Belinda Blake and the Snake in the Grass
When exotic pet-sitter Belinda Blake moves into a carriage house in tony Greenwich, Connecticut, she’s hoping to find some new clients. Instead, she discovers a corpse in the garden-and a knack for solving murders.
Pet-sitter Belinda Blake doesn’t rattle easily, but move-in day has been eventful. The python in her care tried to slither to freedom-just as she met Stone Carrington V, her landlords’ disarmingly handsome son. With the constrictor back in its cage, she heads out to the garden, only to discover a designer shoe poking out of the boxwood hedge-attached to a woman’s dead body.
The victim, Margo Fenton, was a Carrington family friend, and no one in their circle seems above suspicion. Between client trips to Manhattan and visits to her family in upstate New York, Belinda begins to put the pieces together. But though she’s falling for Stone’s numerous charms, Belinda wonders if she’s cozying up to a killer. And soon, daily contact with a deadly reptile might be the least dangerous part of her life.
Series: An Exotic Pet-Sitter Mystery – Book 1
Author: Heather Day Gilbert
Genre: Cozy Mystery/ Pet
Publisher: Kensington Books
Page Count:192
Rating: 
From Kensington Books, https://www.kensingtonbooks.com/ comes book one, Belinda Blake, and the Snake in the Grass in a new cozy series from award-winning author, Heather Day Gilbert. The “An Exotic Pet Sitter Mystery” will be a delightful, fun series with interesting characters and unusual plots.
The main character, Belinda Blake, is young, hip, and full of brilliant ideas to build her pet sitting business as well as her game review business. She is quirky and lovable with a hint of sass, and naiveté. As with all new series, there will be changes and revelations to come for characters and plots. Other characters are just as unique as Belinda, some more than others. They will become an asset to future stories and will entertain readers with their unusual characteristics, faults, and all.
The first adventure in this cozy series is a bit unorthodox, a character who is an exotic pet sitter but who seems to be timid with a snake. When Belinda finds a body buried in her back porch garden, she feels that it is imperative to find the killer; after the second body, she becomes even more determined to catch the killer. Readers see her evolve and begin to like the snake as the story progresses, build new friendships, and maybe learn a life lesson or two along the way. Belinda Blake and the Snake in the Grass has moments of delight and an equal amount of head-scratching confusion.
The chief victim is never known while alive, but readers will get a good sense of who she was, and even why someone would want her dead. There are quite a few twists and turns in this book, enough to keep readers guessing who the killer is until the end. The unveiling is action-packed and the killer’s identity unexpected, which is a great thing in a cozy series and book.
Overall, I found Belinda Blake and the Snake in the Grass to be entertaining with room for growth of the characters in future additions to the series. There are some slow parts and missing background information that should be filled out in book two. More interaction between Belinda’s family as well as her hometown and her past would be beneficial in future books. In general, this was a quick, fun read, and will be an entertaining cozy series. I recommend it to readers of all cozy genres.
Readers who enjoy pet based cozy series may also enjoy Krista Davis’ http://www.kristadavis.com/ “A Paws & Claws Mystery” series https://www.thecozyreview.com/mission-impawsible/ or T.C. LoTempio’s https://www.tclotempio.net/ “A Cat Rescue Mystery” https://www.thecozyreview.com/death-by-a-whisker/ books.
About the Author
Heather Day Gilbert is an ECPA Christy Award finalist and Grace award winner. She writes contemporary mysteries and Viking historicals. Her novels feature small towns, family relationships, and women who aren’t afraid to protect those they love.
She was born and raised in wild and wonderful West Virginia, and currently lives there with her husband, her loveable dog, and two cats. When not writing she plays video games, does a little gardening in her perennial flowerbeds, or sometimes goes shooting with her husband. Heather’s favorite Agatha Christie mystery is Ordeal by Innocence and her favorite classic is Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy.
Represented by Julie Gwinn at The Seymour Agency.
Contact Heather: http://heatherdaygilbert.com/contact-me/
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