The book promised to be a good story, at least, the main premise was very interesting, although the main character seemed very immature to me at times, which must have made me suspect that not everything was going to be rosy. Anyway...
Everything was going well until chapter 25, here it is shown not all nicknames are based on reality, because who, if they know kickboxing enough to be called Kickboxing Crusader, allows themselves to be cornered by a suspect in her own house and has to be rescued by her cat? Ridiculous!
Just when I was thinking of buying the other books in the series, I realized that this book falls into the read-and-erase category.
If you are interested in reading a good cozy mystery book, I recommend Eva Gates or Vicki Delany.

The mystery itself isn't bad, but the arrogance of the narrator and main character rubs me the wrong way. The literary agent not only picks locks like a master thief, but she also says, about the police officer, "Gabe had accepted my help, albeit grudgingly, and we'd accomplished the mission. He'd listened to me, but also took charge when the circumstances dictated." Gee, ya think? (It wasn't too much of a surprise to learn that the author is male writing from a female pov.)

This story had a slow start on the intrigue meter for me, although it had an interesting storyline. Allie once again finds herself mixup in a murder mystery. It seems like being a busybody was a good thing for Allie. She found herself once again involved in a murder mystery and having to dig deep in search of clues that would lead to the killer. Allie was a busybody, but she was no pushover. An entertaining, interesting, and intriguing read.

Allie had to go and help her brother who ran his truck in a ditch so he did not hit that safe in the middle of the road. When the safe is opened, a body slides out. This book was so clever. The clues were easy to follow. The story is engaging and draws you in. If I'm not careful I will be turning pages long after midnight to see how it ends. I definitely was not disappointed. This book is brilliant.

Fun, fast-paced cozy with mainly likeable characters. The heroine, Allie Cobb, runs a small literary agency that truly shows her competance. Unfortunately, her nosiness his well-known around town and she even has a nickname as The Kickboxing Crusader. Everyone assumes she is investigating to clear the name of her cat's favorite vet after a body is found in a locked gun safe. I am growing quite fond of this series.

Princess Fuzzypants here: I have enjoyed every single one of the books in this series, including this one. Allie is a great character, small but mighty. She is an empowered heroine who is confident in her own skills and abilities. She skates a bit close to the line of hubris this time and makes some “rookie” mistakes that could cost her dearly. But overall, with the crucial assistance from her cat, Ursula, she is able to catch the bad guy while avoiding serious injury.

This time the murder involves Ursi’s vet, rather than someone in her agency or the publishing field. When a l0cal businessman is discovered murdered in a most unusual manner the initial evidence seems to point towards Cammy. But Ursula convinces Allie that her vet is innocent. The more questions Allie asks, the more she realizes Ursula is right. Someone else went to a lot of trouble to kill the man and frame the vet.

The town now calls her The Kickboxing Crusader so everyone expects her to investigate from the chief of police, her former brother-in-law, to her boyfriend and family. The local constabulary would prefer to solve crimes themselves but they also are not foolish enough to ignore Alllie’s power of deduction. It provides an interesting twist to the stories. These books can be read as a standalone or you can start with the back catalogue and read them in order. Four purrs and two paws up.

The Dead of Winter by J.C. Kenney is the 5th book in the Allie Cobb Mystery series. I have read the entire series and highly recommend this series for your reading enjoyment. Thank you to both the publisher and to Net Galley. My review opinion is my own.

Allie Cobb is now the manager of the family' literary agency . She is enjoying being her own boss and kick boxes for fun and exercise. I have never read a cozy where the protagonist is a kick boxer and its a fun aspect of this series.
Allie's Brother ask for her help after he has a car accident. She arrives on scene to find a safe in the street with a dead body inside. Ally is immediately intrigued and is on the case. The sleuth was multi layered and kept me reading into the night. Ally is a savvy smart sleuth who has a talent for solving crimes.

I highly recommend this cozy mystery book and the series.

4.5 Stars

This is the fifth book in the Allie Cobb mystery series by JC Kenney.

This story has quite an interesting premise. A guy runs his car off the road after swerving to miss hitting a safe in the middle of the road. His sister comes to his aid after the accident and they discover a dead body inside the large safe. And so begins this interesting and quite compelling mystery. I enjoyed the plotting and the whodunit aspect a lot.

A local vet is discovered to have a missing bottle of the exact poison that killed the victim and Allie is prompted to investigate. She does in fact do a lot of the leg-work that I believe the police should have been doing. Not sure why they weren’t. There was an odd comment about how shorthanded the police staff was. We’ll just let the civilians find all the clues. It’s fine.

I enjoyed the character interaction the most and it prompted me to want to read other books in this series. I think I have read one other and I enjoyed that one as well. Totally worth marathoning the entire series, I think. I am definitely going to put that on my to-do list right away!

Great series to follow. Definitely going to dig into it more! So much fun to read!

If you love a cozy mystery, definitely check this one out. Great new must read book great series too!

I received this as an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) in return for an honest review. I thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read this title. Opinions are completely my own.

Fun entertaining mystery! The main character is a little on the quirky side, An enjoyable read. I’m giving this one ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I had never read an Allie Cobb mystery before, but I quickly became a fan after reading this one. It fits the definition of a cozy mystery: an amateur sleuths who solves a murder amid a small town atmosphere. The book was enjoyable to read, had personable characters and a good plot. I highly recommend this book to other cozy mystery readers. I look forward to reading other Allie Cobb mysteries.

⭐⭐⭐⭐ -- Enjoyable cozy mystery!

This turned out to be quite an enjoyable read! It held up well as a standalone. It was well written. The story moved along at a good pace. The plot was intriguing and had some good red herrings to keep the reader guessing. However, I do have one niggle with the plot. There is basically ZERO on page sleuthing by the police. 🤷🏻‍♀️ The entire book is basically just Allie doing her thing. And honestly, doing basic things the police should have been doing themselves! I think the story could have benefited from more interaction with the police since it left me feeling like why does this town even have a police force when Allie does it all. 😂 Apart from that, the characters were all likable, and the ending was satisfactory. I am definitely onboard for the next book in the series! 👍🏻👍🏻

**ARC Via NetGalley**

This was a very well written book. The plot was very enticing and I couldn't put the book down. This was a new to me author and I will definitely try another book by this author.

Allie Cobb is an intrepid investigator with plenty of solved cases under her belt, but it’s not her job. She’s not a PI or police detective. She’s the owner of a literary agency, Cobb Literary Agency. A business that was originally started by her father. She loves her job, but she also loves being the Kickboxing Crusader. A title given to her earlier in the series, because of her love of kickboxing and her skill at solving murders in her town.
This time around it’s gun club president Newt Arbogast. Mr. Arbogast was found in a gun safe that was left in the middle of the road one night and Allie’s brother had to swerve to miss it, causing him to crash his truck and call Allie to pick him up. At that time, no one knew there was a body in the gun safe but while the Cobb’s were at the police station, they were invited to the back to watch the officers open it. They were definitely in for a shock when Mr. Arbogast’s body falls out.
Putting on her deerskin hat, Allie starts her investigation, alongside the town’s police department, and boy is there a lot of suspects, from the wife to the neighbors, to the vet, to the gun club’s secretary. With so many suspects, there’s a lot of snooping, and Allie’s on the case. When she finds evidence that the police missed, she doesn’t turn it over to the police right away and puts her life in danger. Will she be able to get the evidence to the police in time for them to make an arrest, or will the killer make sure that she is victim number two?
This was the first book I’ve read by this author, and I absolutely loved it!! From the writing to the characters to the overall plot, it was just a great read. I definitely recommend to anyone who loves cozy mysteries.
**I received an ARC of this story from the publisher and NetGalley and this is my honest and voluntary review.

The Dead of Winter by J.C. Kenney is the 5th book in the Allie Cobb Mystery series, and another great addition. Allie Cobb is now running the family's literary agency that her father started. Allie gets a phone call from her brother to pick his up after he was in an accident. He ran off the road to avoid hitting a large safe in the middle of the road. Inside the safe was a dead body. When Ally's friend becomes the main suspect, Ally is on the case. I really enjoyed this book, and read it in one day. So many twists and turns. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series. I highly recommend this cozy mystery book and the whole series.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Allie Cobb is a literary agent running her family's agency in Rushing Creek, Southern Indiana, started by her father. Despite vowing that she will no longer get involved in murder investigations, she agrees to help when her brother, Luke calls to say he's been in a spot of bother; his truck is in a ditch after he swerved to avoid an object on the road. When Allie arrives she finds that the object is the size of a refrigerator but it's actually a very big gun safe... and it contains human remains.

My second read in this delightful series, The Dead of Winter was fascinating and intriguing. The author has created a great mystery that showcases small-town life in the fictional town of Rushing Creek. I enjoyed being in the pockets of Allie, attempting to solve the crime alongside her. Of course, Allie's cat Ursula deserves a mention, too. This fifth book in the Allie Cobb Mystery series is fabulous, fast-paced, and fun. I definitely relished this stay in Rushing Creek and I'll be reading the other books as well as the next book in this compelling series. Here's hoping I enjoy them as much as The Dead of Winter.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel at my request from Beyond the Page Publishing via NetGalley, and this review is my own unbiased opinion.

Amateur sleuth Allie Cobb gets a call from her brother that he has been in an accident and needs her help. Concern turns to confusion when she realizes he ran his truck into a ditch to avoid hitting a safe in the middle of the road that happens to have the local club president inside.

This book was well written and easy to read with engaging twists and turns. Even though I thought I knew who did it early on I enjoyed following the clues and the journey to find out why. I especially enjoyed getting to know Allie and her quirky cat.

This was a nice entry into reading this series (my first Allie Cobb Mystery) and had no problems following along as it can be read as a standalone book. I will definitely be picking up another book in the series soon!

I want to thank NetGalley, J.C. Kenney and Beyond the Page Publishing for the e-ARC of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are honest, my own and left voluntarily.

I have enjoyed the previous Allie Cobb books. This one seems to have been dialed in. Allie seemed to act in foolish ways and be a bit harder to relate to. There were several storyline errors. For instance, Allie takes a pie to the widow and states that it is a key lime pie. then when she is eating the pie with the widow, she talks about the apples and cinnamon of the pie. The author does not seem to keep track of details. This can be irritating.

A Bizarre Series Of Events…
The latest entry in the Allie Cobb Mystery series finds Allie deeply concerned for her brother who has encountered some sort of accident. On rushing to assist him Allie uncovers a bizarre scene and so unfolds an even more bizarre series of events. With a fun plot populated with a colourful cast of characters, this is an enjoyable read and a worthy addition to the series.

A big thank you to NetGalley and Beyond the Page Publishing for the ARC. I am voluntarily reviewing this book. This is book 5 in a series, I have not read the others, they are independent, so this reads well as stand alone. I liked Allie, but there comes a point when you need to stop chasing suspects and leave things up to law enforcement. I didn't understand why she put herself into danger like that. I found the mystery interesting. Never heard of a body being found in a safe before. Overall this was just okay for me, 3 stars.

This is the 5th installment in the Allie Cobb Mystery series. Allie gets a call from her brother Luke as he needs her to come and pick him up as he was in an accident with his truck. When she arrives she finds out he hit a safe that was in the middle of the road. His truck is in the ditch and he has a mild concussion. Allie stays with him and when they go in for their statements to the police the next day they are there when the police open the safe and discover the body of a local business man who is dead. Allie by trade is a literary agent but is jokingly referred to as the kickboxer crusader which was a name given to her by her best friend and sister-in-law Sloane. Allie is not initially planning on getting involved in this case until she is at Ursi’s (her pet cat) Vet appointment and Mark (ex-brother in law and Chief of Police) come in with a search warrant for the vet Dr. Cammy Flannagan who has had run in’s with the victim (Newt) who is a gun club president and taxidermist. Allie meet Newt a couple of times and always thought he was a nice guy but as she begins to do some investigation she learns there are some who had issues with the man. This was a good mystery and I do understand why the vet was a suspect because of access to the drug but I never understood how they thought she moved the safe with a body in it to the middle of the road. Who could move a gun safe so large that it could hold a person standing up. The mystery was good and I did enjoy that Allie did not seem to take too many chances although I would think some of her evidence would never be admissible in court. I like Allie and her loyalty to those who she thinks are friends but it seems like no one else was investigating and everyone in town is expecting her to investigate. Would think that would be a bigger issue for the police.