Monday, December 12, 2022

Virtual Book Tour & Giveaway: The Case of the Parrot Loving Professor (Buttercup Bend Mystery, #2) by Debbie De Louise

  

The Case of the Parrot Loving Professor
A Buttercup Bend Mystery
by
Debbie De Louise

Cozy Mystery
2nd in Series
Setting – Buttercup Bend, a fictional town in the Catskills, New York
Publisher: Next Chapter Publishing
Publication Date: November 6, 2022

Paperback
Page count: 290 pages
ISBN-13: 979-8362515294

Kindle
ASIN: B0BLMZ5XG9

SCROLL DOWN FOR GIVEAWAY!

Synopsis:
 
Cathy Carter knew that returning to college would be tough, but she never expected it would involve finding her anthropology professor’s dead body.

There are no shortages of suspects in Dr. Bodkin’s murder. Besides his three ex-wives and estranged son and daughter, there are also the members of the Talking Parrots Club, a group of four parrot enthusiasts, of which he was the president and founder.

As Cathy delves into Bodkin’s murder, she discovers a relationship between her teacher and the Mennonite family from whom she purchased the farmland for her new pet rescue center. She and her friend Nancy, now employed at a detective agency, work together to help Detective Hunt and Sheriff Miller solve the crime.





My Review:
4 stars!

Exciting second pet-centric cozy mystery in the 
Buttercup Bend Mystery series.

The Case of the Parrot Loving Professor is the second book in author Debbie De Louise’s Buttercup Bend Mystery series, and it is an excellent and exciting follow-up to the debut. The action starts immediately with the heroine’s discovery of her anthropology professor’s body and the oddly cryptic chatter from his pet parrot. With this exciting opening, I was glued to the story until the very end. 

Cathy Carter has decided to return to college while juggling her responsibilities at the rescue and cemetery, which have doubled since a bequest from book one has allowed for some major expansion in their services and facilities. She is still a freelance photographer for the Buttercup Bugle, the local paper, and her friend, Nancy, wants her to join her and her partner in their private investigation business. I liked that because she has her fingers in so many pies, she can easily insert herself into investigating the murder. Consequently, however, Cathy has a lot on her plate while trying to fit in a love life as well. 

Cathy is torn between two wonderful men in her life: Michael, the local veterinarian, and Steve, the gardener who takes care of her grandmother’s home garden and the landscape at Rainbow Gardens pet cemetery. Both men are looking for an exclusive relationship with her, but she’s not ready. I began to feel sorry for Cathy as everyone she knew questioned her about when she was going to choose between the two men. Everyone needs to back off and calm down and let the matter rest, for goodness’ sake. All her moments of anxious indecision were starting to wear thin. Nevertheless, I find myself firmly on Team Steve. 

I am unfamiliar with upstate New York, so the setting in fictional Buttercup Bend is attractive to me. This book occurs during October, and New York experiences a fall season. I enjoyed the descriptions of various locations, especially of the farm that has become the new rescue center. 

Although the story is light and easy to read and enjoy, the mystery and investigation that results are pretty robust. Getting from the murder to whodunnit isn’t simple and takes a couple of great twists and turns. I was never sure I knew who the murderer was or why until the reveal was made, and I was surprised by the outcome. 

The plot is strong, and the characters are engaging; however, I felt there was quite a bit of unnecessary repetition in the story about a couple of background elements, as well as Cathy’s angst over her two suitors, which kept me from giving this one a full five stars. I recommend THE CASE OF THE PARROT LOVING PROFESSOR to cozy mystery readers, especially those that enjoy stories featuring pets or settings in upstate New York.


About the Author:

Debbie De Louise is a reference librarian at a public library. She’s the author of 14 novels including the six books of the Cobble Cove cozy mystery series featuring Alicia the librarian and Sneaky, the library cat, and the new Buttercup Bend cozy mysteries featuring Cathy Carter, the owner of a pet cemetery and rescue center. Debbie’s other books include standalone mysteries, a paranormal romance, a time-travel novel, and a collection of cat poems. She also writes articles for Catster.com and has published dozens of short stories and poems in anthologies. She’s a member of the Cat Writers’ Association, Sisters-in-Crime, International Thriller Writers, and the Long Island Authors Group. She lives on Long Island with her husband, daughter, and two cats. Learn more about her and her books by visiting https://debbiedelouise.com.



TOUR PARTICIPANTS:

December 12 – Guatemala Paula Loves to Read – REVIEW
December 12 – Socrates Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
December 13 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT, EXCERPT
December 13 – Christy's Cozy Corners – GUEST POST
December 13 – Sapphyria's Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
December 14 – Literary Gold – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
December 14 – I'm Into Books – SPOTLIGHT
December 14 – Bootsie’s Book Nook – SPOTLIGHT
December 15 – MJB Reviewers – SPOTLIGHT, EXCERPT
December 15 – Brooke Blogs – SPOTLIGHT
December 16 – Novels Alive – REVIEW, SPOTLIGHT
December 16 – Lady Hawkeye – SPOTLIGHT
December 17 – Celticlady's Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
December 17 – Maureen's Musings – SPOTLIGHT
December 17 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book - SPOTLIGHT
December 18 – Cozy Up With Kathy – CHARACTER GUEST POST
December 18 – #BRVL Book Review Virginia Lee Blog - SPOTLIGHT


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3 comments:

  1. Thanks so much for reviewing my book and hosting a spot on my blog tour.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Looking forward to many more in this series! Thank you for stopping by blog!

    ReplyDelete
  3. different

    ReplyDelete