The Wagtail Murder Club by Krista Davis

The Wagtail Murder Club
by Krista Davis

ISBN-13: 9780593817520
Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: Berkley
Released: February 4, 2025

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Holly Miller's driving back to Wagtail, Virginia when she spots something hiding on the side of the road. It's an adorable black Labrador in a cage with a note attached to his collar, dubbing him Squishy and asking the finder to care for him. Holly takes Squishy home to the Sugar Maple Inn and another surprise awaits her. Holly’s ex-boyfriend Ben is set to check-in with a group of his attorney colleagues who all seem to think he and Holly are still an item.

When one of Ben’s fellow attorneys dies in a fall, it could be chalked up to an unfortunate accident but then a second lawyer is murdered. Along with her beloved furry friends Trixie and Twinkletoes, Holly has to put the pieces together to find the killer before the fiend causes another fatality.


My Review:
The Wagtail Murder Club is a cozy mystery. It's the 10th book in a series. You don't need to read the previous books to understand this story, and this book didn't spoil the previous ones. But I lost all respect for Holly in this book. The author decided to have a crisis between her and Holmes, whom she supposedly loves. Ben showed up unexpectedly and proposed marriage to Holly in public in front of his business colleagues even though she'd made it clear she's not interested in him. A thousand ways to handle that, but she choose 'I can't embarrass Ben; I'll say yes and break the engagement later' like that'd do anything but delay the embarrassment. She didn't think once about Holmes' feelings, and she didn't try very hard to tell him what she intended to do before he heard the news of her engagement to Ben from someone else. This became a big mess and yet...in the end, no feelings were hurt. Seriously?

At the beginning, I quickly identified whodunit. I'm going, "Oh! What a horrible person!" though this was based off of subtle clues rather than outright meanness. By halfway through, I'd figured out whodunit for the old murder (though why came out later). Then there's another murder, and I easily figured that one out. Only Oma thought things out logically. Holly would think a clue could mean this or that or that. Or she'd recognize a clue indicated this but then conclude the exact opposite a moment later. At the very end, suddenly the lightbulb went on for her.

The pets were charming, as usual. I never did understand why a law firm wanted to open an office in Wagtail and why Ben, of all people, wanted so badly to move there. There was no sex or bad language.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.