Musings and Ramblings

Muzzled

Kate Turner DVM, #1

Eileen Brady

Genre: Cozy Mystery
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Narrator: Caroline Shaffer
Date of Publication: July 14, 2015
Abridged or Unabridged: Unabridged
Length of Production: 7 hrs and 38 mins

Anything can happen during a veterinary house call, including murder. Dr. Kate Turner thinks she's seen it all until she finds two elderly clients shot dead and their show dogs running loose in the house. Chief of Police Bobby Garcia dismisses it as a sad murder-suicide, but Kate isn't so sure. Something about the scene isn't right. There are twenty-seven Cavalier King Charles spaniels found in the home but one dog may be missing. Or is he?

As she learns more about the murdered couple a twisted scheme of fraud and deceit begins to develop. Each one of her house call clients provides a clue to the mystery. Is the tattooed biker who loves to bake a hit man? Did a ten million dollar lawsuit drive the filmmaker to shoot for real? Or perhaps the estranged daughter got tired of waiting for her inheritance? As the number of suspects goes up so does the cups of coffee and pieces of pie Kate wolfs down, leaving her nerves jangling and her pants too tight. Before she knows it someone tries to frame her for the murder. Who can she trust? The bookkeeper with her pet parrot, Capt Hook, stuffed into her cleavage or the grouchy office manager who knows where all the bodies are buried?

In this "pet noir" author and veterinarian Eileen Brady takes the reader behind the scenes to mix her medicine with murder.

I have read cozy mysteries about people with all kinds of different jobs, but I had never read one about an actual Veterinarian.  As a matter of fact, I don't think I have read many books period about animal doctors.  So this this book immediately caught my attention when I saw it available on Audiobook Jukebox. This was both a new to me author and narrator.

Dr. Kate Turner is filling in as a relief veterinarian in the small town of Oak Falls in upstate New York, while the regular veterinarian takes a very much overdue vacation on a cruise around the world with his cancer survivor sister. The story starts with Dr. Kate almost to the home of an elderly couple who breed and show champion spaniels. When she arrives, she finds them both dead in what looks like a murder/suicide. Except that everything she knows about the couple seems to make this an unlikely scenario. Oak Falls is a small town, and it seems that everyone she meets has a different story or theory about the couple that may have led to their death.

Caroline Shaffer did a really good job separating the voices, taking clues from the story to make each person unique in some small way. She had an appealing tone, even when she was laying on the thick New York accent. Her pacing and emoting was well done, making this an enjoyable listen.

If you enjoy stories involving animals, you will have a good time with this book.  The clues were well thought out and though I was surprised at the end, looking back, I could see that they were all there. They just had to be put in the right order. I had a good time with this story and am happy to have discovered not only a new author, but a new narrator. I gave this book 4 stars.

Special thanks to Audiobook Jukebox and Blackstone Audio for the opportunity to listen and review this book.