Murder-by-fire. A catfishing squatter. Will Maggie get her life back before the killer claims the one thing she has left to lose?Junker and former alt-country rocker Maggie Killian tucks tail back to Texas with Louise, the mutt her bull-riding ex foisted on her in Wyoming after he gave another woman his heart. Maggie runs straight to Gary Fuller—her long time best friend-with-benefits and the … friend-with-benefits and the biggest Texas country music star since George Strait—but arrives too late to save him from dying in a fire. She just wants to lick her wounds in her own bed with nothing save a bottle for comfort, but Maggie’s short term renter refuses to budge from her home. Soon her small town sanctuary is overrun with Nashville bigwigs, Gary’s trailer park family, and grief-crazed fans feeding the fires of media speculation about the bodies in her wake.
With Maggie barely functional enough to fight back and law enforcement hell bent on scapegoating her, she begins to suspect Gary’s death wasn’t an isolated incident. To save her livelihood and sanity, she’s gotta woman-up before everything and everyone she loves goes up in flames, too.
Sick Puppy is the second standalone book in a trilogy featuring sharp-tongued protagonist Maggie Killian from the addictive What Doesn’t Kill You romantic mystery series. If you like nerve-racking suspense, electric characters and relationships, and juicy plot twists, then you’ll love USA Today best seller Pamela Fagan Hutchins’ Silver Falchion award-winning series.
˃˃˃ See why Pamela wins contests and makes best seller lists.
- USA Today Best Seller
- #1 Amazon Best Seller
- Top 50 Amazon Romantic Suspense and Mystery Author
- Silver Falchion for Best Adult Mystery
- USA Best Book Awards Cross-Genre Fiction
- Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award, Romance, Quarter-finalist
˃˃˃ Once Upon A Romance calls Hutchins an “up-and-coming powerhouse writer.”
If you like Sandra Brown or Janet Evanovich, you will love Pamela Fagan Hutchins. A former attorney and native Texan, Pamela splits her time between Nowheresville, Texas and the frozen north of Snowheresville, Wyoming.
˃˃˃ The reviews are in, and they’re good. Very, very good.
“Taut suspense.” — Midwest Book Review
“Quick, entertaining read.” — Kirkus Reviews
“Fantastic mystery.” — Once Upon a Romance
˃˃˃ Catch more adventures with Maggie and her friends in the What Doesn’t Kill You world.
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Murder has never been so much fun!
Hutchins nails that Wyoming scenery and captures the atmosphere of the people there.
Hutchins’ Maggie is an irresistible train wreck — you can’t help but turn the page to see what trouble she’ll get herself into next.
You’re guaranteed to love the ride!
This volume in the Maggie storyline is the most emotionally wrecking to date. She may be knocked down, but is she out for the count? This is a whirlwind, a bucking bronco of a book. You really need to take the trip with Maggie’s adventures and hang on for a wild ride.
a fun read! wonderful interesting complex and hilarious story, Love Maggie!!
Well written, super fun, and even better, quenches the reader’s thirst for a satisfying mystery! Characters return from the previous book, and although it picks right up where the previous book left off, you don’t have to have read it; just jump in and you’ll quickly catch on. Bad things keep happening to poor, Maggie, almost like she’s a magnet. Action-packed, laugh out loud, just what you need to lighten the mood but get your mystery fix. Not a cliffhanger type book in the true sense, but yes a cliffhanger in that you will be so ready to move onto book number 3. I for one can hardly wait! I received a complimentary copy of this Maggie episode and this is my honest review.
Can anything else go wrong?
Maggie and Louise head back to Texas to “pull it together”; however, her tenant refuses to leave her home. Even worse her “boyfriend” has recently died in a fire, and the town is overrun by his relatives, Nashville “bigwigs”, and “looky Lous”. Found myself laughing so hard I had tears. A must read for any Hutchins fan!
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.
5-alarm fire, literally! Technically, this is a standalone novel, but I recommend reading the Maggie prequels and the first book in the series so you can better understand the characters and backstories. I absolutely adore our complex Maggie with all of her ragged edges and reluctant softness (that surprises even her!). She returns to Texas to nurse her emotional wounds with her mostly faithful, stubborn, and boundary-free dog, Louise. Unfortunately, Maggie’s luck continues to be fickle…balanced between “almost” sunshiney and downright dreadful. Murder is her shadow, which has a nasty way of rippling out to those around her. And we aren’t even going to go there with her upside down love life! You’re in for a wild ride in Maggie’s vintage magenta Ford pickup, complete with a small truck bed that can’t hold all her “junk”!
I think this may be my favorite Maggie book in the series to date. There’s so much going on and the descriptive writing makes this narrative one you won’t forget. I was fairly sure who the culprit would be early on but I will keep how I figured that out to myself because I detest “spoiler alerts”. I guarantee it’s a page turner, one where readers will find themselves immersed in the drama and thrilling ending.
In Sick Puppy it appears Maggie Killian’s murder magnet-ism continues when she returns to her home and business in Texas. This time she’s being dragged through the wringer with accusations, innuendo and has become the target of media smears. Law enforcement and an arson investigator are convinced Maggie’s the prime suspect in a growing list of crimes. She knows she’s not involved, in any way, but her only supporters are best friend/sister Michelle and her boyfriend (Michelle’s not Maggie’s).
Note: I received a copy of Sick Puppy for my honest, non-biased opinion.
Pamela Fagan Hutchins aces another story. Maggie’s whole life is falling apart one incident at a time. The story picks up right where we left off in the first book and continues seamlessly. Maggie is under suspicion as bad things are happening all around her. The author tells a compelling story that is totally addictive and page turning. The characters are an eclectic group that make for an interesting combination. There is Louise, the dog, who is also a character worth getting to know. You will be surprised, as the story concludes, at the events that unfolds. It will also leave you eagerly awaiting the next installment of Maggie’s adventures.
Maggie has had a run of bad luck. And the men that she’s grown fond of have been having even worse luck. She decides to go back to Texas from Wyoming where she tried unsuccessfully to reunite with the love of her life. She brings home her newly adopted dog. Even arriving home doesn’t go well. Her shop has been destroyed and her renter refuses to move out. Lots of action in this book, as you’ll find in the author’s other books as well.
I didn’t start out liking Maggie, but in this book, she is reaching the limits of her toughness and we learn more about her. Her dog, Louise is a faithful friend.
I recommend this book but it would be best to read the previous book and the short prequels as well in order to know the cast of characters.
Maggie’s life is still spinning out of control. Her decisions would definitely improve with less alcohol and a step back before running away from problems. She is thinking she will take care of the break-in and vandalism of her shop back home, but is in for a lot more problems before anything is resolved. I recommend this book for a great plot and wonderful characters, especially Louise, the wonder dog.
4.5*****stars. Another episode of poor Maggie’s life. All she wants is to be loved by Hank again. This woman has people all around her being murdered to the point she is close to being a suspect. She has to get out from under this hot mess pretty much decided to become a sleuth. She is feeling like a black widow. She drinks a lot to numb her pain and she is not very appropriate when she is drunk. She has a target on her back and is running as fast as she can. You can only be sad for her. She has forsaken her music career and continually steps in poop. Lots more twists and turns with Maggie. This is a bad period for her but we have another to be continued. So be on the lookout for the next book. Nicely written!
This was a great book with lots of twists and turns. I’m looking forward to the next installment in the series.
It was heart wrenching to follow Maggie on her course of self destruct, but the end was worth it. I know it’s part of the plot, but I always want to say “Just TALK to each other!” But then that’s kind of my motto. Communication is important. In this book there was so much going on, it really kept my head spinning. I was really quite surprised by some of the outcomes. Book 3 promises to be even better.
I purchase Sick Puppy immediately after finishing Live Wire. I got both books through Barnes and Noble. Live Wire was only the second book by this author I had read. I received and email from the author and decided to renew my acquaintance with a new series. I read “Live Wire” and loved it so much I immediately purchased “Sick Puppy” to keep on with Maggie’s story. So this review is really for both books but with no spoilers. These books held my attention for several reasons. I am in the music industry and found myself listening to the songs as Maggie experienced them through the book, had to look up the liquor she bought, the car she drove, everything! I love the “flawed” but lovable persona of Maggie. It is difficult to balance rough living and still inspire reader sympathy and love and Ms Hutchins does in well. All the characters in the books immediately become pictures in your head as you follow the plot line. The books were well edited against mistakes. I often read other ebooks that are so full of misprints that my copy is full of highlights( as I mark mistakes in the copies I read). I am off to look for more books by Ms. Hutchins.
Nadine McQuillan Haarsager
Maggie is finally back home. Unfortunately, this may not be the best place for her to be. Her shop has been broken into, her house is now being taken over by a zealous renter, and she’s stuck staying with Michele, Maggie doesn’t know how much more she can take. Soon she will find out. There’s another murder, and the police made it clear she is not free to leave town. Maggie takes the law into her own hands to try and find who this small town killer is.
This book is absolutely fantastic. If you haven’t started reading the Maggie series, it’s time. I already knew I would enjoy the book because I love Hutchins writing, but this book exceeded my expectations. I thought the last book prepared me for what was coming, but I was so wrong. I love Maggie even more than before, if that’s possible. It’s the perfect follow up to LIVE WIRE, and I highly recommend it.
Sick Puppy is the second in the Maggie trilogy; Live Wire was the first.
The story of Maggie continues. Wherever Maggie goes mayhem, mystery, and, murder follow!
Sick Puppy finds Maggie returning to her home of Giddings, Texas after a trip to Sheridan, Wyoming on the pretense of finding junk for her shop, Flown the Coop but is really looking to find Hank Silbey, the rodeo hunk she had a week-long romance with before leaving him to follow a career to Nashville. She has never forgotten him, nor the time they shared.
Unfortunately, things didn’t work as a previous girlfriend told Maggie she was marrying Hank and Maggie left town with Louis, a border collie-corgi mix who adopted Maggie while she was at Hank’s ranch. Hank continues to contact her wondering why she bolted and what was wrong which Maggie ignores.
While in Wyoming she rented out her home to Leslie, whom she had never met. Upon arriving, Maggie finds she can’t get Leslie to move out at the end of her lease. Leslie has ingratiated herself into the lives of people and the family of Maggie. Maggie can’t get them to understand Leslie is creating havoc in her life.
If that isn’t bad enough death follows her and, as in Wyoming, she is a suspect. Not in one but multiple deaths.
Is she guilty, if not who is?
Maggie continues to be fierce and determined to prove her innocence all while trying to get Leslie to leave Maggie’s house.
I am a huge fan of Maggie and can’t wait for the third in the trilogy!
Maggie will have you on the edge of your seat and wanting to help fight right along with her. What do you do when you feel like you don’t belong. You leave your heart back in Wyoming and just want to go home but your renter doesn’t want to leave. There is something about Maggie that takes you on this journey with her and feel for all she is up against. Couldn’t read it fast enough then was disappointed when I was done. Cant wait for the next book in the What doesn’t kill you series!! Already preordered the next book!