Brenda H. (booksinvt) -
Karma's a Bitch is the first installment in the Pet Psychic Mystery series featuring Darwin Winters. Darwin has left her parents and siblings behind to move to St. Pete where she has opened a Pet Boutique with friend Sylvia.
Darwin meets a homeless man, Mad Dog and his toothless but loveable mastiff Karma in the park one afternoon. Wanting to help both man and dog, Darwin befriends the two and develops a daily routine visiting with them. Darwin is shocked when a week after meeting the man he turns up dead on the waterfront, with Karma standing guard over his body. The police want to believe that Mad Dog was drunk and drowned, but Darwin knows that he would never leave Karma to fend for himself.
Darwin has the ability to communicate with animals via images she receives when touching them. After adopting Karma, who is devastated at the loss of his owner, Darwin uses the information he sends to her to find out the truth surrounding Mad Dog's death. The journey takes her into Pirate City, the homeless camp on the outskirts of town where Mad Dog had been living.
While I enjoyed the story I definitely would not label it as a traditional cozy. There is a fun, spunky heroine and a beloved dog, a great best friend and a love interest but there is also a very difficult and depressive undertone to the plot. This book had me smiling in some parts and crying in others (especially at the ending).
Darwin meets a homeless man, Mad Dog and his toothless but loveable mastiff Karma in the park one afternoon. Wanting to help both man and dog, Darwin befriends the two and develops a daily routine visiting with them. Darwin is shocked when a week after meeting the man he turns up dead on the waterfront, with Karma standing guard over his body. The police want to believe that Mad Dog was drunk and drowned, but Darwin knows that he would never leave Karma to fend for himself.
Darwin has the ability to communicate with animals via images she receives when touching them. After adopting Karma, who is devastated at the loss of his owner, Darwin uses the information he sends to her to find out the truth surrounding Mad Dog's death. The journey takes her into Pirate City, the homeless camp on the outskirts of town where Mad Dog had been living.
While I enjoyed the story I definitely would not label it as a traditional cozy. There is a fun, spunky heroine and a beloved dog, a great best friend and a love interest but there is also a very difficult and depressive undertone to the plot. This book had me smiling in some parts and crying in others (especially at the ending).
