Yogini and amateur sleuth Kate Davidson will need more than Warrior Pose to solve a murder and help homeless teens Newly married yoga instructor Kate Davidson feels stuck in low-energy limbo, despite her high-energy life. She’s trying to conceive a child, keep her studio afloat now that the ultra-cheap Some Like It Hot Yoga studio has opened across the street, and start a yoga program at a local … a yoga program at a local resource center for homeless youth.
When a center employee is found dead, Kate sets aside her fertility and financial woes to delve into the world of teenage homelessness. While digging for clues with her German shepherd Bella, Kate discovers that family can be formed by bonds stronger than shared DNA, and she must defend it at all costs.
Praise:
“Gripping … Those who like their cozies with a dark edge will be rewarded.”—Publishers Weekly
“The sixth and latest title in author Tracy Weber’s simply outstanding Downward Dog mystery series, Murder Likes It Hot is another deftly crafted and solidly entertaining read from beginning to surprise ending.”—Midwest Book Review
“My favorite book in the series. Weber draws the reader into the story and really sets the stage before the murder occurs. Weber knows exactly how to end each book making the reader a dedicated fan wanting more.”—Cozy Mystery Book Reviews
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Read and adored! Kate is not what most yogis would strive to be; she isn’t even what she strives to be but she is an outstanding and caring person. I would rather know someone with that much heart than someone who can face all things calmly. The very fact that she is far from perfect makes her more relatable than many of the characters that I love. It has been delightful watching her relationships develop through the series and in this book we meet a new person to fall in love with.
Kate and Michael are facing a tough time, one that many people I know are facing today or have had to face. They desperately want a child of their own but have no luck conceiving and no extra money to look at alternatives. One suggestion for making a little extra teaching yoga leads Kate to a day shelter for homeless youth where her worlds gets turned upside down. Kate hasn’t always had it easy, but what these kids face and how they deal with it leaves Kate stunned and depressed and needing to help, especially when one is accused of murder.
Thanks to NetGalley and Midnight Ink for the chance to read the ARC of this fantastic book early! I can’t wait to tell all of my friends and followers how great it is.
#NetGalley #MurderLikesItHot
This was a really good book. I loved the fact that it dealt with issues that are common today–infertility and teen homelessness. It was a really heartwarming cozy mystery and I could really feel like I was relating to the characters. I would love to see more of Kate, Michael, Rainbow, Bella, and Mouse, but if not, this ended perfectly!
Dollycas’s Thoughts
Kate and Michael’s wedded bliss is facing a tough time. They both want a child so much but have been unable to conceive and fertility treatments are so expensive. Add to that, there is a new yoga studio opening up right across the street from Kate’s studio, so she is worried about keeping her clients and her classes full. She has been asked to teach yoga at a local youth center that gives homeless teens a place to spend their days and to get help and education to get them off the streets. She accepts to add some extra cash to their baby fund.
After only 2 classes the director of the center is killed and one of her teenage students is the prime suspect. Kate has only just met the girl and knows just a snippet of the home life she ran away from, but a killer, there is just no way. With a little bit of help from best friend Rene and hubby Michael, Kate sets out to uncover the real killer.
Deep breaths, this story is more than a cozy mystery. It is an emotional story not only for our amateur sleuth but a teenager who goes by the name of Rainbow.
Tracy Weber really took a hold of my heart with this story just like she did the last. (If you have read Pre-Meditated Murder, you absolutely must.) Her recurring characters were already fleshed out and real, yet with each new installment, I grow to love them even more. They face real everyday problems just like you and me or people we all know, and then they add murder to the mix. German shepherd Bella always is a shining star no matter what her people are dealing with too.
This time Weber also introduces readers to some incredible new characters. The homeless teens and the staff at the center and even two unusual pets. These characters, flawed and complex, are very well written and easily draw us in.
Kate throws herself into this mystery not only to solve it but to try to take her mind off her personal situations. The author really twists things up to not only drop the clues necessary but also showing us a side of Kate we are not used to seeing. I was totally captured by this story from the first page to the last.
I was reaching for the tissues at the superb ending. An ending not only for this book but probably the series. I feel these characters have been left in a good place, but my fingers are crossed that it will not be the last we see of them.
I have loved this series from the beginning. The books really need to be read in order to see the journey Kate has taken over the entire series. I highly recommend each and every one.
MURDER LIKES IT HOT by Tracy Weber
The Sixth Downward Dog Mystery
Kate Davidson should be on top of the world. She’s been married for a year to a wonderful man, she has a remarkable best friend, who has made it big as an entrepreneur, an incredible German Shepherd, and a Yoga studio that is doing well. But Kate is not happy. For one thing a competing yoga studio has opened a new branch right across the street from Serenity Yoga. More troubling for Kate is her infertility. She’s consequently been distancing herself from her best friend, unable to see the happy mothers shopping at Infant Gratification or her own godchildren. Taking her mind off her own problems, Kate is encouraged to offer Yoga classes at a center for homeless youth. Will she find peace at Teen Path HOME, or will she find murder?
Author Tracy Weber tackles some intense topics in her sixth Downward Dog Mystery, notably infertility and teen homelessness. Personally, I cannot comprehend women who believe they are something less if they don’t have children and it boggles my mind that people are willing to go into debt in order to have a baby. Therefore, a good portion of me was shaking my head at Kate for the first portion on this book. Fortunately, as Kate got involved in another murder, my interest was again piqued and I loved getting swept away by the mystery.
Deepening characterization added dimension, but I wish that Bella would have played a bigger role. She took a decidedly back seat to all of the drama in this book. However, I was thrilled with the addition of Ed and Lonnie. I have been a rat mom for years and am delighted to see them not only added to a mystery, but portrayed in a positive light.
MURDER LIKES IT HOT is able to incorporate troubling societal issues into a compelling mystery.
FTC Disclosure – The publisher sent me a digital ARC provided through NetGalley, in the hopes I would review it.
I had previously read one book in the Downward Dog series and enjoyed it. So when I saw an opportunity to request the book from NetGalley, I did so. I’m grateful to have received a copy, but I didn’t enjoy this book very much. I found it just depressing and with a very predictable ending. I read cozies to get away and as an escape and to have fun and laugh. I didn’t experience that with this story. However, I’m sure there are many people who would enjoy this one and, if one is a fan of Tracy Weber, I’d still encourage them to give it a try.