Review: A Mythical Case of Homicide by Melissa Erin Jackson

Posted May 1, 2026 by Lola in Fantasy, Mystery, Review / 6 Comments

A Mythical Case of Homicide (A Mythical Pet Sitting Mystery #4)
by Melissa Erin Jackson

My Rating: 4 stars

Genre: Paranormal Cozy Mystery/ Cozy Fantasy
Age Category: Adult
Type of romance: m/f

Blurb:
This year’s festival season will be perilous.

Zombie cactus season has officially begun in Axia, and Deandra is not having a good time. The town is preparing for a festival to honor the versatile plant, and it’s giving Dee—a recovering barista—Pumpkin Spice Latte–season flashbacks.

Most shop owners in Axia are taking part in the cactus-themed festivities, and Quinn and Rularo Greenwood are no exception. Their shop, InkCraft, is known for its alchemical inks that add magic-powered animation to business cards, signs, and even tattoos. Since the couple will be busy with the festival all weekend, they’ve opted to leave their salica at home, where the high-strung, magic-touched ferret will be more comfortable. They’ve hired a very reluctant Dee to aid in his care.

Though the ferret often uses the depths of Rularo’s beard as a security blanket, he accepts Dee’s calming presence as a passable, if weak, replacement. But when a customer of Rularo’s dies because of a poison-laced tattoo, Peril is riddled with guilt, sure he could have saved his family from awful allegations had he been with Rularo at the time of the incident.

Uncovering who actually tampered with the tattoo ink is more complicated than Deandra and Peril anticipate. The more they dig, the more they’re sure the incident is connected to a sapient-animal rights group that has been harassing festival attendees. With the clock ticking toward the end of the three-day festival, they must ferret out the culprit before the town’s horde of cactus-crazed tourists depart Axia, leaving InkCraft in shambles … and taking their secrets with them.

My Review

I really like this series and bought this one shortly after release and started reading it not much later. It was so much fun to follow Deandra again in this book. She has a new pet sitting job for a talking ferret and there are some mischievous magical phasing kittens at the pet store she’s trying to help find a new home. And the zombie cactus festival was such a fun theme and setting for this book. I had a great time reading this one. It was such a fun read and I really love this series.

The zombie cactus festival was so fun and I liked how most of the book is set around and during the festival. I liked reading about all the zombie cactus goodies and the festival made for such a fun setting and theme. The artwork included in the book is a nice touch and I really like how each chapter starts with a piece of artwork. I also liked the new mythical pets introduced in this one. The talking ferret Peril was a great character and it was interesting having Deandra being able to talk with him and the way they teamed up to figure out the mystery as Peril’s parents are suspects in the case. The magical kittens were great fun too, I liked seeing Deandra and Havoc interact with them and the scenes involving them were so fun. I liked how things panned out with finding them new homes too.

The mystery in this one was a solid one. I liked how Deandra got involved and how she teamed up with Peril. I thought it was great to see how essential Peril was in figuring things out and doing some of the online research. I liked seeing how Deandra handled things and also went about things smartly. I enjoyed seeing her team up with her boyfriend Cruz later in the book and how they handled things together. The mystery had a few good twists and the conclusion and wrap up was well done.

There’s just something so fun about this series. I really like the characters. Deandra is an amazing main character and I like reading about her. I like how real she feels and her passion for animals is great. I also like her romance with Cruz, these two are just so fun and sweet together and their interactions always make me happy as they are just so fun to read about. The side characters and all the mythical pets are all great too and are fun to read about. They all have so much personality and are so well written. This book also has some more to learn about the mythical world and some of the mythical creatures and magic. I also keep noticing how real the dialogue feels in this book.

To summarize: I had a great time reading this one. The zombie cactus festival that takes place was such a fun theme and setting for this book and I enjoyed reading about the festival and all the zombie cactus goodies that were sold. I liked reading more about Deandra and the new mythical creatures she encounters in this one. Peril the talking ferret was a great addition to this book and I enjoyed reading about him and it was great how he was essential in figuring some things out about the mystery. The phasing kittens were fun too and I liked the scenes involving them and seeing them find new homes. The mystery was a solid one with Deandra handling things in a smart way and I liked how she figured things out. There are some well done twists along the way too. The characters and side characters in this book are all great and I really like reading about them. Deandra feels real and relatable and I like her passion for animals. I really like her romance with Cruz, these two are so sweet and fun to read about. I had a great time reading this one and look forward to the next book!