Book 33 - The Call of the Wilde

*A little note about this new series. As you should know by now, my favorite-ist mystery author is Heather Webber-Blake! [You can view my other blog postings to hear me gloat about her work.] Anyway, it's been a very long time since I've come across another author's work that I would put on par with Heather's, but Laura has written such a fantastic debut novel in her Call of the Wilde series that I feel I must give her credit where it's due. If you haven't read either Heather's or Laura's work, please go do so now.

Book 33: Woof at the Door (Call of the Wild #1) by Laura Morrigan

Woof at the Door
(click here to purchase)

Desctiption: Animal behaviorist Grace Wilde keeps her ability to psychically communicate with furry and feathered critters under wraps. But when a Doberman turns out to be the only witness to a crime, Grace will have to let the cat out of the bag in order to catch a killer.

Grace Wilde’s job is anything but normal. When she’s not helping out at the zoo by comforting agitated lemurs, she’s listening to the woes of annoyed house pets. Grace’s life gets even more complicated, though, when the cops summon her to a crime scene to help deal with the murder victim’s terrified Doberman.

The pooch turns out to be the only one who saw what happened the night of the shooting—and only Grace can get the information out of him. The problem is, how will Grace tell the distractingly gorgeous Sergeant Kai Duncan that it’s the dog who’s giving her the intel without spilling her big secret or sounding crazy? Left on her own, Grace will have to follow the pup’s lead to track down the killer. But she’ll have to be careful—or curiosity may end up killing the cat whisperer. [GoodReads]

This is the first cozy I've read in a couple of months. Lately, I've been more into standalone novels, but as soon as I got my hands on this little book, I decided to jump right in. What normally could take less than a day to get through turned into three days for me because I did not want this mystery to end!

When Grace learns about the details of a murder, so is sure that her friend who's been convicted is innocent. There's only one catch - she's getting her information from the victim's doberman! Grace's unusual gift has been both a blessing and a curse, but when it comes to helping the hunky police detective solve this mystery, she is spot on.

Grace lives with her sister, and I always enjoy a good story about siblings. Maybe it's because I only have a brother, but Morrigan makes me feel like I share a bond with her characters throughout the story. I really enjoy the moments she shares with the animals, from dogs to lemurs to giraffes!

I would request a bit more romance in this story - the relationship between Kai and Grace is definitely developing, but I'd like to see more movement. This seems to be a common trend in cozies, though - while the romance is there, it's often extremely dragged out and suppressed so that readers are left hanging by a thread. Come on, cozy authors! We want more love!!

I definitely recommend this to cozy fans, animal lovers, or anyone new to the genre! I'm so looking forward to the next in the series and also to see Morrigan flourish!

Laura Morrigan

Meet the Author: Spending the first years of her life on a Costa Rican coffee farm blessed Laura Morrigan with a fertile imagination and a love for all things wild. Later she became a volunteer at a Florida zoo, helping out with everything from “waste management” to teaching an elephant how to paint. Drawing from her years of experience with both wild and domestic animals and her passion for detective novels, Laura created the Call of the Wilde series. She lives in Florida with her husband and far too many cats, loves the Blue Angels, wearing flip flops in November, and thunderstorms. [GoodReads]

To visit Laura, follow these links:
Laura Morrigan SITE
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UPCOMING BOOK: Madame Tussaud: A Novel of the French Revolution by Michelle Moran
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