Peg and Rose Solve a Murder is the first book in a new cozy series by Laurien Berenson. Released 30th Aug 2022 by Kensington Books, it's 288 pages and is available in hardcover and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.
This is a really well written and engaging cozy with a distinct Odd Couple vibe with a little bit of Golden Girls thrown in for good measure. The plot is fun; late middle aged sisters-in-law with decades of unpleasantly fractious interactions decide to join a local bridge club as partners (and repair/build a relationship with one another). They couldn't be more different, one's a former nun who renounced her habit to marry a priest, the other is a pragmatic professional purebred dog show judge who generally has little time for what she considers distractions and non-practicalities.
As with most of the author's oeuvre, there is a surprisingly educational amount of minutiae and interesting behind-the-scenes nuts and bolts info about the dog show world and especially poodles. The book shows some of how professional handlers and their assistants function in the dog world and how judges interact with them and the dogs themselves.
The plotting is well paced and the climax and denouement are fair-play and satisfying. The characterizations are where it really shines though - the author is very adept at making them come alive in all their imperfections and iracsibility.
Four stars. Recommended for fans of cozies, and especially for fans of the author's other work.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
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