A charming, slightly dark (in all the best ways), cozy mystery set in a world of walking, talking animals.

Main character Vera Vixen - reporter for the Shady Hollow Herald - gets tapped to help chaperone a school trip to an ancient archeological site. Her chaperoning duties are soon overshadowed by the murder of an important figure in the site’s renowned team of researchers. As Vera uses her nose for journalism to sniff out clues, she uncovers more and more motives but very few answers, and the locals aren’t exactly happy about a tourist asking lots of questions!

This was the first of the Shady Hollow series I’ve read and it was so darn NICE that I’ll be reading all the others sometime very soon. For me, this story was the perfect blend of some of my favorite things. It had the multi-species community of woodland animals that I love from series like Redwall, the wry humor and sharp wit I enjoy when reading Poirot, and a main character whose tenacity and smarts help her solve crimes and discover the truth a la Nancy Drew, Trixie Belden, or Enola Holmes.

The subject matter is gentle enough for a middle grade reader, with conversation and twists sharp enough to keep an adult reader interested. This is a book I would recommend to a broad audience. As a librarian I’ll add it to my lists for folks who love animals, mysteries, easy reads, and charming stories.

Summer’s End is a continuation in the Shady Hollow cozy mystery series. This was an enjoyable read.
What I appreciate about Summer’s End is that though there were some situations that I was able to predict, other twists I didn’t see coming. I also liked that the characters were in a setting other than Shady Hollow. I will continue on with this series! Thank you to Netgalley, Knopf, and Vintage for the ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

Vera Vixen has done it again!! I absolutely loved this story because it was a fun twist on the usual mystery. This entire tale takes place at Summers End, so we get to meet almost an entirely new cast in a new, quaint location. I found that I really enjoyed this mystery and the lore that went into the event of Summers End. Another incredibly cozy read!! 🦊🐦‍⬛☀️

Thank you to NetGalley and Vintage for this ARC!!
5 ⭐️

Another delightful component of the Shady Hollow series!

This book had all the elements that I loved about books 1-4 — cozy descriptions, woodland creature characters with personified traits, and a whodunnit murder mystery.

This was the first book in the series in which the majority of the book didn’t take place in Shady Hollow, so I definitely missed that aspect! There was also a decent amount of new characters that were introduced, and I found myself getting a bit confused about who was who. Regardless, I found the ending/murderer reveal to be clean and satisfying.

This is my all time favorite series and I can’t wait to see how it wraps up with the sixth and final book!

(Please note that I will add the link once I post my review to my reviewer profile.)

I so enjoyed being back with our woodland friends but this time not in Shady Hollow. We venture to a new area called Summerhill where every year a historical event takes place, a calendar stone is light by the sun, thus bringing Summers End. The day our troop arrives for a school field trip that Vera happens to be chaperoning there is a murder at the historic site. Vera teams up with our favorite pessimistic raven Lenore and a new mentee Athena. I loved the addition of Athena to give Vera more responsibility to not just keep herself safe, but also a teen. As always how the murder unfolds is discovered by our fave fox reporter and I quite enjoyed the twist with this one!

This series is everything and I loved everything about this book as well and cannot wait for the next one!

Vera agrees to chaperone a trip to Somers and with Lenore. Well, expecting to enter an ancient tomb, the women find what appears to be bones of a recent visitor. Can they find out what happened to the creature the bones belong to, will they follow and add to the pile of bones?

I absolutely adore this series with woodland creatures. It makes for a wonderful mystery, but also a great getaway from reality for a while. I’ve been reading this since the beginning and always look forward to new entry. I just can’t get enough of Shady Hollow and its residents.

Such a wonderful book!! This series is an absolute delight!! Cozy mysteries with a woodland creature theme, literary puns sprinkled throughout, and a rich plotline. Can not wait for the next one!!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for access to this e-ARC!!