Book Review: To Fetch a Villain by Ormerod, Hudgins, Inge & Weidner

TO FETCH A VILLAIN: Four Fun “Tails” of Miscreants & Murder
SERIES: Mutt Mysteries #3
GENRE: Cozy Mystery
PUBLISHER: Bay Breeze Books
RELEASE DATE: November 3, 2020
PAGES: 244

Old dogs and new tricks abound in TO FETCH A VILLAIN, the third installment in the Mutt Mysteries series. Each of the novellas features a cast of furry four-leggeds who help their human friends solve crimes and bring villains to justice. This collection of novellas combines the talents of four cozy mystery authors, and illustrates why dogs are our best friends and the perfect companion for digging up clues. Let sleeping dogs lie? Not when the mutts are on the case!

RUFF DAY by Jayne Ormerod

Store owner Darby Moore suffers through a “ruff” day when a dead body is discovered in her custom dog house. With her best friend topping the suspect’s list, Darby knows the police are barking up the wrong tree. It’s up to Darby’s Great Dane Mr. Belvedere to channel his inner Scooby-Doo and save the day.

AT YOUR SERVICE by Maria Hudgins

Mystery writer Jessica Chastain is deaf, and relies on her service dog Trey who acts as Jessica’s ears. Kim, a Bichon like Trey, is the latest addition to their family. But life is not a walk in the park when someone threatens all they hold dear. Together they take on an unethical breeder and dog-napper, whose bite is worse than his bark.

A SHOT IN THE BARK by Teresa Inge

Dog-loving Catt Ramsey hires an ex-con as her handyman to help with her dog-walking business at the same time a crime wave hits the neighborhood. But it’s Catt who is accused of murder. She enlists the help of family, friends, and her dogs Cagney and Lacey to prove man’s best friend can be crime’s worst enemy.

STRUT YOUR MUTT by Heather Weidner

Sassy PI Delanie Fitzgerald attends the Strut Your Mutt festival, where her business partner’s English bulldog is a finalist in a pampered doggie pageant. The dog’s new-found fame leads to a client with a missing poodle. Delanie and her team put paws to the pavement, sniff out clues, and show the villain that when you lie with the dogs, you wake up with fleas.

Other Books In This Series

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To Fetch a Villain is a collection of quick-read cozy mysteries by new-to-me authors, and I definitely enjoyed getting to know their styles & their characters. Especially the dogs! Y’all know I’m a dog person & these authors clearly love & understand the canine mind. Each starring pup has loads of personality and had me grinning and chuckling throughout their respective stories. The mysteries are well done for short reads, and I’ll definitely be checking out the authors’ other works too.

Bottom Line: To Fetch a Villain is a fun collection of mini cozies to read when you’re taking a break during the holidays! Each story lets the reader get a taste for the author’s writing style & it’s a great way to be introduced to their books. The main characters are all well & good but it’s the DOGS that steal the show. The authors each give their respective canine costars such delightful personalities, and I loved meeting them.

Reviewer’s Note: Readers may want to be aware that there is some crude language and mild cursing in this book.

(I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from the authors. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.)

My Rating: 4 stars / enjoyed it!

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Heather Weidner writes the Delanie Fitzgerald mystery series (Secret Lives and Private Eyes, The Tulip Shirt Murders, and Glitter, Glam, and Contraband). Her short stories appear in the Virginia is for Mysteries series, 50 Shades of Cabernet, and Deadly Southern Charm. Her novellas appear in The Mutt Mysteries series (To Fetch a Thief, To Fetch a Scoundrel, and To Fetch a Villain). Her new cozy series, the Jules Keene Glamping Mysteries, launches October 2021.

She is a member of Sisters in Crime – Central Virginia, Sisters in Crime – Chessie, Guppies, International Thriller Writers, and James River Writers.

Originally from Virginia Beach, Heather has been a mystery fan since Scooby-Doo and Nancy Drew. She lives in Central Virginia with her husband and a pair of Jack Russell terriers. Through the years, she has been a cop’s kid, technical writer, editor, college professor, software tester, and IT manager.

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Maria Hudgins is a mystery writer and a former high school science teacher. She is the author of the Dotsy Lamb Travel Mysteries, the Lacy Glass Archaeology Mysteries and several published short stories. Her favorite things are traveling, reading, dogs, and cats. She lives in Hampton, Virginia with her cat, Lulu.

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Jayne Ormerod grew up in a small Ohio town and attended a small-town Ohio college. Upon earning her accountancy degree, she became a CIA (that’s not a sexy spy thing, but a Certified Internal Auditor). She married a naval officer, and off they sailed to see the world. After nineteen moves, they, along with their two rescue dogs Tiller and Scout, settled in a cottage by the Chesapeake Bay. Jayne writes cozy mysteries about small towns with beach settings.

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Teresa Inge grew up reading Nancy Drew mysteries. Today, she doesn’t carry a rod like her idol, but she hotrods. She is president of Sisters in Crime Mystery by the Sea Chapter and author of short mysteries in Virginia is for Mysteries, 50 Shades of Cabernet, Coastal Crimes: Mysteries by the Sea, and Murder by the Glass.

She resides in Southeastern Virginia with her husband and two dogs, Luke and Lena.

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What about you? What makes you want to read To Fetch a Villain by these authors?