The Llama of Death

First Line: "Alejandro, you spit in my face!"

Once again, the owner of the Gunn Zoo has strong-armed zookeeper Theodora "Teddy" Bentley into doing something she'd rather not. Not only does Teddy have a weekly program called "Anteaters to Zebras" on the local television station, not only does she have to keep on cleaning animal enclosures and feeding the animals, now she has to dress like a trollop and lead Alejandro the llama around while he gives children rides at the Renaissance Faire. Alejandro adores children, but-- as can be seen by the spit on Teddy's face-- he has an entirely different opinion of human adults.

Is Alejandro's low opinion of adults what caused him to stomp to death the owner of the local wedding chapel? Fortunately show more not-- closer examination shows that the man dressed as Henry VIII was killed by a crossbow bolt to the neck. Teddy's fiancé may be the sheriff, but the CIA has him in Langley, leaving the investigation to a completely incompetent deputy who likes Teddy's mother as the killer. Teddy has to do her own investigating before the deputy can tie her mother to the railroad tracks, and what she begins uncovering makes for one very long suspect list... and puts her right in the killer's sights.

Author Betty Webb may be better known for her more serious Lena Jones mystery series set in Scottsdale, Arizona. Her Gunn Zoo series, set on the central California coast, features a beautifully done comedic touch and lots of down-to-earth information on animals. I've read each book in this series, and they just keep getting better. From smiles and chuckles, I've now progressed to laughing out loud while reading this third book. I also feel that Alejandro is the best "feature creature" so far in the series.

I've known Betty has a wonderful sense of humor just by reading her blog. Her Lena Jones series, which tends to focus on human rights issues, is excellent, but it is good to see her put her talent for laughter to good use. Wonderful characters, interesting animals, intriguing plots, and comedy, too. Let Betty tickle your funny bone at the Gunn Zoo, too! show less

3.5 stars

Teddy is a zookeeper, but at this moment, she helping at a weekend fundraiser for the local no-kill animal shelter, a Renaissance Faire, where she is with the llama who is providing rides to the kids. The llama, Alejandro, likes kids, but not-so-much adults. The first night, there is a ruckus in the llama pen when the man who runs the local wedding chapel is founded murdered. Teddy’s mom ends up being suspected.

This was a good, solid, enjoyable mystery. I’ve found all the ones in this series to be this way. I do love the additional animal tidbits that are added in. I actually liked that many of the characters didn’t want to talk to Teddy as she tried to find out more to clear her mother’s name (a little more realistic show more than many cozies where people just go ahead and blab to the amateur sleuth). show less

Every once in a while I get in the mood for a cozy mystery of the kind I loved in my 20s: Interesting settings, slightly quirky characters, and believable, if predictable, mystery plots. Unfortunately, every time I pick up one that was written in the last 10 years or so I get the feeling that the kind of cozy I liked doesn't exist anymore. It's like cozies are written completely by formula now: Quirky But Lovable Protagonist With Interesting Career? Check. Annoying But Lovable Secondary Characters? Check. Easygoing And Lovable Love Interest? Check. Everybody Acting Like Murder Is Just Something That Happens, No Big Deal? Check.

For what it is, I think this is a well-written book. I'm just not interested in what another reviewer called show more "Gimmick!Cozies." show less

This is a book of secrets for sure, and ironically most of them aren't Teddy's, which is unusual for this series.

There's a Renaissance Faire going on that benefits a No Kill shelter, and so people from the Gunn Zoo, including Teddy are 'volunteered' to participate. Alejandro the Llama is also 'volunteered' to give rides to the kids at the Faire. Of course, then there's a murder and poor Alejandro witnesses it, but, because animals can't speak English yet, the Acting Sheriff has to start investigating and this comes about because Joe the actual Sheriff is unreachable in Virginia at some Homeland Security training thing where they take away the participants' phones.

So, because the Acting Sheriff arrests Teddy's mother Caro with almost no show more evidence Teddy decides to investigate until Joe gets back. And things go along the semi-predictable path after that.

It was really, really, really hard for me to get into the book at the beginning. Eventually, I did, but it took quite a bit longer than it usually does with Betty Webb books.

I think that part of the problem I had was that Caro as well as Aster Gunn and Teddy's father are three of my least favorite characters in the series and all three of them had big roles in this book.

I did really like the former Marine lady, Ariel, who was the morning show host that did Teddy's animal segment with her. Wanted to see more of Ariel.

And of course there was all the scenes about the zoo and the animals, always info that I didn't know and generally delivered in a way that didn't make it seem like an info dump.

A good book, solid three stars, just with a bit of a bumpy start. show less

The Llama of Death: A Gunn Zoo Mystery by Betty Webb

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This is the first book by Betty Webb I've read. I had absolutely no idea what to expect when I started this one.
This book is part of the Gunn Zoo series. These do not have to be read in order.
Teddy, a zoo worker, is forced to work at a renaissance faire by her boss. Teddy supervises rides on the kid loving llama, Alejandro.
Disaster strikes when the wedding chapel minister is found murdered in Alejandro's area.
Teddy's fiance, Joe, the Sheriff, is out on a training mission and can not be reached. The acting sheriff decides Teddy's mother committed the murder. Now Teddy must find the real murderer all on her own. This proves to be no easy task since the minister show more seems to have had a shady past and has made quite a few enemies.
This is a really light cozy mystery. I am a huge animal lover so I really enjoyed the animals involvement in the story. There were a few chuckles along the way as well.
My biggest problem with this one was that there were too many characters and suspects. We were dealing with several married couples, zoo employees, and faire performers, plus several other characters. It was just too "busy " at times and for such a short book, there was a lot going on.
Other than that, it was an enjoyable read. Cozy mystery lovers will appreciate the lack of violence, very mild language and no graphic sexual content. Overall this one gets a C+
I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.



View all my reviews show less

This was a cute little cozy mystery book. It was quick to get through and the ending surprised me. Apparently this is part of a series, which I was not aware of, but I didn't need to read the previous books to understand what was going on. If you're looking for a quick read with a little suspense and mystery, I'd recommend it.

My only problem with it was that there were a few grammatical errors and there would sometimes be two people talking with quotation marks in one paragraph which can be confusing because generally you change paragraphs for different speakers. The copy editor or whoever should have done a better job. If this was a self-published book I could overlook a couple problems, but this was done by a publisher with show more professional editors. That being said, it didn't distract from the story at all, and I would still recommend that you read it. show less

Theodora (Teddy) Bentley, Monterey Bay’s favorite zookeeper once again finds herself embroiled in a murder mystery. While working the Renaissance Fair the body of Reverend Emerson is found, seemingly, stomped to death. At first it appears Alejandro the Llama may be the culprit, but that is soon ruled out. Who could have wanted the reverend dead? Well, as it turns out, he was a man with many secrets and quite a few people might have wished him gone … including Caro, Teddy’s mother.

I fell into this series quite by accident, and admittedly the plots do not vary much from book to book, however, I can always be guaranteed a fast, amusing read when I pick up one. And sometimes, that’s all I want in a book. Besides, who can resist a show more story that is populated with all kinds of interesting tidbits about zoo animals? show less