Pick and Chews

A Barkery and Biscuits Mystery, Book 4

By: Linda O. Johnston

Narrated by: Carla Mercer-Meyer

Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

Carrie Kennersly tries to help her veterinarian boyfriend when he's under suspicion of murder. Is he a keeper, or should she let him go off-leash for good?

As a technician for a local vet and the owner of the Barkery & Biscuits dog bakery, Carrie Kennersly is excited to host a rescue-animal adoption event. She's also excited to be in a relationship with veterinarian Dr. Reed Storme, despite his pleas for her to butt out of the murder cases with which she keeps finding herself involved.

Yet when Reed is accused of killing his former veterinary colleague, he seems a lot more agreeable to having amateur detective Carrie butt back in. Can Carrie clear Reed, or does she care too much for a killer?

Includes recipes for dog treats and people treats!

©2018 Linda O. Johnston (P)2018 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Pick and chews

This was an entertaining book! I loved all the animals and was happy they played a part in the story. this was a murder mystery with a bit of romance built into the plot.

Cute stories

These stories are very formulaic. The new nasty person in town is murdered….. They are so predictable, but they are a fun little ride to the end nonetheless.

Another fun, lighthearted mystery

I did guess the killer somewhat early in the story but it was still interesting because I had no clue as to the motive. Mostly I like these books because of the animals and by now, I know most if the characters quite well.

The only real negative for me are the repetitive explanations by the main character about various issues. Mostly these repetitive explanations are in an attempt to pat herself on the back for being a great dog parent or a great business operator or a great citizen or whatever. Maybe it's because I've listened to so many and it really is repetitive. Anyway, I try to overlook those small instances and just enjoy the books. I hope you do too.

Good series.

If you like mysteries and dogs, you will like this series. A Light but fun read/listen.

a little change up here . . .

these stories are enjoyable but the plot lines are pretty much the same which makes them predictable.

Dogs, Baking & Murder….

I enjoyed this author in these books. I can just get into the book in my house will clean itself practically. I learn a little bit from how they care for and treat the dogs, I even learned how to bake cookie treats for both dogs and humans. And it’s kind of fun to figure out who’s gonna be the bad guy. And there’s a little bit of romance to perfect for a relaxing day

Same Same

Knew within 1rst few minutes who would be murdered and who would be suspected of the crime. The characters are almost identical in each book as are the plots

Not good.

It’s a good thing this book is free. It’s not written well, a lot of the characters found the same, there’s no logic to a lot of it.

IT FINALLY ENDED!!

I'm not sure which was worse, the story or the narration. Carrie is tedious, immature, and repetitive. I'd love to see her act like a grown woman with a man friend instead of like a 12 year old with her first boyfriend...will he call? Why did he call? He thinks she's prettier. Should we hold hands tonight or will that make my brother uncomfortable? I don't need the bakeries layout and business plan described multiple times per story. Having a character ramble on to themselves ad nauseum to tell the reader what the protagonist is thinking instead of moving the story along with dialog and action is boring and irritating. We've already figured out what your questions are, Carrie. GO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT, PLEASE! I was offended by Carrie withholding information from SOME of her staff (after the letter on the back door) because they didn't know each other as well as others. Every staff member in the stores could have been in danger AND could have been in a position to help if Carrie had needed it if only they were respected enough by their flighty boss and been included. (Spoiler: it was another extraneous Carrie thought.) There are too many Carrie v Cop conversations that say nothing but "I know I'm a civilian and you don't want me involved, but I'm butting in with little to no information that you probably already have, so why haven't you arrested somebody yet even though I, a part-time vet tech, have no idea what's going on either." Maybe the next book could have the Chief trump up some traffic violation against Carrie as soon as the next murder happens and have her jailed for a couple of days for obstructing the investigation, maybe the cops would be able to interview subjects and apprehend the perpetrator without that busybody interfering amd slowing things down in an uninteresting way. I could go on, but won't. It's making me sadder that I spent the credit and time. As for the Narrator, what can I say? The material is lacking, but the stilted and stiff speech pattern used by the narrator for all characters doesn't do this story (or any of the earlier ones) any favors. There is whining and there is bored, flat droning on. It sounds like someone trying to teach clear diction and enunciation to 3rd graders. The penultimate scene where the only real action takes place, should have leaned toward nail biting or edge of the seat waiting for resolution while listening, but I laughed out loud until it was over. If only it had been meant to be funny...keystone cop-ish or Stephanie Plum-like, maybe. But no. It was trying to be serious. If the narrator could loosen up and read like a normal person would hear dialog in their head while reading from the paper book, the story might be more entertaining, but with the lack of dialog and action and the glut of Carrie's self-musings and whining at cops coupled with uninteresting narration, this book is a bust.

Slooooow moving

Although the idea of this mystery was good, the execution wasn't that great. The plot took way too long to get to the detecting part. The main character's romance was awkward and didn't make sense. And the mystery lacked depth and creativity. I don't recommend.