This was a great start to a new cozy mystery series! I really enjoyed the setting, characters, mystery and of course all of the cats. It included the right amount of humor to keep it entertaining. The cover is super cute and eye catching too.

I've been a yogi for several years now so I'm always excited to find books that incorporate it into the storyline. I loved watching Ash begin to teach classes at her new yoga studio, A Purrfect Pose. It was a great way to meet a variety of characters. She has partnered with the local animal shelter to keep cats at the studio who attend the classes and are then available for adoption. The rest of the settings were really enjoyable. I liked the scenes in and around the local college, the nearby hangouts and at Ash's apartment complex.

There were quite a few characters to keep straight throughout this book, but they each had their own unique quirks and personalities so it didn't seem too overwhelming. I really liked the interactions Ash had with her siblings, even when one of them was being nefarious. My favorite characters were the older neighbors that were nosy and oh so sweet. They made up for the awful actions of Ash's parents. The way they talked to their adult children was rather grating, but I understand why it was included. There is a bit of light romance too.

The mystery was captivating from start to finish. It kept me guessing and quite frankly had me accusing every single character once new red herrings and clues were revealed. I slowly started piecing together the story, but didn't completely solve it until just before the protagonist.

I would love to continue this series and will be on the lookout for a sequel. There are several storylines I'm already invested in and I'm curious to find out more about the new neighbor!

A delightful and engaging cozy mystery and a great start to a new series. I loved the charming blend of humor, suspense, and heartwarming moments. The setting of the yoga studio and the adorable cats creates a cozy and inviting atmosphere.
Many thanks to Kensington and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

A great start to a new series! Wonderful characters in an incredible setting. This book will keep you guessing until the end.

Princess Fuzzypants here: Ashley has just opened her yoga cum kitty business in spite of the machinations of her mother who wants her to join the family business. Speaking of family, Ashley has a classic dysfunctional one including the screw-up brother who seems deeply entrenched in the murder of one of her customers. The fact that the body had been placed in her business posed in a yoga position pulls her deeper and deeper into the search for the killer. And her brother’s actions after the fact just make things worse.

It is a good thing she has lots of kitty love and purrs to keep her sane and focused. Between people breaking into both her business and her apartment- sometimes with keys- and having to shut down her business during the investigation, she is frantic to figure out who did the deed and, if possible, exonerate her brother. When she finally puts it together she is the only one who can come to his rescue.

It is an interesting combination of cats and yoga. The kitties really add charm to the story especially Luna who steals Ashley’s heart. Four purrs and two paws up.

A Pose Before Dying
A Cat Yoga Mystery, Book #1
Alex Erickson
5 Stars

Synopsis:

Fledgling entrepreneur Ashley Branson is thrilled to open her dream business—a cat yoga studio. But helping clients find balance and felines find homes soon becomes one unhealthy exercise in murder . . .
Ashley Branson has a lot to prove with her new cat yoga studio, A Purrfect Pose. It's a place for humans to find inner wellness—and adopt adorable cats from the local shelter. It’s also a chance for Ash to run her own life, out from under her overbearing mother and a stifling relationship. So far, so successful. Until she discovers one of her new clients, a much-disliked college professor, dead in her studio, locked in child’s pose . . .
To make matters worse, Ash’s hapless always-in-trouble brother, Hunter, instantly becomes the cops’ prime suspect. Determined to clear his name and save her business, Ash does a deep lunge into the surprising—and strange—connections the victim had with her other clients. But countless suspects, contradictory leads, not to mention people desperate to see her studio shut down, mean Ash will have to stretch to the max to outthink a clever killer who’s ready to strike her red in tooth and claw . . .
Review:

The characters are well rounded and well developed. Ash has started a new business, a cat yoga studio called a Purrfect Pose. Although she has only been open for a short time it looks like her new business is off to a successful start. But then she finds one of her yoga students dead in her yoga studio. She decides she will have to figure out who the killer is in order to save her business.

The author is very talented in his descriptive writing and these descriptions pulled me into the story from the very beginning. The writing style flows smoothly and it defines the characters very clearly by their actions and words. The mystery is well plotted and is not easily solved.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a well crafted cozy mystery. This is a really good start to the series and I cannot wait to read more.

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

In the first and hopefully not the last of a new series, author Alex Erickson ( The Bookstore Cafe Mystery Series ) has done it again combining cats and yoga .

In A Pose Before Dying, Ashley Branson decides to open her own yoga studio called A Purrfect. Pose that helps people find inner peace and felines find their forever homes. All is going well until one of Ashley,s cilents is found doing the dead man’s pose a little too long . Now with her studio on the line and her brother accused of the murder Ashley sets out to solve the murder.

This is a great start to a new series. The characters are fun , the cats are fun to read about and there are traces of humor. I look forward to more in the series.

This book is ok. It really didn’t hook me. I found most of the book to be slow. I did enjoy the end. #APoseBeforeDyong #NetGalley

This was good until it was not [and devolved into only what can be called written chaos - was it a mystery? A romance? A treatise on dysfunctional families one should leave because they are all toxic? WHO the heck knows!!], and the extremely rushed [and ridiculous] reveal sealed the deal for me - this was just not my cup of tea and I will not be reading any more [even the {not-enough-mentions} cats could not save this one for me] of this series. I am very disappointed.

Thank you to NetGalley, Alex Erickson, and Kensington Books for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for this arc!
I’m a huge fan of cozy mysteries, and cats so naturally this was right up my alley!
Loved it!

This is the first book in the new cozy mystery series A Cat Yoga Mystery. In this book we meet the main character Ashley Branson and her reason for starting a cat yoga business, A Purrfect Pose. As in a lot of cozies, someone is murdered in the new business. The police chief closes the doors to the yoga studio and makes it difficult for the kitties to get fed. Throw in Ashley's brother who is on the run and you have yourself a murder mystery.
This was a fun first book. I will definitely read the second book when it's released. I liked the characters and love the kitty yoga studio.

I really like the concept of this mystery--a cozy cat yoga studio, a sleuth who is trying to make her own way, and a murder investigation that throws the sleuth for a loop--but I felt the execution of the mystery was very much lacking. It felt like there was so much going on in Ash's personal life that the investigation was very much on the backburner as the sleuth tried to figure out her relationship with her mother, father, best friend, the new guy she met, her ex, her ex's girlfriend, and her brother. And a lot of the relationship complications were resolved in a manner that felt like Ash wasn't actually working through her emotions regarding the relationship, but just stuffing everything away and deciding not to care any more, which made me have a hard time relate to her because she wasn't actually working through anything. For the actual mystery, it felt like Ash--and me, as a result--was being dragged through the investigation without actually investigating and there were a few leaps in logic that were . . . well, big leaps. By the 50% mark, I found myself skimming through the rest of the book because I just didn't care about the characters and the mystery anymore.

Dollycas's Thoughts

Ashley Branson is striking out on her own, opening A Purrfect Pose, a cat yoga studio, much to her mother's ire.  Ash was supposed to fall in line and work at the family business like her sister but she believes her dream business of helping her yoga clients find a balance in their wellness using cats from the local shelter who are ready to be adopted will be a huge success.

Then she finds one of her new clients, a very unpopular college professor, has been murdered in her studio, left in a child's pose. To make matters worse her brother Hunter is at the top of police's suspect list. He does always seem to find trouble but he is not a murderer. Knowing the police think they have their man and anxious to get her studio reopened, Ash decides to do a little sleuthing of her own. She is astonished by the connections between the dead man and her new clients but other clues are not lining up. Can she catch the killer before he catches her or will she be found in a lifeless corpse pose by the cats in her studio?

_____

I have recently read An Escape Goat by Janna Rollins where the protagonist has a goat yoga business and I am a huge fan of Heather Day Gilbert's Barks & Beans Cafe Cozy Mystery series where you can enjoy the company of shelter dogs and adopt them if they wish. As soon as I started reading A Pose Before Dying both popped into my head. In Alex Erickson's new series, we have the adoptable cats partnering with the humans doing yoga, climbing all over, and being cute and cuddly as the people trying to find their inner peace. It is a fun theme for a cozy mystery series.

Mr. Erickson introduces us to some interesting characters. Ashley Branson is young and wants to follow her dream instead of her mother's dream for her. She is a bit scatterbrained but has the training and drive to open her cat yoga studio. Her mother, Cecilia Branson is a strong-willed woman with plans for all her children but only Ashley's older sister Alexi has gone into the family business. Ashley's brother Hunter hasn't had an easy time since his parents split up and tends to do things his own way, which has led to some run-ins with the law for petty crimes. His sisters try to help him when they can, but their mother, not so much. Ashley's relationship with her dad is complicated, but he is the "sane" parent and not pushy at all. Ashley does have some good friends in Sierra and Kiersten and her neighbors, Pavan and Edna. She has a unique friendship with her ex-boyfriend from high school and it doesn't make his new girlfriend happy.

We also meet Mr. Leslie, the dog groomer in the shop next to Ash's cat yoga studio. He wants her out of business and out of the building yesterday. I was not a fan of Police Chief Higgins, but he may not be too bad with a little attitude adjustment.   Ashley's eclectic group of clients, a woman who wants to get into shape for her husband, some college students, Walker Hawk who seems to make Ashley flustered when he is around, the victim, Professor Jonas Valentine, and his professor wife, Fay, along with several others fill the class. All the characters develop in the story but because it is a large cast we have only learned basic details. There is plenty of room for growth as the series continues.

Oh, there are cats, a lot of cats. Their cuteness and antics were so much fun. Ash quickly adopts one, and others are adopted too. With the overpopulation of frisky felines, I am sure the shelter will be able to provide Ashley with as many as she needs and the cat yoga studio will help them all find their furever homes.

Ash is a new amateur sleuth so her investigation was a bit all over the place. With several suspects, she had her hands full. She put a lot of effort into finding her brother and chance observations led her astray more than once. She did have her sister Alexi along as a sidekick sometimes which was good because she is married to Officer Olivia Chase's brother. This gave them a way to work around the grouchy Police Chief Higgins. Like Ashley, I had pared down the list of suspects to one, but I had the right one and Ash did not. That set up an unusual showdown. The killer was apprehended at the end but I was left with a few questions which hopefully will be cleared up in the next book.

A Pose Before Dying has given the Cat Yoga Mystery Series series a good start. There are characters I want to get to know better, some I would like to disappear, and a couple I know need to be there but hopefully will become not so disagreeable and spiteful. There are good bones here and I am confident this will be another long-running series for this author. I am rounding my rating up from 3.5 to 4 star-fish.

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.

Ashley Branson is excited to open her new yoga studio. It’s not your typical yoga studio since it also is a place to adopt cats. Each client can do their yoga exercise with a cat by their side and, possibly, even take the cat home. It takes quite a bit of work to get a new business started, but Ashley is determined. Until…tragedy strikes.

She finds one of her clients posed in a yoga position in her studio. He is very much dead. The police immediately close down her studio until the case is solved. The police have their sights set on Ashley’s brother as the guilty party. Although her brother is always in some kind of trouble, he’s not a killer. She intends to prove it. Time is of the essence to save her brother as well as save her business.

A yoga studio with cats? I’m there for it. I’m not a yoga person, but I am a cat person, and I was immediately drawn into this one. I’ve seen books with cats at cafes or libraries but not a yoga studio filled with them. That’s a unique take.

I loved Ashley right away. The rest of the cast still needs to be developed a bit more, but there’s so much potential for a fun group of supporting characters. Ashley’s family, alone, are quite interesting and I want to know more about them.

The story moved along at a fast pace. I was surprised at who the killer turned out to be and I do like a book that surprises me. I was captivated right from the start. I enjoyed going along with Ashley to figure out “whodunit”.

I’m anxiously awaiting book two in the series. I can’t wait to see what mischief Ashley gets into next.






FTC Disclosure: I voluntarily reviewed a free Advance Reader Copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Brought to you by OBS Reviewer Jeanie

What a delightful opening to this series! Ash opened her yoga studio, A Purrfect Pose, in her hometown of Cardinal Lake, Ohio. The studio concept is a win-win for both yoga and cat lovers. Ashley coordinates with the nearby animal shelter to borrow several cats. Her yoga classes include cats and kittens that are available for adoption. From their antics, the author clearly has spent extensive happy years around cats! This cozy mystery includes humor, drama, and an eclectic cast of characters.

Each person has been well defined, and I look forward to learning more about them in the future. The personalities are beautifully revealed through their realistic conversations and actions. Ashley, her best friend Sierra, and yoga student Lulu, are my favorites. Ash is more mature than her years, thus appealing to a wide audience. I’m not fond of grumpy Mr. Leslie, the dog groomer next door, and it will take a while for Ash’s mother, Cecelia, to grow on me. She actually wanted her daughter to fail quickly and return to work in the family business!

Within days, Ashley’s classes were almost at capacity. The only people who seemed to dislike her were Mr. Leslie, Zaria, and Ginnie. Mr. Leslie claimed the cats yowled and upset his little dog, so he was determined to close down her shop. Zaria, an animal activist, wanted the cats set free. Ginnie was currently dating Ash’s long-term ex-boyfriend, Drew. Ginnie had been jealous of her all through school and as soon as Ashley broke up with Drew, Ginnie swooped in to grab him.

A young man Ashley met when she was out with friends came to a class and seemed interested in her. By the time she closed for the day, they had a date for the following evening. That evening, Ash received an alert from her security system that a door was ajar.

She hurried to the studio to see someone outside the front entry, wearing a hoody, with a build and stance like her brother, Hunter, who used to get in trouble with the law. When she called to the person, they ran away. The front door was secure, but the door to the alley was not quite shut. Someone had let the kittens out of their enormous playroom, but thankfully, none had escaped the building. In the front room of the studio, however, was one of Ash’s students. Professor Jonas Valentine, in a yoga pose, was dead, a knife handle protruding from his back.

Police Chief Higgins was certain her brother was somehow involved with the murder, and wanted Hunter to go to the station as soon as she found him. Jonas and his wife, Fay, also a professor, had just been to her class that morning. Chief Higgins shut down the studio for the foreseeable future, even after they collected evidence, and insisted on seeing her brother. She knew Hunter couldn’t kill anyone, but it sounded as if she wouldn’t be allowed to reopen until Hunter was found.

Ash and her sister, Alexi, went to Hunter’s hangouts, trying to find him. In her store room, Ash found potentially incriminating evidence against Hunter the police had missed. If she didn’t want to lose her new business, she would have to find the killer herself.

I really liked this cozy mystery! It kept my attention from the grand opening to the end. Most characters were very relatable and engaging, and I had to remember that sometimes the bad guy is the most personable. It was interesting to watch Ash working to solve the murder. She had good instincts but her questioning style needed a bit of work. The bad guy was one of my pet suspects, and no loose ends remained. I highly recommend this very well-written cozy mystery!

What a fun new idea for a series! I’d definitely prefer cats in the yoga studio over goats which I’ve read about in other cozies. I enjoyed meeting these new characters and by the end I felt like I was definitely getting acquainted and even had some favorites by then.

Edna and Pavan were apartment neighbors to Ash and made me chuckle at how they were always encouraging Ash’s currently non-existent love life. But Ash loved her yoga studio job a lot along owning a business, so maybe it’s best for her to think about growing her new business. It’d be much easier without a pesky murder she was insanely curious to solve not to mention clear her brother’s name.

There was a character I suspected for most of the book because of some well-placed early clues, but I still enjoyed the rabbit hole experience of considering various suspects/motives. The showdown was pretty cool letting Ash use some of her yoga abilities for defense/protect moves. Actually her loyalty to her siblings was overall awesome anyway, so of course she’d defend one of said siblings. After finding out something at the end of this book, I absolutely can’t wait for the next one. And thinking about what’s gonna happen when someone else finds out what was announced then makes me laugh about the possibilities.

I thought the concept for A Pose Before Dying was unique. I bet a mischievous cat could find many ways to distract a person during yoga (rubbing, licking, purring, climbing, and can you imagine the damage they could do with their sharp little claws). It is a wonderful way for cats to find forever homes. Ash is a cliched main character (I expected someone who acted like a professional, not so scattered, immature). When in the presence of a handsome man that Ash is attracted to, she babbles (of course). A romantic interest is introduced early in the book. At times, it felt like I was reading a romance instead of a cozy mystery. The whodunit was aggravating. It is a simple mystery that can be solved early in the story. The frustrating part is Ash’s focus on her brother. Since the unpleasant police chief has concentrated his investigation on Ash’s brother (evidently, Hunter cannot stay out of trouble), Ash is determined to prove his innocence. The reveal is a letdown. The story ends with several questions left unanswered. I wish the story had fewer unlikeable characters (police chief, mother, dog groomer, activist, uncle, and the list goes on). The same details were repeated over and over (an example is Fitbit—each time Ash looks at her Fitbit it is mentioned). The cats were the best part of the story. I can tell that the author has been around cats based on her descriptions of their behavior. While I liked a couple of aspects about A Pose Before Dying, I did not find the rest of the story to be engaging.

3 1/2 stars. A solid beginning for a new cozy series starring a young woman who started a yoga studio with rescue cats as an incentive. Of course, things didn't go smoothly. Her mother wanted her to come back to work at the family business, her brother who was often in trouble seemed to be at it again and she found one of her new clients murdered in her office in a yoga pose.

The mystery was good. I adored the cats and the there was some humor. I do have to say that her family was a bit more dysfunctional than you usually find in a cozy but that's okay. She did have some good friends. At times she was smart enough to call the police when she thought someone had broken into her house or perhaps confront a murderer. Other times she did not. So a mixed bag about her survival instincts. I was a bit confused about the point of her potential love interest who left at the end of the story.

A good start with a solid premise and some decent characters. and some room for growth.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest opinion.

First in a new series. Much to her mother's displeasure, Ashley has left the family business to open a cat yoga
studio. Unfortunately, the dog groomer next door is determined to close her down, claiming the cats are upsetting the dogs he grooms. When one of her students is found murdered in the yoga studio, Ashley fears the studio will not survive. Is her brother, who has been in and out of trouble, involved in any way? Who had reason to want the man dead? Ashley seeks to uncover the truth to save her studio and hopefully her brother.
Interesting characters, love that the cats in the studio are available for adoption.
#A Pose Before Dying #Kensington #NetGalley

First in a new series about Ash Branson and her new business which includes both Yoga and cats. She calls it the Purrfect Pose and the idea is that the cats from a local rescue shelter wander around while you do your yoga and maybe you will take one home.

A murder occurs and the unfortunate victim is found in the studio in a yoga pose. The police are as unfriendly and inefficient as they nearly always seem to be in a cosy and Ash attempts to solve her difficulties herself. She also has to deal with a very unsupportive family.

The mystery was interesting but the mother and the brother were annoying, and there were a few odd moments like the prospective romantic interest who arrived and left within a few chapters and really did not contribute to the book at all.

Still a totally readable story and I will be interested to see what Ash does next.

A Pose Before Dying by Alex Erickson is the debut book in the new series "A Cat Yoga Mystery series." This is the" purrfect" cozy match for cat lovers. The author has all the perfect cozy elements here that we readers who are cat lovers enjoy. The love of cats, a fascinating well crafted sleuth and a loveable protagnist. This is a great debut for this exciting new series.

Ashely is opening her dream business, a yoga studio with adoptable cats. She is following her own path with her business and breaking away from her overbearing family . The cat yoga first class is ready with adoptable kittens to entice potential owners. She is a cat lover who hopes to help adopt out cats in need of homes. The author knows cats and does such wonderful entertaining descriptions of the cats during her yoga class. I love the idea of cat yoga featured in this debut.

A murder occurs in the studio that threatens to put Ashley out of business. The neighbor who is against her business and caused her trouble is her first suspect.. When her Brother is the prime suspect Ashley does not hesitate to help by invesigating on her own. Soon she is discovering clues abound and red herrings . Ashley races to save her business and her Brother by trying to solve the case .

I loved Ashley as a protagnist who is relatable and loves cats. She is a loyal sister and devoted to helping her Brother. The author has such wonderful humor throughout this charming debut of the cats and people. The supporting characters all add to the fun and the grouchy police detective was a perfect fit. The sleuth kept me guessing throughout and was well crafted. I enjoyed this wonderful debut cozy series and look forward to the next in series and more of Cat Yoga. Well done to the author.