Playing Dead by Peggy Rothschild – a Review

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Description:
Molly Madison has barely had a moment to catch her breath after moving to the sleepy beach town she now calls home. But as a former PI, she can’t help but notice the odd chemistry between members of Playtime Academy on the first day she and her loyal Saint Bernadoodle, Noodle, and golden retriever, Harlow, visit. When a trainer’s body is found on-site, Molly knows it’s her duty to put her ex-police skills to use. She can’t say no to temporarily taking in the deceased woman’s dog, either—not with those puppy dog eyes.

Relationships at the training facility are not as clean as the prize-winning agility runs, making it difficult for Molly to get a leash on potential suspects. And her personal life is just as messy—her boyfriend is hiding something, her agoraphobic neighbor needs help, and her number of four-legged friends keep growing as she agrees to dogsit a wriggly local French bulldog.

When Molly’s friend is arrested for the murder, she’s not sure who to believe anymore. Is the case as simple as the local cops make it seem, or is something more devious afoot?

Review:

Playing Dead by Peggy Rothschild is the 2nd book in her Molly Madison series. Molly Madison, our heroine, is a former ex-cop and private investigator, who moved recently to the small beach side town, Pier Point, California.  Molly has two dogs that she trains, Harlow and Noodle, and in a short time, she adds a couple more to help train for some neighbors.  She brings her dogs to a training facility, Playtime Academy for agility and scent training, also meeting new people with dogs.  Molly meets many different people, but overhears complaints from others about a nasty member.  In a short time, during scent training, Noodle will find the body of a murdered woman, who was Celeste, the person everyone hated. 

Trying to stay out of the investigation, Molly agrees to take care of Celeste’s dog, and ends up becoming permanent, since the husband wants nothing to do with the dog, Buster.  When Felicity is accused of murder, Molly begins to use her investigative knowledge and find the real killer. Along the way, she finds clues that possibly incriminate a number of people, with the police not too happy with Molly giving them information.  With all that going on, Molly’s life is crazy, investigating the murder, discovering her boyfriend being married, and also taking on the job to take care of another dog, Sky during the day.

What follows is an exciting, fun cozy mystery with many possible suspects, and a surprise game changing ending.  I did like some of the secondary characters, but I loved the wonderful dogs (Harlow, Noodle, Buster, Sky and Thor). It was wonderful to watch how Molly was so good with the dogs and the fun they had.  The last third of the book was exciting and tense, as Molly discovers the truth.   Playing Dead was a fun cozy mystery, that was very well written by Peggy Rothschild. If you like lighthearted, cozy, mystery, suspense stories, you need to read this book.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher