REVIEW: Stay Calm and Collie On

Stay Calm and Collie On
Author: Lane Stone

Sue Patrick loves her upscale Doggie Daycare and Spa, Buckingham Pet Palace. Located in Lewes, Delaware the spa caters to dogs, offering grooming, boarding, daycare....all the doggie amenities. Sue is excited because her business partner is travelling from England to visit the spa. Unfortunately, just as Lady Anthea Fitzwalter is arriving, things suddenly turn bad. The pet spa's van is discovered near the Lewes ferry terminal, with a load of dogs left abandoned inside. Well, not exactly abandoned....the corpse of the van's driver is inside as well. Soon rumors start that the spa employee was dognapping the pampered pooches and was murdered before he could get away. As customers dwindle at the dog spa, Sue and Lady Althea start investigating to find out who killed their driver and why. The fate of their business venture is at stake!

Although not really very realistic, I thought the idea of the upscale doggie day care with a British flare was cute. Cozies don't have to be realistic, so I just shut off that portion of my brain and enjoyed the story. Sue is an intelligent and capable main character. Lady Althea jumped right in to help and proved to be quite an asset. The duo works well together. I can't wait to see how their business partnership and friendship progresses.

The mystery moved along at a nice pace with plenty of suspects and sleuthing. The background theme is cute and enjoyable, and doesn't overpower the mystery portion of the plot. All in all, a very enjoyable, relaxing read. It was a nice book to read on a cool, crisp autumn night with my dog on my lap (of course). The cover is cute (as with most cozies). This is a shorter cozy so I was able to read it easily in one day. Nice start to a new series! I will definitely be reading more!

For more information on the author and her books, check out her website:  http://www.lanestonebooks.com/

**I voluntarily read an advanced readers copy of this book from Kensington via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**