Publication Date: 01/07/2014
Publisher: Penguin Group
Imprint: Berkley Prime Crime
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Pages: 304
ISBN-10: 0425259978
ISBN-13: 978-0425259979
(Received for an honest review from Berkley Prime Crime)
Purchase: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, Indiebound
Linda O. Johnston on the WEB: Website, Blog, facebook, goodreads
Books in the series:
Beaglemania (2011), The More the Terrier (2011), Hounds Abound (2012), Oodles of Poodles (2013), Teacup Turbulence (2014)
Coverart: Click the Image for a larger, clearer view of the covers in this series.
Synopsis:
Los Angeles animal shelter manager Lauren Vancouver has a soft spot for animals in need—and a keen eye for crime. . .
Thanks to a savvy ad campaign featuring teacup pups sporting HotPets Bling—a new line of faux jewelry dog collars—small dog adoptions have skyrocketed across the city. So when Lauren discovers a shelter in the Midwest with more toy dogs than it can handle, she arranges a private plane to swoop in and fly the pups back to LA.
But Lauren didn’t count on rescue worker Teresa Kantrim coming along for the ride. Teresa has cared for the dogs since they were found and doesn’t trust anyone from La-La Land to take over the job. Her biting comments clearly haven’t earned Teresa any new friends, but when she turns up murdered, it’s time for Lauren to dig into Teresa’s past and find out who wanted her put down.
Thoughts:
Linda O. Johnston once again thrills readers and pet lover's alike in her latest book in the Pet Rescue mystery series, Teacup Turbulence. Johnston is not only giving readers a great whodunit in this one, but also raising awareness for rescue animals and the dangers of puppy mills and other situations that are inhumane. Johnston's protagonist, Lauren Vancouver and the HotRescues crew are always up for taking on new projects including some puppy bling in this one. A great addition to the series!
What I liked:
This is a great series! Johnston is always so focused on both the mystery she is writing and the plight of animals. She does a great job of showing readers the behind the scenes stuff that doesn't usually make it into books about pet rescue, especially not mysteries. It is obvious that the author has a real soft spot of animals and their welfare and in my book that's a wonderful thing, it shows itself on every page of her books. They may be mysteries, but they have a secondary focus as well... happy critters.
Lauren is a lead character. She always has the big picture in mind when it comes to pet rescue. She wants to make the biggest impact she can and in this case it is rescuing some toy dogs from a midwest shelter that has far too many. I thought Johnston did a great job of showing Lauren's commitment and the also the victims stake in these animals. Teresa came with the dogs, there had to be a reason, right? Love or of dogs or something else?
The mystery aspects of the book were well done, however in shorter supply than I would have liked. I thought the eventual motive and the killer were insightful and plausible. Could this one have really happened? There's a good possibility. There were lots of suspects. Let's face it, this chick was not very popular, but there is also the mystery of what's going on with the adoption of some of the rescue dogs. So readers have two cases to ponder. I didn't figure it out until the end and that was a good thing. I don't want to figure it out every time. LOL
What I didn't like:
I thought this one was a bit heavy handed on the pet rescue them and the doggie jewelry and a little light on the mystery. Though those aspects of the story were certainly important to the outcome and in providing awareness of rescue pet issues, they should have been a balanced a bit more. I generally read a mystery for the mystery, not the background.
Bottom Line:
This was good book, though maybe not my favorite of the series. The pet rescue theme was well written, but tended to take over a bit. The killer wasn't obvious and the sleuth did a good job of keeping up with the clues and solving the crime.
Teacup Turbulence will be available to booksellers on January 7th. However, pre-order is available now.
I'm giving this one 4 out of 5 apples from my book bag!
About the Author:
Giveaway Details:
The publisher is sponsoring a giveaway for one copy of Teacup Turbulence by Linda O. Johnson.
~ You must be an email subscriber to participate.
~ U.S. Addresses only.
~ The deadline to enter this giveaway is Midnight EST, January 20th.
1. Please leave a comment describing any rescue animals that you may have adopted at one time or another.
2. Please fill out the FORM.
22 comments:
I haven't ever gotten a dog from a shelter.
CABWNANA1@bellsouth.net
I adopted a wonderful mix from Lap Dog Rescue. He is a smart, energetic sage. saubleb(at)gmail(dot)com
We have a few rescue dogs and used to foster dogs on occasion. I have a miniature pinscher that is my second min pin rescue. We got him 8 years ago after the first one passed away. We also have an Australian shepherd mix, a Mastiff and one that we call a little black dog because we have no idea what she is.
I'm not really an animal person, so I wouldn't know..........
thank you for the giveaway!!
We rescued one dog, and it had adopted us, but after a short time she attacked our bird so unfortunately we had to take her to the shelter, since she was a pure bread they took care of her and re-adopted her out.
I haven't gotten a dog from a shelter,only from a pet store through my daughter-in-law.
I haven't adopted one from a shelter but I have taken a dog and a rabbit that the owner couldn't take care of anymore.
All of my animals have been rescue animals. We lost our pitbull this summer and we have 5 cats
Two male cats made way too much noise in the night. I had two spayed females. Caught the males and had them neutered. Thought I would never see them after I did that nasty trick. They used the cat door and insisted they live here now. My girls did not put up a fuss, so we agreed.
We've rescued several dogs and cats. The last cat we rescued from the shelter was named Fred. Of course, that name simply did not fit with all my animals' weird names (mostly named after various gods and goddesses), so we renamed him Drop Dead Fred, from the movie of that name. He was a wonderful, loving cat who was also super smart and also almost always up to mischief, just like hie namesake.
All of my cats have been rescues--and several of my beagles, too. My first beagle got me hooked on beagles and I'll always look for them first in a shelter.
suefarrell.farrell@gmail.com
I want to adopt a rescue dog but haven't because I have two birds. Just can't take a chance on them getting hurt. I still look at photos of them on the Internet.
CarolNWong(at)aol(dot)com
My current cat is from a shelter. She's sweet and affectionate and deathly afraid of being picked up. If she even thinks i'm going to pick her up she runs away. She's all over me to pet her as long as i'm sitting or laying down.
I have never adopted a cat from a shelter, but I did crawl under a stranger's car in a Wal-Mart parking lot to rescue a kitten. I took her home and named her Marty. She lived with us for quite awhile until my son developed an allergy, so a friend took her in and she lived to a ripe old age with them.
tcuevas@iccable.com
Don't have any
My last cat was a stray and he had such personality. I was blessed to have him.
lag110 at mchsi dot com
I have nevered rescued or gotten any animals from a shelter. All of the pets I've ever had was given to me by a friend. Thanks for having the giveaway.
ayancey1974(at)gmail(dot)com
Nicky, Cici, Sassy, & Tyler Rose were found kittens. I saved Nicky from two boys that were beginning to be mean to it. I traded a Virginia slims pack for the kitten. So I named it Ginny but vet told me it wasn't a female so changed it to Nico but son called him Nicky. Current cats wit me are all shelter rescues: Maggie Mae, Webster Alvin, Diego & Dewey. Tyler is still with us leading the cat herd.
I enjoy the Pet rescue mysteries. Thank for the review and giveaway chance.
Tennisace50 at yahoo dot com
We have 3 rescued cats. One was dropped in our area. One we got at a farm store trying to find homes for and the third, found me at the library. It was a hot day and the front doors were open to let more air circulate. He just strolled right in.
I have three rescue dogs and wouldn't do it any other way :) A Rat terrier, beagle/boston & chihuahua !
I haven't adopted any from a shelter but I have took in ones that people couldn't take care of anymore and ones that were sick.
Thanks for the chance to win!
All the cats we've ever had were strays that we found in our backyard. We used to feed the strays outside and more came around. We currently have five cats. One time we even had a Siamese cat. He wasn't vocal like Siamese are supposed to be. I named him Koko after the cat in the Cat Who books by Lilian Jackson Braun.
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