Don DeBrandt

Hello, my name is Jennifer and I love animals more than I like people. Generally speaking. Not just the cute furry ones, but all animals. Except roaches - roaches are the devil's minions, but otherwise, pretty much all of them.

You'd think this animal love would mean that I'd pick up any book about animals and devour it. While perfectly logical, this isn't actually the case. Childhood traumas that involved Bambi and Old Yeller taught me a long time ago to be very, very selective when it show more comes to stories about or involving animals. So, I don't read books where animals are hurt, treated badly, or they die.

I also don't read books about animals that talk to humans because that's just asking me to suspend my disbelief that little bit too much. It's just too silly.

All of this is setup to my disbelief when I opened up A Taste Fur Murder and realised that the animals talk. I had to go and read the back-cover blurb for this book again, because I avoid books that have talking animals! What was I thinking? This wasn't just a whim request from NetGalley that I did in haste - I've already pre-ordered the book! But, I did request it from NetGalley and I wasn't going to back out of my commitment to read and review it fairly. So, I read it.

To say I was surprised by how much I enjoyed reading this book would be a bit of an understatement. It was excellently written, a joy to read, and had a murder plot so fantastical that it was a mystery to the very end.

Deirdre “Foxtrot” Lancaster, who goes by Foxtrot pretty much exclusively, is a likeable character. She’s smart, incredibly capable, independent, resourceful and just witty enough to avoid being a flat automaton. She and the author seem to have a crusade about the importance of executive assistants going on throughout the book; she edges into ‘harping’ territory a bit with the repetitive mentions of how her skills as an Executive Assistant keep coming into play when she needs to save the day, but I just skimmed over it and got on with the enjoyment of the story.

Most of the other characters seem to be only making a one-book appearance as guests of “ZZ”, the extremely rich woman Foxtrot works for and the would-be victim of a murder plot. The only other permanent character we’re introduced to that we learn anything about, is the chef and possible love interest, Ben Montain, who has more than a few secrets he’s keeping.

The premise of this book would more accurately be categorised as fantasy cozy mystery. There's very nearly nothing realistic about it, but I wish it were. I absolutely love the idea of the Animal Graveyard and what goes on there. The author and I share the belief that animals and their owners are reunited (if they deserve to be) in the hereafter, but she's obviously given the logistics a lot more thought than I have. She's created a world of the here and now, blended with the hereafter, that is fantastical, but not at all silly or simple.

As for the telepathic animals? Well, I won't pretend I didn't struggle with it a bit, but it almost 100% blended well within the story. In fact, one of the conversations she has with her cat, Tango, made me misty eyed; if conversations with cats were possible, it's the one I'd have had with at least one of my cats. But I dislike Tango calling the MC “toots". If the author asked me to name one thing I'd change - that'd be it. I can't imagine my least dignified cat ever calling anyone "toots".

The murder mystery plot is complex and suspects are coming out of the woodwork. This isn’t the type of mystery where the author gives you enough clues to figure out the villain yourself; you’re along for the ride, cheering on Foxtrot as she puts clues together - clues she doesn’t always share with the reader right away. I don’t mind this approach - I was enjoying the story too much to care, and the murder plot itself was so “out there” even Foxtrot admitted it was unbelievable.

When the last page was read, I said to my husband “I can’t believe how much I enjoyed a book with talking animals!”. But I did, and I can’t wait to read the second one.

I received this book as an ARC by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. show less

As you may have guessed from my Daring You To Read... post a little while ago, I’m a big fan of D. D. Barant’s Bloodhound Files. Having suggested the first book in the series, I thought it might be a good time to post about the second book, Death Blows, since I’m re-reading the series in anticipation of the fifth book, Back from the Undead, which is being released at the end of March. (I have previously been about Dying Bites, despite my appreciation of the rest of the series.)

First show more up, how gorgeous is this cover? The model really captures my idea of what Jace looks like and I love the moody colours. I don’t really like the font that they’ve used for the word blows on the cover but it’s a small quibble, as is the fact that I doubt Jace owns a hot pink shirt...but I love the subtle wolf image that the artist snuck in.

While I didn’t think it possible, I enjoyed Death Blows more than Dying Bites, particularly the second time around. The stuff I loved about Jace’s debut -- the humour, the innovative world building, the strong characters -- are back in full force in Death Blows, and D. D. Barant has also added comic books. (Or Kamic books, as they’re called in Jace’s new home.) I’m a huge fan of graphic novels and superheroes and I love how the author tied in comic characters and storylines from our reality with the world of the Bloodhound Files. There are references to a lot of big comics, with a distinct preference for DC characters, and I loved seeing how D. D. tied them in with the storyline he created for Death Blows.

I also really liked how much we learn about some of the secondary characters in the book. Dying Bites was all about Jace and her acclimation to her new reality (and her quest to catch Stoker) and she’s definitely the central character again, but now we get a little bit more back story for some of my favourite characters in the series: Dr. Pete and Gretchen. Dr. Pete is the werewolf doctor who took care of Jace when she first got transported and they’ve remained friends. We got a little insight into Dr. Pete’s home life in Dying Bites but we really delve into his past this time around. Dr. Pete’s got some interesting layers and it adds a lot of depth and pathos to his character. My other favourite, Gretchen, is a pire who works for the NSA. She’s one of the first people Jace met and I adore her. She’s brilliant and confident and kind. Unfortunately, she spends a great deal of Death Blows in distress since the guy who’s dressed up like the Flash in the blurb above is someone important to her. Despite the circumstances, it’s so much fun seeing Gretchen outside of the office.

Sadly, at least for me, we don’t get the same exploration of Charlie, Jace’s golem partner. The way golems are treated in this society is really interesting and I love Jace’s reactions to the lems’ place in this world. Her indignation is spot on and I hope that we get to learn more about the lems and Charlie in future novels.

Here’s an example of why I want more Charlie:

“This whole thing could be an internal power struggle.”

“Maybe. Why try to win over supporters when you can kill them and take their weapons?”

“While making it look like the work of a nutjab?”

“Nutjob, Charlie.”

“Really? Nutjab sounds crazier.”

“How would you know? You don’t have any.”

“I have the objective perspective of an outsider.”

I have to say, when I first picked up the series, I was a little leery of reading a book with a female protagonist written by a male author. It’s my own personal bias -- if I were a writer, I don’t know how well I’d be able to write from a man’s perspective -- but D. D. Barant does a commendable job of making Jace a strong but still feminine character. And re-reading these books is reminding me of just how delightful this series is. Can’t wait to start Killing Rocks!

http://www.tyngasreviews.com show less

Foxtrot is the assistant to zillionairess Zelda Zoransky and as such she manages the house, the zoo, and all of Zelda's notorious parties. This weekend Zelda's hosting one of her salons, inviting various guests to spend a few days enjoying her hospitality and sharing their knowledge. And then Zelda's maid is killed--murdered!--and Foxtrot takes it upon herself to be in charge of solving the murder, too.

But she isn't alone. She has her cat, Tango, on a new life from the one she knew Tango in, show more and a ghostly shapechanging dog, Tiny. Both animals are telepathic and they let Foxtrot know that among all her other tasks she's now the guardian for the pet cemetery on Zelda's property. Only it isn't just a cemetery, it's a crossing point for spirit animals who use it to visit their deceased humans.

Foxtrot handles all this just as she handles everything else in her life: with aplomb. She dodges angry ghost elephants, live drunk monkeys, and mysterious killers while protecting Zelda and learning her new job as Guardian.

This was a funny and smart mystery, with a very small side of romance. I'll be looking for more about Foxtrot and her friends.

(Provided by publisher) show less

If you can suspend your view of reality to believe in telepathic cats, a ghost dog that can shape shift into any breed,a cemetary that acts as a station to the afterlife where animals and their humans can visit, and an administrative assistant that can be witty and sassy about the whole thing, then you will like this. There are parts that are laugh out loud funny and I enjoyed this book. I thought it was well written - it kept me guessing until the big reveal at the end. I am adding this show more series to my list of series to follow. I will definitely be getting any others in this series. show less