Fred Page is eager and nervous to open her new bookstore The Cozy Corgi. Her Corgi sidekick, Watson, is less than impressed with the books but adores the treats coming out of the bakery upstairs. Fred's friend Katie has also finally accomplished her dream of running her own bakery. In fact the bakery does better business than the bookstore. Fred is also nervous about her two sort-of boyfriends coming to the store opening. A detective and national park ranger, the men just don't get along. Their animosity goes beyond Fred. She's not looking for love right now but if she were, her partner must love the same books and allow her to be independent. Then Fred has a run-in with the local bird shop owner, Miss Myrtle Bantam, whose passion for birds is as strong as Katie's for baking. To make things right with Myrtle, Fred offers up free food from the bakery and Katie lands a catering gig. While attending Myrtle's bid club meeting with the food, Katie unerringly earns Myrtle's praise and the enmity one of the other members of the group. Henry is dismissed as a cranky naysayer who accuses everyone of everything including poaching. Soon Henry turns up dead in the national park! It seems as if he may have been on to something with his accusations. The locals all assume Fred will investigate and solve the murder. Fred assumes otherwise until Branson Wexler not so politely tells Katie to stay out. Katie refuses to be told what to do by anyone, especially a man! Can she solve the case once again?
I didn't like this book as much as the first two. I was excited to enter the bookshop and see it finally open. Only the very beginning of the novel takes place in the shop and one other scene later on. Katie spends all of her time investigating the mystery of Henry's murder. She even spends more time in Katie's bakery than down in the shop. I didn't get why she would leave her shop and the bakery in the ends of a brand new employee she only just met a few days before. I also didn't like Katie's childish reaction to Branson's request. He's a policeman, she's a civilian. It seems pretty simple. Intellectually she knows that but her hackles are up and she's hopping mad. Nosiness is an OK trait in a cozy mystery heroine but childishness is not.
The murder is difficult to solve. I could not guess who murdered Henry. Why seemed obvious until all was revealed. I actually wasn't totally surprised at who and why but everything else that was revealed came as a huge surprise. The killer is absolutely insane, not to mention creepy.
The secondary characters really make this series come to life. Watson is, as always, adorable in his cranky, standoffish way. He knows what he wants- treats- and how to get them- guilty looks at "mom" and allowing people to pet him. Watson's choice of people he loves is unique. At one point in the story, Watson is just so sweet and lovely. Katie is as bubbly and cheerful as ever but I don't understand hiring someone on the spot, unless she already knows Sammy and isn't sharing that information with Fred. Fred notes that Sammy is Katie's doppelganger so maybe they're related? Fred's Uncle Percival is massively embarrassing. I didn't care for his quip that his great nieces and nephews may be of the "Hispanic persuasion"! He meant to be funny and I know older men like this who make off-color jokes like that but I can't stand to read about it. Gary has the patience of a saint. He's a very kind man. I love how much Fred loves him. Anna and Carl play a lesser role here but are still an amusing, charming couple. The local coffee shop owner, Carla, makes a cameo in a funny, cringe-worthy scene.
Fred's two love interests reverse roles here with Leo helping with the investigation. While he seems like a nice guy, I don't get anything more than friendly vibes between Leo and Katie. He's a better choice than Branson. Branson comes on too strong and seems to think there's more to his relationship with Fred than she realizes. He is good at his job but I find it doubtful he would ignore a claim from a park ranger about poaching in a national park! That doesn't make sense.
The rest of the secondary characters are all in the bird club. Henry is a very angry man. He has high standards and holds everyone else to them. He's a little weird because one minute he reveres Myrtle and the next he hates her. Honestly, I thought he was going to murder her! While everyone sees Myrtle as a devotee of bird conservation, Henry believes she's in it for the power and tyrannizes everyone. Myrtle and Fred did not get off on the right foot to begin with. Myrtle's passion for birds leads her to hate dogs! She also hates cages and is freakishly obsessed with a rare bird from New Zealand. At first Myrtle seems like a villain herself. She comes across as a cranky old lady stock character, however, reading on, I discovered she has more depth than Fred realizes. Silas Belle is Fred's new neighbor - if you can call him that. He is obviously wealthy, owning a brand new mansion and paying a hefty fee to belong to a lame bird club. (Not that bird clubs are lame but this one is). Benjamin is a sleazy salesman or he appears that way. Like Myrtle, he came as a bit of a surprise. Lucy is a bird lover without personality. Pete also doesn't have any personality. Fred learns he's trying to find time away from his wife and kids. Alice is trying to fill the space in her life left when her son went to college. I find this a bit creepy and her personality is a little cantankerous. I didn't like her very much. She was the one to discover the body so perhaps she's either traumatized or covering up a nasty deed. Fred learns Roxanne likes to feel superior and special. Raul is the same as Pete but she doesn't get much out of them. Owen is passionate about birds and bird conservation but Henry accuses him of poaching. It's hard to tell what he's thinking from the little bit he's in the story. Finally, there's Petra, another personality-less character. There were too many suspects for the author to fully flesh out.
I do plan to read the next book in the series to see how it goes but if I don't enjoy it as much as the first two, I will probably move on.