A Deadly Bone to Pick is the first book in a new cozy series by Peggy Rothschild. Released 22nd Feb 2022 by Penguin Random House on their Berkley Prime Crime imprint, it's 304 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats.
This is a very promising beginning to a new small-town cozy series with a widowed ex-cop female protagonist who has moved from New England to the west cost to make a new start. Having traumatically lost her husband, she's unprepared to be drawn into another murder when a neighbor's dog she's helping to train finds a dismembered hand on the beach. It's a bit trope-y in some ways, for example there's the requisite completely unprofessionally antagonistic local misogynistic law enforcement officer harassing her and trying to frame her for some involvement (boo, hiss), but overall I really liked Ms. Rothschild's facility with characterization and plotting. The dialogue is generally good and it's a fast, easy read. I was especially impressed with the way the author handled introducing protagonist Molly's back story and her move to the opposite coast of the USA.
The plot threads are spun out well and the denouement and resolution are satisfying if a tiny bit predictable. The author did a good job of fleshing out the secondary characters as well. They're three-dimensional and believable, even the antagonistic jerk cop (boo, hiss). One of the secondary but pivotal characters is a precocious 8 year old who was one of the stars of the book for me. Dog lovers will find a lot to enjoy here and it's clear the author is either gifted at background research or very familiar with dog training and agility.
The language is mild (a few "damns" and nothing worse), and there's no explicit content, gore, or violence. There's the merest whiff of romance, but nothing even remotely stated in this book. (Possible future romantic interest from the "good" cop partner of the "bad cop"(boo, hiss)).
Four and a half stars. This is top shelf cozy mystery. Highly recommended.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes
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