Blaize Clement (1932–2011)

Summary: Dixie worked on the police force until a personal tragedy left her devastated. Unable to return to her previous life and work, Dixie has become a pet sitter. One day, Dixie goes to care for a cat whose mom is away on business and discovers a dead body. She doesn't know who the mystery corpse is or what relationship they have to the cat's mom but she needs to find out for the well-being of the cat in her care.

My Rating: 4/5

I loved Dixie's story. She felt real to me and the show more difficulties she had in everyday life rang true. She struggles to function after the tragedy that happened and I could see myself being the same way if I was in her shoes. Her pain and back story were authentic enough that I cried a few times for Dixie.

I loved how devoted Dixie is to the animals in her care. Dixie isn't just a casual pet sitter who is feeding animals to make money because she can't cope with a regular job. Dixie loves the animals in her care and gives us all kinds of animal info throughout the book. I felt like the author either is very into animals herself or did a ton of research about animal behaviors.

While I loved many aspects of Dixie's character I didn't always like her. The book is told in first person and sometimes Dixie said something that just made me cringe because it was unnecessary and often crass.

I did love Dixie's brother and several of the other side characters in this book.

The mystery was fine but not amazing and after the mystery ended the book had a too quick for my tastes wrap up.

I liked the character development Dixie went through in this book but things also didn't go how I was hoping and for all the hope in Dixie's healing I felt let down by the end of the book because I felt like she hadn't come as far as I hoped she would. I do hope she continues to heal in future books and some of the story lines that were started by not finished or fully fleshed out are tackled in the sequels.

I absolutely plan to read more books in this series.

If you love animals and mysteries I recommend you give this book a try. show less

3.75 stars

When pet sitter Dixie is at the vet’s to pick up one of the pets she is caring for (parrot Big Bubba), a girl and her stepfather come in. There’s something odd about the two of them, but Dixie’s friend, Hetty, offers the girl, Jaz, a job helping take care of the service dog Hetty is training. Not long after, three young thugs enter Big Bubba’s home while Dixie is there, looking for Jaz! A bit later, still, Dixie’s high school friend comes by, desperate for help, as her show more rich husband has been kidnapped and is asking for a $1 million ransom payment.

This is the 5th in the series, and it’s not entirely implausible Dixie’s friend would come to her, as she used to be a cop. I am still really enjoying this series, and in this one, I liked the additional info provided about parrots (even though they didn’t have much to do with the storyline). I also felt like this one was a bit different from the usual murder storylines in cozy mysteries. show less

I put this book off for a long time because the original author of the series, Blaize Clement, sadly passed away, and her son took over writing the series and frankly I was pretty sure he wasn't going to do it right. But the PopSugar challenge has a "set in your hometown" prompt and this one fits. Then DH found me yesterday staring at the TBR pile with a glazed look and closed his eyes, pointed, and said "read that one". This is the one he pointed to.

I wasn't wrong, John Clement didn't get show more it right, but he didn't really get it wrong either. Aside from a few spots that screamed "I'm a man trying to write a woman's inner dialogue" and one line that just flat out screamed "chauvinist!" ("With everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours, I'd be happy to have a big strong man around."). There was also a line about her becoming turned on because her date started swearing, which was just eye-rolling-ly ridiculous.

But most of the book was pretty close in tone to Ms. Clement's work, and the mystery was nicely plotted. I wasn't shocked by the killer, but I think that's just become I'm a cynic about murder mysteries; the author certainly did nothing to telegraph the solution early on. There's a heavier atmosphere in these books than you'd normally find in the lightweight mysteries, and he stays pretty true to that, too. The setting might as well double as a travel guide - Ms. Clement and her son both obviously know Sarasota and Siesta Key very well; I'm pretty sure one could draw a pretty accurate map based on the narrative alone.

I don't know if I'm reading the next one or not; John Clement didn't often go wrong, but when he did it wasn't subtle, but these books are like teleporting home. So, probably.


[PopSugar 2015 Reading Challenge: A book that takes place in your hometown.] show less

Pet sitter Dixie is watching (with the help of her elderly friend, Pete), a service dog to a little 3-year old boy (who needs to be in the hospital for a surgery). Next door, Dixie meets Laura, a beautiful woman who recently moved in. Dixie and Laura quickly become friends when Laura reveals that she recently left her husband and is hiding from him. It’s not long before Laura is found murdered in her house.

This is a pretty good rating for a cozy mystery from me (often they are 3 or 3.5 show more stars). It’s a light book and a light series, but I really enjoyed this one. Of course, I love the pets in these stories and I love some of the secondary characters – Dixie’s friends and family – particularly her brother Michael, and his partner, Paco. show less