Murder Most Howl: A Paws and Claws Mystery (Paws & Claws Mystery, #3)

by Krista Davis

In the third mystery in the New York Times bestselling Paws & Claws series, the Sugar Maple Inn is in for a ruff winter...

This January, Wagtail, Virginia, the top pet-friendly destination in the country, is throwing a fun murder mystery weekend—but no one expected the real thing...

Holly Miller is delighted her grandmother has finally left the Sugar Maple Inn to take a well-deserved vacation. It means Holly’s in charge, but running the inn might be more challenging than she realized. Wagtail’s throwing a weekend-long murder mystery game to draw in tourists during the slow season, the inn has a full house, and a blizzard is on the way. 

Trouble is unleashed the night the game begins, when the storm blows in and the lights go out.  It gets worse the following morning when Holly’s Jack Russell terrier, Trixie, discovers a body—one that’s actually dead. Now Holly, her calico kitten Twinkletoes, and Trixie must play by the rules and find one dirty dog...

Delicious recipes for owners and pets included! 

• ISBN10: 042526257X
• ISBN13: 9780425262573
• Publish Date: 24 November 2015
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Penguin Putnam Inc
• Imprint: Berkley Publishing Corporation,U.S.
• Format: Paperback (US Mass Market)
• Pages: 290
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780425262573

Reviews

[MurderByDeath]

This one is only getting 3.5 stars, in spite of some very good writing and an excellent murder plot.   

Deductions were made for some rather glaring editing errors, including the MC, Holly telling her staff to be on the lookout for a missing money clip on page 133 that isn't actually reported as missing until page 155.  

I'm also deducting 1/2 star because Davis is doing the same thing with the romantic interests in this series that she did in her other series, which eventually drove me to stop reading that one.  I can't call it a love triangle because it's not; it's not even romance.  It's just glacially slow wishful thinking and pining for a childhood friend who's engaged to someone else, and an ex-boyfriend that keeps showing up for no apparent reason - he doesn't even try to get Holly back.  Its weird.   

Otherwise, I love this series.  Wagtail is a town built for people who love their cats and dogs and everything caters to people and their pets.  I want this town to exist and I want to live there - I don't care about the astronomically high body count!  I want to take my cats to the pub!  Davis knows how to write a tightly knit community and close friends, which makes it easier to ignore her penchant for also writing in at least one unrealistically antagonistic and stupid secondary character (in this case, Aunt Birdie).   

The murder plot in this one surrounds a murder mystery weekend - but this one includes the whole town and involves a scavenger hunt.  It's really quite brilliant and sounds like a great time.  The plot was brilliantly executed and I was totally fooled the entire time.   

I'm going to stick with this series for now - Wagtail as a town just holds too much appeal to me to let a not-a-love-triangle get on my nerves too much, but Davis could stand to step things up a bit in the romance department (and get rid of Ben).

[Mystereity Reviews]

4.5 Stars

The third book in the Paws & Claws series, Murder Most Howl sees the gang in the (unfortunately fictional) pet resort town of Wagtail hosting a murder mystery weekend. The Sugar Maple Inn is filled to the rafters with excited sleuths looking to solve their very own murder.

Things start going downhill when the morning after the "murder" kicked off the event, a real dead body turns up in town and it's up to Holly and her gang to solve the mystery.

This was a great plot; moved along pretty well, but bogged down a little towards the middle of the book. Still, I have to say that although I figured out who the thief was, I really had no idea whodunit until the very end. I loved the whole murder-mystery-within-a-murder-mystery idea. Really well done!

Deducted half a star because of a few niggling things; first, the whole Ben - Holmes - Holly triangle has got to go. It doesn't tantalize, it annoys. Second, there was an event that was mentioned before it was introduced into the story (Spoiler ahead)

While on the way to Shadow's house, Holly mentions that the money clip has gone missing. Wait, what money clip? Well, a few chapters later, a character reports that her husband's money clip is missing. Either Holly has become psychic or there was a glaring plot error that somehow made it to publication.

Last, what the is the point of Aunt Birdie? Seriously?

[Silvara]

Check out my other reviews, discussions and link ups at Fantasy of the Silver Dragon.

I received this book for free from Berkley Prime Crime in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.


I liked how the murder mystery game and the actual murder were entwined. You never knew if the clue that appeared was going to shed light on the game or on the real murder. I also really liked how the pets were so important in the book. They weren't just cute filler, but very useful in finding clues as well as well-woven into the town and people's lives.

I had no idea who the murderer was until the very last pages of the book where you get the clue that pretty much makes it obvious. It made a lot of sense once you learned the background of the character though.

I liked Val and Holly. Holly was easy to like, and Shadow seemed sweet. I never liked Myrtle, and I was surprised she had so many book club friends.

Ella Mae's habit amused me greatly. My favorite cat used to do the exact same thing when she was alive. So I already had the idea of who had done it before the evidence appeared. But if I hadn't had a cat like that I would have had no ideas.

Recipes Included: Caramel Apple Bundt Cake, Swedish Tea Ring, Mini Mac and Cheeselets, Chicken Stew, Blanche Burger, Krista's Chocolate Chip Cookies, Nutella Hot Chocolate, Gingerbread Cupcakes, Maple Syrup Bacon Slices, Mac and Tease (for dogs), Chicken Stew For Dogs, Rodeo Roundup (for dogs).

This review was originally posted on Fantasy of the Silver Dragon