Review: The Dog Park Murders by Angela Barker

The Dog Park Murders (The Dog Park Murders #1)
by Angela Barker

My Rating: 4 stars

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

Blurb:
A cozy, seasonal romance-mystery in which a grumpy café owner teams up with a sunshiny pet groomer to solve a murder that’s shocked the small town of Labrador Falls. First book in the Dog Park Murders miniseries that’s a perfect blend of Only Murders in the Building and The Pumpkin Spice Café.

A killer has been unleashed in their small town…

Juliette Macintyre has never met a dog she didn’t love. For one thing, dogs don’t judge, unlike the human residents of Labrador Falls. Most locals look at her with suspicion because her father was once a dirty cop, even though Juliette is upbeat, helpful, and the best pet groomer around. She just needs to prove it…starting with new resident Joel Cunningham, an enigma wrapped in a checked shirt and a scowl.

Joel runs the Brewed Awakening café, where the coffee is as smooth as Joel is surly. He doesn’t serve pumpkin spice, he doesn’t chitchat, and he claims he doesn’t like dogs. Yet when Juliette stumbles upon a dead body in the dog park, strangled with one of her custom leashes, Joel becomes an unexpected ally.

He has no intention of opening up, to either his cute neighbor or the foster pup she foists on him. But he can’t let a biased detective frame Juliette for murder. Whoever killed the widely loathed Maurice Allsop may be desperate enough to strike again. If they can just ignore their chemistry and focus on the clues, Juliette and Joel might be able to solve the case—before somebody else bites the dust…

For fans of…
– Grumpy/Sunshine Romance
– Small-Town Cozy Mystery
– Amateur Sleuths
– Twisty-Turny Whodunits
– Pet Sidekicks

My Review

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

The Dog Park Murders was one of my most anticipated releases of this year and I was so excited to get a review copy of this one. The Dog Park Murders is a cozy mystery romance, it’s like the perfect blend between cozy mystery and romance. I had a great time reading this, there is some small town charm and autumn vibes as well as some adorable pets.

This book could feel kinda trope-y, but for the most part I didn’t mind. I liked the grumpy sunshine romance between Juliette and Joel, although I felt like Joel only turned into a grump because of what happened in this past and toward the end he loses a lot of that grumpy vibe. Besides that we have the small town vibe. It’s set during autumn and even has some Halloween scenes toward the end. The romance follows a typical progression and same with the cozy mystery. I liked how it felt typical, but also fresh with the way the two genres got combined.

I liked the blend of cozy mystery and romance. Often in cozy mysteries when there is a romance its a bit more toward the sidelines or takes multiple books to get somewhere. Here we have a romance that tales up equal page time as the mystery. I did feel the book could’ve been a bit longer even to give both the romance and mystery a bit more page time, but mostly I thought the blend worked well.

The mystery is a pretty straightforward one, but still kept me guessing. I liked how Juliette and Joel team up to solve the mystery. I always find that a fun theme for cozies and I thought here, with the added focus on the romance, it worked especially well. It was fun to see them figure it out and get both their point of views and they found clues sometimes when they were apart and other times when they’re together. I hadn’t guessed who the murderer was, but it made enough sense that I think it would be possible to figure it out.

There is plenty of time for the romance too and for that to develop. I liked seeing them spend time together and grow closer. There is even some spice later on, which I hadn’t expected as cozies usually don’t have that, but I thought it worked well enough here. I liked how both characters had their own past and struggles. I didn’t really like how badly the town treated Juliette and it did diminish the cozy small town vibes a bit for me, but I did like her character development arc and her figuring out to be herself more and worry less about what other people think. I also liked Joel’s character development with how he has to come to terms with the past and open himself to love once more. I did think the ending felt a bit rushed and I would’ve liked a bit more of their change to be earlier in the book, but still the ending felt very satisfying with them figuring everything out and solving the mystery.

There are some interesting side characters. I liked Juliette’s relationship with her twin Norah and their friendship with Alexa. I felt like they both have potential to get their own romance and I saw the next book in the series has been announced and my guess that this is a series turns out to be correct. I liked how the pets all had their own personality and the characters interpret their actions with some text, which was so fun. I especially liked Digger, but all the pets in the book had their own personality.

To summarize: I had a great time reading this one. I thought the blend between cozy mystery and romance worked really well, although it does mean the mystery and the romance get a bit less page time than with a book with just one of those genres. I liked Juliette and Joel and I liked their grumpy-sunshine romance and the way they team up to solve the mystery. They both have some things in their past and their own struggles to deal with. I felt like the book could’ve been a bit longer so the mystery and romance could both be a bit more developed, but at the same time it didn’t really feel rushed. The mystery is a bit straightforward, but it still kept me guessing and I liked how it got resolved. I hadn’t guessed who the murderer was, but it made sense. I liked the side characters and the set ups for Norah and Alexa to get their own romances. I also liked the pet side characters and how alive and vibrant their personalities were. All in all I had fun reading this book and definitely look forward to more in this series.

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

You can also read my review on Goodreads and Bookbub.