Review and Giveaway: Fashion Faux Paw

Fashion Faux Paw (Dog Walker Mystery - Book 6) by Judi McCoy


Publication Date: March 6, 2012
Publisher: Penguin Group USA
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Pages: Paperback, 336pp
ISBN-13: 978-0451236272
ISBN: 0451236270


(Received for an honest review from Obsidian Mystery)


Purchase: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, IndieBound


Judi McCoy on the WEB: website, blog


Books in the series: Hounding the Pavement (2008), Heir of the Dog (2009), Death in Show (2010), Begging for Trouble (2011), Till Death Do Us Bark (2011), Fashion Faux Paw (2012)


CoverArt: Click on the picture for a larger, clearer image of the covers in this series.

Excerpt from Fashion Faux Paw


Synopsis:

Professional dog walker Ellie Engleman is more used to dog runs than catwalks, but when she gets involved in a fashion show, she learns a designer's life can be murder...

When Ellie is hired for a Fashion Week event - caring for the dogs who will model outfits that match human models' - she's more than ready to escape her world of pet-a-porter for the glitz and glamour of the fashion world. But the glitter rubs right off when a designer drops dead of anaphylactic shock, her EpiPen useless after someone tampers with it.

The victim's peanut allergy was as well-known as her dress designs. With a little psychic help from the designer's miniature Schnauzer, Ellie and her canine sidekicks are determined to sort through a coterie of backstabbing rivals and bitter enemies to find out who wanted the designer out of the competition - permanently. 

Thoughts:


Sadly, this will be the final installment in the dog walker mystery series. Author Judi McCoy died in February and this book was published after her death. Fans of McCoy throughout her career will miss her trademark wit and humor and her ability to create characters that resonate with readers from many different backgrounds. Fashion Faux Paw the sixth book in the series, will speak to both animal lovers and fashionista's alike. This well written and tightly plotted cozy is one readers will enjoy for a long time to come.

Fashion Faux Paw finds heroine Ellie Engleman in the middle of Fashion Week. With shows like America's Next Top Model and Project Runway seeing a lot of popularity, I thought McCoy really had a great idea by using fashion week as the setting for this novel. I also liked the way that Judi incorporated the dogs not only into the plot, but into the fashion show as well. Using the dogs as canine models was a great plot idea. I thought she was able to pull it off well and give Ellie a good reason to be there. 

One of the things that I have always liked about this series is Ellie's relationship with her own pooch, Rudy. I am a dog lover myself and often find myself chatting with my dog, Sundae. The difference being that my dog doesn't talk back. But I'm 99% sure she totally understands me sometimes. LOL! The fact that Ellie talks to and understands Rudy and other dogs may seem a little far fetched, but that's the joy of it. It doesn't have to be realistic. Books are about escape and having a pet you can talk to is definitely supernatural. That paranormal element was well treated in McCoy's books and added to each one in a great way.

Ellie is your typical animal lover. She makes a business of something she loves and does a little amateur sleuthing on the side, another passion of hers. I liked the fact that Ellie is so curious and inquisitive. She just seems to be in the right place at the right time to find a murder. But I suppose that's the cozy way. I like Ellie's relationship with Sam and I'm sorry that we won't get to see what happens next with them. McCoy did a fantastic job of creating this character and making her so relatable to the reader.

There were tons of suspects in this mystery and about as many motives. There were not too many people in the fashion world that liked the designer who ended up dead. I did peg the killer about half way through but that certainly didn't take away from the story for me, but McCoy kept me so off balance that I wasn't sure I was correct. It was fun picking out the red herrings and sorting through the clues right along with Ellie. A great read, in a great series... R.I.P, Judi, you will certainly be missed!

Fashion Faux Paw is available NOW from your favorite bookseller.


I'm giving this one 5 out of 5 apples from my book bag!

R.I.P. Judi McCoy:


Judith Ann Karol McCoy, national bestselling author of 'The Dog Walker Mystery' series and other novels, died February 18, in Cape Charles, VA. Judi McCoy was the published author of 22 mystery and romance novels. Her first, "I Dream of You" won Waldenbooks 2002 award for best-selling new author. Her most recent series, the popular Dog Walker Mysteries, debuted in 2009 with "Hounding the Pavement", all royalties from which Judi donated to the Best Friends Animal Society. Her 2010 novel "Death in Show" Dogwalker mystery won Romantic Times Most Humorous Mystery award. Her latest novel, "Fashion Faux-Paw," will be published in March 2012.

In addition to writing novels, Judi was a cornerstone of Crescent Moon Press, led many writing workshops for aspiring writers at national conferences and mentored numerous new authors.

Judi is survived by her husband of 44 years, Dennis McCoy; her beloved dogs Buckley, Belle, Sasha, and Polly; her daughters and grandchilden.

GIVEAWAY DETAILS:

The publisher is sponsoring a giveaway for one copy of Fashion Faux Paw by Judi McCoy.


~ You must be a GFC follower or an e-mail subscriber to participate.
~ US addresses only!
~ The deadline to enter this giveaway is Midnight EST April 25th.


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