I know this is an older book just being released on audio, however I hadn’t read it. Sometimes cozy mysteries older than 10+ years do not hold up, but this one did.
I really liked the core characters and animals. The author even invoked anger out of me which is a good thing.
The protagonist needed to find herself and I feel many women can relate to having to start over as an adult.

I received this audiobook from NetGalley and Tanor Audio. Thank you.

It's a beautiful Saturday and Stan Connor (35 y/o) who has been laid off recently from her stressful PR-job at Warner Insurance moves from West Hartford (Connecticut) into a green Victorian house not too far away in the small town of Frog Ledge with her Maine Coon cat called Nutty.
She immediately feels home the moment she sets her foot into her new House… hers!
Only downside is Richard Ruse, her boyfriend of 4 years, still lives in the City.

Soon enough she befriends the older couple Char & Ray Mckey from Alpaca Haven, the Bed 'n Breakfast/Alpaca farm and their british friend Isabella (Izzy) Sweet from Sweets (her sweetshop) with her Boxer Baxter and Poodle Elvira.
They welcome Stan to the town with a yummy basket on Sunday while she's still trying to make herself cosy in her new Home.

And that's about as good as it gets for her before Stan finds herself in trouble.
By Monday Stan becomes the Prime Suspect in the Murder of the town's Vet, Carole Morganwick, who was on bad terms with almost everyone as soon as she met them.

Stan needs to find out who the real Killer is, so that she can clear her Name.
Oh, and she's got to bake more pet treats in this Story, that's for sure!

¦ ߹ ¦ · ¦ ߹ ¦ · ¦ ߹ ¦ · ¦ ߹ ¦ · ¦ ߹ ¦ · ¦ ߹ ¦ · ¦ ߹ ¦ · ¦ ߹ ¦

This was a cosy read (ok, AudioBook )and I liked, that pets were a big part of this small town Mystery.
After the past week's tense mystery/thriller and gory horror Books I read, this was a somewhat light intermezzo.

The characters and of course animals were well written by the Author, I like all the unique quirks they had… and the Narrator did a very nice voice performance. Not that robotic kind of monotone voice but the lively kind that grabs your attention.
(Even though I had to laugh, everytime the Narrator voiced a male and her voice went deeper. Too cute!)

Plotwise I was okay with everything as it was, it was easy to digest meal so to speak…only downside for me was how creepy the cheeriness of everyone in Town seemed.
I am always wary of overly bubbly people I have only meet once or a few times, so at first I was like… "Yeah, it's the whole town. They are all together in this murder and only Stan as the Newcomer has nothing to do with it! That's it!ONE!" But of course, that wasn't it.

A 4 Star Rating for this animal fun… oh, and it's out today!

𝑰 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒂 𝒄𝒐𝒔𝒚 𝒎𝒚𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅, 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒍 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒍𝒚. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒕!

I mostly enjoyed my time with this book. At times I found the main character to be a bit grating at times, but I really loved the supporting characters, nosy neighbors, and quirky business owners. The community was my favorite aspect of this book.

However, I found the pacing and cliche of pinning the crime on the town newcomer to be a bit of a drag. I'm not sure the next Pawsitively Organic Mystery book will be at the top of my list, but I found this entry to be pleasant and inoffensive and might still give it a go at some point.

A great start to a new series!

After losing her high-powered, high-stress job, "Stan" Connor bought a cute house in a small town to get away from it all. But little did she know, small towns ofter harbor big secrets... And soon, she's embroiled in the midst of a murder investigation, with herself as the prime suspect! (It's always the outsider who gets blamed first.) :-)

As she works to unravel the threads of information and misinformation, while keeping half the pet population of the town satiated with high-quality organic treats, she begins to find her calling and purpose, and it's much more exciting that her old boring profession. The question is, will she survive long enough to do anything about it!

I'm looking forward to reading more of this series!

Thank you to Liz Mugavero, Tantor Audio and NetGalley for an advance review copy.

A cute cozy mystery! I’m so excited to continue this series and huge thanks to NetGalley for introducing me to Liz Mugavero. How could I not love this book?!
Stan has a Maine Coon…I have a Maine Coon. Stan moved to a small town to start over…I moved to a small town to start over. Lucky for me though I haven’t been accused of murder within a week of moving into town.
Anyways. It’s the perfect rainy day read and I can’t wait to see where this series goes.

This book is narrated by Ann Marie Lee. I’m going to be disappointed if she doesn’t narrate the entire series because it was perfect. I definitely want to follow along to see what Stan does next in her cozy little town but since it was such a fun listen I’m hoping to listen to the rest.

Thank you to Liz Mugavero, Tantor Audio and Netgalley for an audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to Tantor Audio, NetGalley, Liz Mugavero and narrator Ann Marie Lee I really appreciated the opportunity to listen to the first book in a cozy series. Kneading to Die takes place in a little Connecticut town where “Stan” and her sweet cat have moved. She soon meets the very unlivable vet and when she unexpectedly finds her dead quickly becomes the prime suspect. Thankfully she has been making friends with her delightful homemade organic treats for dogs and cats and soon is winning a few loyal future customers 🥰. I adore this series already and am adding the rest of the books to my TBR immediately. I only wish I had her recipes for those treats so my sweet dog could enjoy them too. Love a great mystery that can combine excitement with fun, food and love for our fur-babies!! If you’re a pet lover and love a great mystery you will really enjoy Liz’s series of books.

new-series, first-in-series, cozy-mystery, culinary, pet-cat, contemporary, Connecticut, amateur-sleuth, veterinarian, small-town, small-business, unpleasant-victims, homeopathic, new-in-town, situational-humor, verbal-humor****

Interesting story full of pets and some very interesting human characters. The investigation is sometimes frantic and other times somewhat sluggish but always fun.
Voice actor Ann Marie Lee gave a good dramatic reading.
I requested and received a free temporary audiobook from Tantor Audio via NetGalley.
Pub Date 13 Feb 2024

Excellent narration! Thank you for not reading like a robot, having some expression in your reading, and adding emotion along the way. Makes it so much more enjoyable to listen to.

This is a cute, simple-ish mystery about a woman named who goes by Stan, her given name is Kristen, but I'm convinced she detests that name. She moves from the city to a small town that gives her a run for her money. She loves animals, bakes her cat, Nutty, her own food/treats, and enjoys the more homeopathic root to care.

Having lived in a small town, I can attest to the accuracy of how this book depicts a small town. Everyone knows everything about everyone's business, true or otherwise. I describe it this way:
"Everyone knows when you went to the bathroom, what you did in the bathroom, who you saw in the bathroom, and then make up what happened in the bathroom."

So, the author does a good job explaining and depicting this throughout the book. And it also shows how this complicates the murder investigation, Stan's life, and the lives of those around her as well.

The plot was pretty good, and pretty typical of a cozy mystery. I like cozy mysteries; they are nice and refreshing after psychological thrillers that make you hate humanity for a while. This fits nicely in that category.

The only reason this isn't a 5-star review is there are a couple holes along the way, it does feel slightly predictable, and you never really understand certain friendships/relationships that are in the book. I also felt like there could be a little more character development. But I would listen to the second book in the series.

I want to thank #Netgalley and #TantorAudio for an advanced audio copy of this book. All my opinions are my own, and I am glad I had the opportunity to listen to this.

I enjoyed meeting Stan and her cat. Enjoyed seeing her develop new relationships and finding her way in a new town. Look forward to reading more about the adventures Stan and her pets get into. Thank you for the advanced copy of this audiobook. The narrator did a wonderful job.

Kneading to Die was entertaining, and I really enjoyed this cozy mystery. I look forward to reading the next book in the series.

This was a fun and lighthearted mystery. Starts with Stan (Kristan) losing her job and moving to a small town. She happens upon a dead body at the vet's office and things start spiraling. I enjoyed it and look forward to exploring more books by Liz.

Thank you to RB Audio and Liz Mugavero for Kneading to Die!

This audiobook is of the title originally published in 2013. It’s an enjoyable cozy mystery with animal and baking themes but it may be bothersome to some readers that there are technology and music references that haven’t stood the test of time in 2024.
Set in small town Connecticut with lots of opportunity for other small town business like a coffee shop, natural animal clinic, local bar, etc for future installments in the series.

I listened to the audiobook and the narrator was a great match for the characters. This is the first of a new series and I thought it was off to an amazing start with a fun main character, interesting side characters and of course, pets! I loved the mystery aspect and even though I guessed the killer, it was interesting to break down the anatomy of his crime. I will definitely read the rest of this series and highly recommend it to other cozy lovers!

A classic cozy set up: beleaguered heroine finding a fresh start in a small town full of quirky characters. This first book reads almost like a prologue to the series though, as Stan (short for Kristan) settles into her new home and begins to think about what her future should look like...until she discovers a body and then things get complicated. :-)

Lots to enjoy about this novel -- a few things that I wasn't a fan of, so, here we go.

Loved: the organic pet food angle, which is in its infancy in this first book but will grow into something more substantial as the series progresses (I'm guessing, anyway, based on the series title.) Loved Stan's relationship with her very aloof Maine Coon cat and a couple of dogs who become a big part of her life. I enjoyed the set up for the mystery and Stan's awkward attempts to investigate on her own...but...okay, here's where we get into a few things that irked me as an avid cozy mystery reader.

The mystery wasn't solved so much as revealed and I was just as shocked as Stan because there really weren't any clues that led to the killer. And while I'm not a stellar armchair sleuth, I do enjoy trying to figure out the clues and identify red herrings as I read, so I felt like I missed out on some of that fun.

Also, we are introduced to a lot of characters in quick succession and didn't spend much time with them so it was hard to remember all the players. This might have been because I listened to the audio edition so I didn't have the benefit of seeing names in print and the ability to quickly flip back and forth through the pages to jog my memory.

Something that I really wasn't a fan of: that we were witnesses to Stan's train wreck of a relationship with her boyfriend. Usually cozies start up after the breakup, but that doesn't happen until well into the halfway mark which was frustrating. Especially since though Stan considers herself in a committed relationship, she develops a school girl type crush on a new guy she meets. Think lots of inward swoons and giddy awareness. I was a fan of the new guy, but I wished that Stan would do the honourable thing and just breakup with the boyfriend already! Just a pet peeve of mine when it comes to romance tropes, so others might enjoy that kind of tension. :-)

I listened to the audio edition narrated by Ann Marie Lee who did a great job conveying the high drama and intensity of some of these characters. She went beyond narrating into performing and captured character meltdown theatrics to perfection.

My thanks to the publisher, Rb Media and Netgalley for providing me with an audio edition of Kneading to Die.