A Pose Before Dying
A Cat Yoga Mystery
By Alex Erickson
ISBN 9781496747365
Author’s Website: alexericksonbooks.com
Brought to you by OBS Reviewer Jeanie
Synopsis:
From the bestselling author of the Bookshop Cafe Mysteries, the first in an exciting new series featuring a young female entrepreneur who’s just opened her dream business – a yoga studio filled with adorable, adoptable cats! If only helping humans find balance and felines find homes didn’t also require she investigate the purrfect murder…
Sure to appeal to fans of Miranda James, Cate Conte, Eileen Watkins, Laurien Berenson, and all lovers of cozy mysteries featuring animal companions!
Finding this killer will be a real stretch . . .
Ashley Branson has a lot to prove with her new cat yoga studio, A Purrfect Pose. It’s a place for humans to find inner wellness—and adopt adorable cats from the local shelter. It’s also a chance for Ash to run her own life, out from under her overbearing mother and a stifling relationship. So far, so successful. Until she discovers one of her new clients, a much-disliked college professor, dead in her studio, locked in child’s pose . . .
To make matters worse, Ash’s hapless always-in-trouble brother, Hunter, instantly becomes the cops’ prime suspect. Determined to clear his name and save her business, Ash does a deep lunge into the surprising—and strange—connections the victim had with her other clients. But countless suspects, contradictory leads, not to mention people desperate to see her studio shut down, mean Ash will have to stretch to the max to outthink a clever killer who’s ready to strike her red in tooth and claw . . . (From Goodreads)
Review:
What a delightful opening to this series! Ash opened her yoga studio, A Purrfect Pose, in her hometown of Cardinal Lake, Ohio. The studio concept is a win-win for both yoga and cat lovers. Ashley coordinates with the nearby animal shelter to borrow several cats. Her yoga classes include cats and kittens that are available for adoption. From their antics, the author clearly has spent extensive happy years around cats! This cozy mystery includes humor, drama, and an eclectic cast of characters.
Each person has been well defined, and I look forward to learning more about them in the future. The personalities are beautifully revealed through their realistic conversations and actions. Ashley, her best friend Sierra, and yoga student Lulu, are my favorites. Ash is more mature than her years, thus appealing to a wide audience. I’m not fond of grumpy Mr. Leslie, the dog groomer next door, and it will take a while for Ash’s mother, Cecelia, to grow on me. She actually wanted her daughter to fail quickly and return to work in the family business!
Within days, Ashley’s classes were almost at capacity. The only people who seemed to dislike her were Mr. Leslie, Zaria, and Ginnie. Mr. Leslie claimed the cats yowled and upset his little dog, so he was determined to close down her shop. Zaria, an animal activist, wanted the cats set free. Ginnie was currently dating Ash’s long-term ex-boyfriend, Drew. Ginnie had been jealous of her all through school and as soon as Ashley broke up with Drew, Ginnie swooped in to grab him.
A young man Ashley met when she was out with friends came to a class and seemed interested in her. By the time she closed for the day, they had a date for the following evening. That evening, Ash received an alert from her security system that a door was ajar.
She hurried to the studio to see someone outside the front entry, wearing a hoody, with a build and stance like her brother, Hunter, who used to get in trouble with the law. When she called to the person, they ran away. The front door was secure, but the door to the alley was not quite shut. Someone had let the kittens out of their enormous playroom, but thankfully, none had escaped the building. In the front room of the studio, however, was one of Ash’s students. Professor Jonas Valentine, in a yoga pose, was dead, a knife handle protruding from his back.
Police Chief Higgins was certain her brother was somehow involved with the murder, and wanted Hunter to go to the station as soon as she found him. Jonas and his wife, Fay, also a professor, had just been to her class that morning. Chief Higgins shut down the studio for the foreseeable future, even after they collected evidence, and insisted on seeing her brother. She knew Hunter couldn’t kill anyone, but it sounded as if she wouldn’t be allowed to reopen until Hunter was found.
Ash and her sister, Alexi, went to Hunter’s hangouts, trying to find him. In her store room, Ash found potentially incriminating evidence against Hunter the police had missed. If she didn’t want to lose her new business, she would have to find the killer herself.
I really liked this cozy mystery! It kept my attention from the grand opening to the end. Most characters were very relatable and engaging, and I had to remember that sometimes the bad guy is the most personable. It was interesting to watch Ash working to solve the murder. She had good instincts but her questioning style needed a bit of work. The bad guy was one of my pet suspects, and no loose ends remained. I highly recommend this very well-written cozy mystery!
