In the Dog House

A Dog Club Mystery, Book 1

By: V.M. Burns

Narrated by: Madison Vaughn

Length: 6 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's Summary

A killer wants Lilly Echosby to roll over and play dead....

Lilly may be losing a husband, but she's gaining a toy poodle. That could be seen as a win-win, since her new adopted pooch, Aggie (named after Agatha Christie), is cute and adorable and Lilly's dirty dog of a spouse is cheating on her with a blonde bimbo - except for one problem: Albert Echosby's just been murdered, and Lilly is the number-one suspect.  

With the cops barking up the wrong tree, it's a good thing her best friend, Scarlett "Dixie" Jefferson, from Chattanooga, Tennessee, decided to take a break from the dog club circuit to pay a visit along with her own prize pair of poodles. 

With help from Dixie, her defense attorney daughter, and a blue-eyed man in blue with a K-9 partner, Lilly is determined to collar the real killer. But when a second murder occurs, it's clear they're dealing with one sick puppy....

©2018 V. M. Burns (P)2018 Tantor

Great read

This book is one that keeps you guessing. A wonderful read the it, you will get hooked.

Pretty Good

This is an enjoyable cozy mystery. The characters and plot are well developed and entertaining. The story is believable and flows at a quick pace. I look forward to the next book.

In the dog house will win your heart

I love all the characters. I could relate to Lilly, her age, her bond with Aggie. Please please please write more in this series. I haven’t been this excited about a new series in well I can’t remember!

very entertaining

I enjoyed this story and ending was a nice twist. I wasn't too crazy about some of the "ethnic" voices, but they did not take away from the overall story.

twists and turns

The story was enjoyable with funny moments and cute doggy moments. It felt real life and was not predictable.

Another "New to me" author

3.5 Stars 🌟

Another "new to me" author and I was very pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed this book. It had a very unique story arc and I had a great time getting to know and like the secondary characters.

The story introduces us to Lilly whose husband has just left her after 25 years of marriage...and for a woman younger than their daughter (and her name is Bambi Love....for real!). Then, to make matters worse, her husband is killed while they are still in the middle of the divorce proceedings so that means they are still married when he dies. Guess who then becomes the main suspect?

Yep, you're right if you guessed Lilly.

The title and the cover lead you to believe that the story revolves around a dog and/or dogs. It kind of does, but not as much as I was expecting. Her best friend is in town and comes to stay with her during this time and she has two "show dogs - poodles, I think. Lilly also adopts a toy poodle but for the most part, the dog's parts in the book are fairly minimal.

The thing I think I liked about this the most was the cast of secondary characters. Lilly's best friend, her daughter, her son and a handsome blue-eyed policeman that Lilly thinks would be great for her daughter....I liked them all.

The actual case itself was interesting and it was fun tagging along with the gang as they tried to find out who the real killer was so that they could keep Lilly out of jail.

The narrator, Madison Vaughn, did a fine job and I will gladly read more books from this author.

Loved it.

I have been trying to find a new series to listen to and have gone through the listing several times not finding anything that I could thoroughly enjoy. I saw that Beatrice liked this book so I thought that I would give it a try. It was exactly what I was looking for. I am glad that the dogs are just dogs in this story and not involved in solving the mystery. Madison Vaughn was perfect as Lili Echosby and she also did well with the other voices. I suspected who the murderer was when the character was first introduced but I thoroughly enjoyed listening to how the story unfolded that it didn’t bother me at all. I will definitely get the next book.

A Pretty Fair and Standard Cozy

Everything about the story is pretty standard and likeable. Nothing too much to write home about and I'll be honest outside of the MC and her BFF having dogs, I don't see why the author seemed to play up the dog show angle in the title. Not a bad book but very paint by numbers and something light that u can use to kill a few hours with.