The Dog Across the Lake by Krista Davis

Available: January 2, 2024

Rating: 5 biscuits

Oma's birthday is coming up and family is coming from all over the world to visit and wish her well. When a dog belonging to Holly's cousin, Josh, shows up in her bed one morning she knows her long-lost relative has come back. But where is he? That's a question you'll ask many times throughout the book!

My favorite cozy mystery series all have one thing in common, they create a wonderful little escapist world where everything is super cozy - even as people are being bumped off. In that way, this series is probably my very favorite. I love the mountains, the woods, being on the water, and most of all, I LOVE my dogs. Imagine a place that has all of these things, a place where everyone caters to our dogs just as much as (or maybe even more than) we do? That's Wagtail. I've been known to drag my husband to places where my favorite series are set and I would love more than anything to be able to drag him to Wagtail. But alas, it's fictional.

This mystery was very well-crafted. I did struggle a bit to keep the characters straight and I will freely admit that when the killer is outed, my response was "Who?" Then I had to regroup to remind myself of who the killer was in the broader scheme of the story (though who they actually were, I had never caught that). But not always knowing who was who didn't necessarily take away from the story for me because I love the setting and the regular characters so much.

This series is definitely a must read for anyone who enjoys cozy mysteries with pets and for anyone who enjoys the mountains.

Thank you to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.