The way Jazz Ramsey figures it, life is pretty good. She’s thirty-five years old and owns her own home in one of Cleveland’s most diverse, artsy, and interesting neighbourhoods. She has a job she likes as an administrative assistant at an all-girls school, and a volunteer interest she’s passionate about - Jazz is a cadaver dog handler.
Jazz is working with Luther, a cadaver dog in training. Luther is still learning cadaver work, so Jazz is putting him through his paces at an abandoned building that will soon be turned into pricey condos. When Luther signals a find, Jazz is stunned to see the body of a young woman who is dressed in black and wearing the kind of make-up and jewellry that Jazz used to see on the Goth kids back in high school.
She’s even more shocked when she realizes that beneath the tattoos and the piercings and all that pale make up is a familiar face.
The lead detective on the case is an old lover, and the murdered woman is an old student. Jazz finds herself sucked into the case, obsessed with learning the truth.
From the cover and the description, I thought Jazz would be a full-time dog trainer and involved in law enforcement. However, she is an administrative assistant at a local Catholic high school. She trains cadaver dog on the side. While this was a letdown, the overall mystery was interesting.
Jazz is helping a friend retrain his pooch within an urban environment when she discovers a body. When she discovers the murder victim is a former student, she cannot help but investigate.
This was a fun start to the series. The Cleveland police detective assigned to the case ends up being her ex-boyfriend, Nick. Apparently there are still feelings there. I got the initial feeling that duty and commitments made them take a step back.
The author spends some time allowing us to get to know Jazz, her family, friends and co-workers. I liked Jazz. She is stubborn, smart, curious and great with animals.
The story could be described as a cozy, but felt more inline with the Mercy Kilpatrick series by Kendra Elliot. While that series has more romance, this series has the potential to develop as it progresses.
The murder of a former student with secrets, plenty of enemies and oodles of artist talent was an interesting one. The surprise twist was well done and felt authentic. I liked that Jazz kept Nick informed of her findings. He didn’t encourage her, but didn’t discourage her either. There is some trust there. This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Reviewer
Reading updates
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Started reading
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15 April, 2019:
Finished reading
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15 April, 2019:
Reviewed