Poor Meg is in over her head once again with the Mind Over Mudder team preparing for her first mud run. Honestly, I've had a few friends do mud runs and they sound really awful but it was fun watching Meg get ready for the run with full enthusiasm even if her body wasn't quite as enthusiastic as her mind. Meg's also going through of a tough time in her personal life with her best friend possibly leaving the country, a dating situation that is as clear as the mud she has to run through, and being forced to see that her late father may not be quite the saint she thought he was. Meg just seems so young and her struggles seemed very real. With everything going on the mystery got pushed to the side a bit. Meg suspected everyone and no one and was a bit all over the place with her investigating. Despite that I did enjoy the read and enjoyed spending my time with Meg. If you enjoy cozy mysteries with an outdoorsy feel this is a fun series to try though it is best to start with an earlier book.

This was an entertaining read, and brings the reader into the Portland scene. It doesn't hurt that since it's summer, Portland is a pretty nice place during the book! Meg is a well-drawn character, and though her best friends, Jill and Matt, aren't closely involved in this mystery, it is clear that they are important in the series. In fact, their presence in this book seems to be more about what may come in the next one than anything to do with this murder (not saying they don't belong--not everyone in an amateur sleuth's life must be involved in the case, and part of the point of cozy mysteries is our connection with the sleuth's life).

All that said, I had a couple of issues with this one. For one thing, the book opens with a very long flash-forward to finding the body. That wasn't a huge problem (though I was confused for a bit when the story jumped back without warning to set up the event). It was a larger problem that when the story reached that point again, we had the whole thing again. Only it's not exactly the same. A few details are different, and it bothered me more than it probably should have. Of greater concern was that the mystery didn't really quite gel for me. Some of the red herrings were well constructed, and Meg does work her way close to the root of it all. But the final solution is just kind of handed her.

Kvetching aside, though, the book was a fun and fast read, and the author has a nice sense of humor. A few jabs at the Portland "scene" gave me a chuckle (the pretentious coffee shop maybe got a guffaw), and since I visited Portland a couple of years ago, it was fun to connect the story with real places. (Not that I was dropping in on brew-pubs, since I was there to visit colleges with my son!)

Recommendation:
This is a decent entry in the cozy mystery genre, and I'm intrigued enough by Meg and some mysteries surrounding her life to want to read the earlier books in the series. And, of course, the author is fond of punning titles, which always get my attention.

This is the first book in this series that I have read, I do have book 5 to read and will be getting to that soon.

As Meg Reed is in boot camp training for the Mud, Sweat and Tears extreme 5k mud run (which sounds like fun just for the beer addition) she finds the body of their trainer, Billy the Tank, in the steam room. She then begins to investigate to find out who wanted him dead and why.

Fun and quick cozy read with a great core cast of characters who gel well together and with the added fun of being beer drinkers, my tipple of choice.

*Huge thanks to Kate Dyer-Seeley, Kensington Books and NetGalley for this copy which I chose to read and all opinions are my own*

I loved the setting didn't like the mystery. The author needs to concentrate more on the mystery then the outdoor activities which are great but I want a little more complexity when it comes to my mysteries even my cozies

First Degree Mudder by Kate Dyer-Seeley – Four Stars! – is the 4th book in the Pacific Northwest cozy series.

Meg Reed, the protagonist, is a journalist who was very desperate for a job, any job, as a writer. So desperate,in fact, that she has been greatly exaggerating her prowess as an outdoor adventurer, so she can land and keep a position with Northwest Extreme magazine in Portland, OR.

In First Degree Mudder, Meg's latest adventure, she has decided to participate in a 5K Extreme Mud Run – but since she's not in shape for any kind of 5K, she first has to endure a mud-run-training boot camp. Her struggles make for some humorous moments, and a very fun read.

There is an ongoing mystery plot throughout the series, in addition to each book's solved-at-the-end mystery. I can't wait to find out what happens next, in the big-picture-plot. I am really looking forward to Book #5!

Meg works for Extreme magazine, an outdoor magazine. She decides to do the mud run and joins Mind Over Mudder to get ready for it. The team is trained by a former drill sargeant. Meg finds him dead so she thinks she knows who did it. She starts investigating on her own. Meanwhile her 2 best friends are moving away. Each to different places. Another member of the team is losing so much weight that Meg gets worried about her and thinks she is taking drugs. Meg's father was a cop and was killed before the book is started, and she thinks his death is tied up with a story that she is finding out about. I received this from NetGalley for a review.

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This is a nice light series with a terrific intrepid heroine in Meg. Dyer=Seeley has seamlessly incorporated all the Portlandia to give us a chuckle even with the more serious issues of murder and the decline of print newspapers at the forefront. I'm curious to see where this goes especially with Meg's pals both planning to move = will they stay, will they go, will she find love with the new guy? AND, what about Extreme Outdoors? Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. THis was a good read on a rainy cold afternoon- it's intelligent without being taxing. Try it!