Review: A Pose Before Dying by Alex Erickson

A Pose Before Dying (A Cat Yoga Mystery #1)
by Alex Erickson

My Rating: 4 stars

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

Blurb:
Fledgling entrepreneur Ashley Branson is thrilled to open her dream business—a cat yoga studio. But helping clients find balance and felines find homes soon becomes one unhealthy exercise in murder . . .

Ashley Branson has a lot to prove with her new cat yoga studio, A Purrfect Pose. It’s a place for humans to find inner wellness—and adopt adorable cats from the local shelter. It’s also a chance for Ash to run her own life, out from under her overbearing mother and a stifling relationship. So far, so successful. Until she discovers one of her new clients, a much-disliked college professor, dead in her studio, locked in child’s pose . . .

To make matters worse, Ash’s hapless always-in-trouble brother, Hunter, instantly becomes the cops’ prime suspect. Determined to clear his name and save her business, Ash does a deep lunge into the surprising—and strange—connections the victim had with her other clients. But countless suspects, contradictory leads, not to mention people desperate to see her studio shut down, mean Ash will have to stretch to the max to outthink a clever killer who’s ready to strike her red in tooth and claw . . .

My Review

I received a free copy from the publisher through Netgalley and voluntarily reviewed it.

A Pose Before Dying caught my eye when I spotted it on Netgalley. It sounded good with the interesting concept of a yoga studio filled with cats. I was excited when I got accepted for this one and picked it up when I was in a cozy mystery mood. I really enjoyed this book and look forward to more in the series.

A Pose Before Dying is a solid start to this new series. This was a new to me author, although I’ve read a novella once by him before this. I really enjoyed A Pose Before Dying and definitely want to continue this series as well as pick up some other books by this author as well. A Pose Before Dying is told from the point of view of Ash who just started her own business, a yoga studio with cats that the students can adopt. It was a fun concept and I liked seeing how it all worked. I also liked how there are some scenes about her running her business before she had to close due to the murder.

The mystery was a good one. It kept me invested and engaged as I followed Ash as she tries to solve the mystery. The mystery progresses nicely with some bits of information coming to light along the way. Although I did feel like it kept circling around a few pieces like Ash’ brother Hunter who is missing. I liked how she is the one to actually solve the mystery. And I liked how it got resolved and the way it all made sense. I liked how a certain clue I thought might be relevant turned out to be and while I hadn’t guessed the murderer, I also wasn’t too surprised and was putting things together at the same time as Ash.

I liked reading about Ash. I thought she was a likable main character. It made sense how she got involved in the mystery and I could understand why she acted the way she did. She has quite some friends and family around her as well as students and I liked seeing how she interacted with them. I did struggle a bit with the large amount of side characters at first to remember who everyone was, but that got better as the story progressed. There are some interesting developments relationship wise between Ash and some of the side characters. And I liked how it felt like everyone had something going on and had their own lives.

To summarize: I really enjoyed this book, it’s a solid start to this new series and I liked the cat yoga concept. I was glad I got to read a bit about Ash and her yoga business before she had to close due to the murder. The mystery was well written and kept me invested. There were a few points I felt like the book kept circling around, but there was enough progression and new information throughout the book. I liked how Ash is the one to solve the mystery and figure it out. I enjoyed reading about Ash and her life, I could understand why she acted the way she did and I liked seeing her interact with the side characters. There are a lot of side characters, which was a bit overwhelming at first, but it got easier to remember who was who as the book progressed. All in all a great start to this series and I plan to continue this series and read more by this author.

Links:
– Goodreads
– Bookbub
– Amazon
– B&N
– Kobo

You can also read my review on Goodreads and Bookbub.