REVIEW ~ The Money Bird by Sheila Webster Boneham

Murder Takes Flight

 

For Janet MacPhail, photographing retrievers in training is the perfect way to spend an evening. But a photo session at Twisted Lake takes a peculiar turn as Drake, her friend Tom’s Labrador, fetches a blood-soaked bag holding an exotic feather and a torn one-hundred-dollar bill.

 

When one of her photography students turns up dead at the lake, Janet investigates a secretive retreat center with help from Australian Shepherd Jay and her quirky neighbor Goldie. Between dog-training classes, photo assignments, and romantic interludes with Tom, Janet is determined to get to the bottom of things before another victim’s wings are clipped for good.

REVIEW

This is my first animal related cozy mystery.  I loved how Sheila was able to mix in her love of Australian Shepherds, Labrador Retrievers, animal training and sports into the story.  THE MONEY BIRD is the second book in Sheila Webster Boneham's An Animal in Focus Mystery Series and is completely standalone.

The story is told from the point of view of Janet MacPhail,  an animal photographer and an animal lover.  THE MONEY BIRD starts out with Janet and her boyfriend, Tom Saunders at a place called Twisted Lake.  Her boyfriend Tom Saunders is an ethnobotanist, a person who studies people in relation to plants, and also a professor.  Tom is also an animal lover.  

The two are at Twisted Lake so Tom's dog Drake can get some training needed for his Master Hunter title. Janet is there to take pictures.  Everything is going well until Drake goes to retrieve his training bumper "bird".  In the midst of retrieving the bird, Drake veers off course and brings back a soaked canvas bag that contains a bird feather, what appears to be money, and what could possibly be blood.  

Days later, the body of someone Janet knows is found at Twisted Lake.  Janet isn't the type of person to sit back and let the police do their job.  She HAS to do her own investigation.  Janet's investigation uncovers a possible animal smuggling ring in Indiana, of all places.  Janet’s snooping leads to her life being threatened on multiple occasions and the near death of someone she knows.

I loved that the book had me at a loss as to who the killer was until the very end.  I’m looking forward to reading more books from Sheila in the future.

Rating: 4

Release Date: September, 2013

Book Length: 336 pages

Source: Blog Tour Host

Reviewed by: Kim

Reading Format: Available in eBook and Paperback

Purchase from Amazon

Places to find Sheila Webster Boneham:

Website | Facebook | Goodreads

Click here for Sheila's guest post and enter for a chance to win an eBook copy of DROP DEAD ON RECALL OR THE MONEY BIRD.