Book Review - Clawed: A Gin & Tonic Mystery

Clawed: A Gin & Tonic Mystery

By: L. A. Kornestsky
Publisher: Pocket Books
Publication Date: May 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4767-5008-8
Reviewed By: Kristi Benedict
Review Date: March 10, 2015

After reading my first Gin & Tonic mystery called Doghouse, I became a quick fan and immediately was excited to read the next book in this fun series from author L.A. Kornetsky titled Clawed. One of the best attributes of these books is the amazing way Kornetsky brings to life the thoughts of the two main animal characters, Penny and Georgie, which absolutely makes me laugh out loud every time.

In this story, with word spreading about Ginny’s event planning skills, she is excited when she receives a call from her first out of town client who is requesting her services. Since this client is from Portland, Ginny decides it will be easiest to just drive down and spend some time there. In addition, the trip will allow her to bring Georgie, her lovable Shar-Pei. Wanting to make a great first impression Ginny dresses in her most professional clothes and arrives at the designated address of the client a little early. Ginny knocks on the door but there is no answer. After a few minutes of complete silence from the house Ginny’s curiosity gets the better of her and she tries to open the door which to her surprise easily swings in. After a quick look around Ginny comes to the conclusion that her client must not be home and decides that it would be best to leave the premises before she gets accused of breaking and entering. Unfortunately, as she turns to leave she discovers a body shoved under the dining room table and it appears that this was no accident; the man under that table has been murdered.

Meanwhile, back in Seattle Tonica and Penny are stuck at Mary’s tending the bar and worrying each day about what Ginny and Georgie are getting themselves into. After hearing about Ginny’s discovery of a murdered man, Tonica cannot help but think that he needs to be there to help her investigate this. However, his duty is to stay at Mary’s and see that everything runs smoothly even though his mind is not really on his job. As soon as he realizes that Ginny could potentially be in danger, his responsibilities are pushed to the back of his mind and he travels to Portland as quickly as possible.

This next installment in the Gin & Tonic mystery series did not disappoint at all and I absolutely loved it. The fun and intriguing dialogue between Georgie and Penny is quite amazing and I find myself smiling and laughing out loud at some of their humorous conversations as they are trying to help solve a mystery. The relationship between Penny and Georgie is a great addition to the equally intriguing relationship between Tonica and Ginny who constantly push each other to their limits. To be honest this series helped me to become quite a fan of mysteries and I’ve never looked back. Whenever the next book comes out I will be sure to look for it with great anticipation.

Quill says: An unbelievably fun and intriguing mystery with a great set of characters!

Book Review - Doghouse: A Gin & Tonic Mystery

Doghouse: A Gin & Tonic Mystery

By: L. A. Kornetsky
Publisher: Pocket Books
Publication Date: July 2014
ISBN: 978-1476750040
Reviewed by: Kristi Benedict
Review Date: October 6, 2014

While helping in private investigations is something that Ginny Mallard and her bartender friend Teddy do together as a sideline, it seems that this 'job' is taking more and more time. After uncovering some shady truths about a local shelter this team thought it would be a while before they would have to jump back into investigating. Of course, as fans of the series, we all knew they were mistaken.

In the newest Gin & Tonic mystery, a man named Seth who works at Mary’s (the bar Teddy manages) has a friend named Deke that he believes is being wrongly evicted by his landlord. Seth explains that Deke is an ex-boxer and when a situation gets stressful there is a strong chance that Deke could act out in ways that would get him into more trouble. Not wanting to spend money on an actual lawyer, Seth asks Teddy and Ginny to look into this problem and figure out why Deke’s landlord is throwing him out of his rental. So, here the dynamic duo goes again trying to figure out the right questions to ask and the right people to find to solve this mystery.

Of course there are two more members of this team, Penny, an independent cat that has made her home in Teddy’s bar, and Geogie, a shar-pei dog that lives with Ginny. Both of these animals have proven their worth before in helping to solve mysteries and also protect their owners. Penny will not hesitate to use her claws on someone attacking Teddy and Georgie has spent the last year training with Ginny in order to protect her effectively. Although Penny is the brains of the two as she will quickly remind Georgie many times a day, both know that they need to make sure and pay attention to every sight, sound and smell that they come in contact with. Any little clue could help their humans solve this new case as long as they can get Teddy and Ginny to listen and understand them before anyone gets hurt.

This was a fun and exciting mystery that has great characters I found myself easily liking. I thought it was unique having the relationship between Teddy and Ginny along with the relationship between their two animals Penny and Georgie. The rough exterior but soft center of Teddy and the no nonsense but gentle ways of Ginny make for an amazing team and I enjoyed reading a story where these two characters played off each other in such humorous ways. At the same time it was so much fun bringing the characters of Penny and Georgie to life as this author had me laughing out loud with the way these two animals talked to each other. It was hilarious as in perfect cat-like fashion Penny reprimands Georgie for not noticing or remembering a specific detail and then in perfect dog-like fashion Georgie tries so hard to think of anything she missed to please Penny. These characters are what made this book such a great read.

Quill says: A well written and humorous mystery that had me quickly turning pages.