To Kill a Labrador by Kassandra Lamb -> Starting June 16th, 2021

[Alaina]

Marcia (pronounced Mar-see-a, not Marsha) likes to think of herself as a normal person, even though she has a rather abnormal vocation. She trains service dogs for combat veterans with PTSD. Then the ex-Marine owner of her first trainee is accused of murdering his wife, and Marcia gets sucked into an even more abnormal avocation–amateur sleuth.

Called in to dog-sit the Labrador service dog, Buddy, she’s outraged that his veteran owner is being presumed guilty until proven innocent. With Buddy’s help, she tries to uncover the real killer. Even after the hunky local sheriff politely tells her to butt out, Marcia keeps poking around. Until the killer finally pokes back.

[Celia]

36% (view spoiler)[I really like this one. Marcia doesn't seem as stubborn as many of the amateur detectives I've read recently, and she's doing this because she genuinely cares for a friend, not necessarily because her business would go under. The potential relationship with the detective is also not front and center, which I do appreciate.

I'm curious to see how this one plays out, as I don't expect that Jimmy is the murderer, but the beginning few sentences did indicate that Buddy is her dog now.

No one is giving me murderer vibes yet, which I like because it keeps me on my toes. (hide spoiler)]

[Celia]

60% (view spoiler)[I had a feeling Jimmy was going to die. Otherwise, how would Marcia get Buddy?

The stuff about Doris became clear pretty quickly as well, although I'm surprised she was the one who hit Jimmy. I do think she's holding something back, but I'm hoping they can manage at least a working relationship after this, if not a friendship.

And yeah, I figured that gator was definitely planted. (hide spoiler)]

[Celia]

80% (view spoiler)[Okay, Frank definitely had something to do with it. I really like Marcia's motives though. It's clear she really does care about people. (hide spoiler)]

[Celia]

FINISHED (view spoiler)[Okay, so I honestly didn't expect Collins was involved with any of it, only Frank, so I guess I didn't put things together. This was full of thrilling twists to the very end, especially with the sheriff. I was completely fooled!

Definitely coming back to this author when I can, and might even buy the next book in the series. (hide spoiler)]