! Ally Winter returns to her hometown to keep an eye on her grandfather and start anew in the local animal vet practice. She has a rough start - no one wants to trust the young female vet and she is unwittingly pulled into a murder mystery of a local charlatan who is trying to jockey the senior citizens out of their money.

Ally's grandfather and his female caretakers are hilarious!

Dogged by Death follows the outline of a cozy mystery perfectly. It is the first in A Furry Friends Mystery series set in Willow Bluff, Wisconsin and features veterinarian, Ally Winter. There are formatting errors that need to be addressed, but the sorry itself is quite enjoyable. All of the characters are developed well and are likable. The mystery is solid and kept me reading. I was worried about Allie and the fate of her business.

I would have given it another star, but Ally does not seem to be able to let go of her phobia of food. She eats dinner with her grandfather in a boarding house and is fed delectable food. But all she thinks about is her figure. She is supposed to be a veterinarian which means she is very intelligent. Vet school is competitive and hard! But she worries about whether a schnitzel will make her have to buy new jeans. I think she could be a bit more secure in herself.

In the end, though, the question is, would I read the next book in the series? Well, I hate that I got an early review through NetGalley because that means I have to wait that much longer for the next one! I am definitely looking forward to seeing what Ally gets involved with next!

Definitely an enjoyable new cozy series, but the protagonist does annoy me a tad. She constantly does things she knows she’s not suppose to! But the characters were fun, the widows were a hoot, and the mystery was fun, but not overly taxing. Also a good length and realistic with the tribulations of being a new small business owner.

Dogged by Death is the debut of the A Furry Friends Mystery series set in Willow Bluff, Wisconsin and featuring veterinarian, Ally Winter. Having been duped, dumped and left in debt by her ex-fiance, Ally has moved back home to Willow Bluff to start her own veterinary practice and be closer to her grandfather, Oscar.

Oscar is living at the Legacy House with three widows - Harriet, Lydia and Tillie while he recovers from a broken hip and Ally visits the quartet daily. On arrival one afternoon, Ally is shocked to hear her grandfather arguing with a man, and is equally surprised when after threatening him the man goes running from the house.

Later that afternoon, the man appears at the vet clinic and introduces himself as Marty Shawlin, a recently divorced lawyer. Marty tells Ally that he needs to hire her to sit for his boxer, Roxy while he is working during the day. Ally doesn't really like the man but she desperately needs to start earning money to stay in business so she accepts the job. Unfortunately, the next day when she goes to let walk Roxy she discovers Marty bludgeoned to death in his kitchen.

Ally teams up with her grandfather (and Roxy) to track down a killer much to the dismay of Ally's high school classmate Noah Jorgensen, starring quarterback now the town's lead Detective. A fast paced plot with several twists and turns, likable characters and delightful animals. There are several things that become a little repetitive throughout the book, but I just learned to skim over those paragraphs and I hope the author eases up on the daily meals in future installments . I hope that there are more adventures for Ally, Oscar and Roxy on the horizon.

I received an advanced copy of Dogged by Death from NetGalley via Crooked Lane Books. While not required to write a review I am happy to offer my honest opinion.

Losing everything, trying to start over, gets you caught up in murder? In this debut, that is the premise. Full of fun characters, a solid plot, and a fully developed mystery, this is a series that you do not want to miss out on.

Ally Winter is a veterinarian who has recently returned to her hometown, Willow Bluff, after her business partner and fiancé leaves her for another woman, leaving Ally with all the financial responsibilities for their joint clinic. Ally is now trying to build up her clientele at the veterinary clinic of the small town. When she finds the murdered body of her new dog walking client, a lawyer specializing in estate law, her grandfather Oscar, a true crime buff, is eager to investigate. This puts both of them in conflict with police detective Noah, the former high school jock teenage Ally had a crush on.

This has all the hallmarks of a cozy mystery: a small town where everyone knows each other’s business, a pair of mis-matched amateur detectives, the police detective who must repeatedly warn them to stay out of danger and let him solve the case, even a hint of romance. Plus, because Ally is a vet, there are a lot of adorable pets, including boxer Roxy, the murdered man’s dog who helps with the investigation because she is the only witness to the crime. The action is well-balanced between Ally’s job and her investigation, and the clinic plays an integral part in the gathering of information. (There are few things more annoying than when an amateur detective spends all their time on the investigation, forgetting they have a day job. Here Ally is her own boss so she can control the opening hours of the clinic, so her absences are completely natural.)

The cast of characters is delightful, they all have charming quirks that help quickly distinguish them from each other. Amy’s grandfather Oscar is the standout: he can charm any lady in town, he is still deeply in love with his late wife, and he is obsessed with true crime. So when a real murder occurs, he is eager to try his hand at investigating. He is very good at leading interrogations, whereas Ally is terrible: when left to her own devices she simply blurts out questions to a suspect at the grocery store. Together, they are a great team, not to mention that their love for each other is palpable. The Willow Bluff Widows, the three older ladies who share a house with Oscar, are drawn in broad strokes for now, perhaps if there are more books they will be developed further.

The book is light, the crimes mostly bloodless, as is appropriate for a cozy mystery. There is still an aura of danger around Ally’s investigation that is credible, especially at the climax. The writing is simple and efficient, the pace is good and the wrap-up is satisfying. The motive of the murder is a bit light, though, and the mystery could have been more complex. The suspect pool may be narrowed down a bit too much, and overall we don’t get to know the suspects well enough for the reveal to have a real impact. Overall, it is an enjoyable if not memorable book.

I would have given it a 4/5 rating if it weren’t for the continuous low-key fat phobia expressed by Ally. Harriet, one of the Willow Bluff Widows, is a great cook and invites Ally to eat with them pretty much every day, and Ally keeps thinking about the rich, delicious food and what it is probably doing to her waistline. From what I understand Ally is nowhere near being fat. She keeps thinking about the tight waistband of her jeans as if it was impossible to just get larger clothes. In 2021, an amateur detective should be able to eat the burger she wants rather than a salad, in my opinion.