When professional organizer Maggie McDonald finds a body in a snowdrift outside her friend’s ski cabin, she must plow through the clues to find a cold-blooded killer . . . Lake Tahoe in February is beautiful, but Maggie can’t see a thing as she drives through a blinding blizzard with her friend Tess Olmos and their dogs, golden retriever Belle and German shepherd Mozart.Maggie has offered her … has offered her professional decluttering skills to help Tess tidy up her late husband’s cabin in preparation to sell. She also plans to get in some skiing when her husband Max and their boys join them later in the week.
What she doesn’t plan on is finding a boot in a snowdrift attached to a corpse. The frozen stiff turns out to be Tess’s neighbor, Dev Bailey, who disappeared two months ago. His widow Leslie expresses grief, but Maggie can’t help but wonder if it’s a snow job. As more suspects start to pile up, things go downhill fast, and Maggie must keep her cool to solve the murder before the killer takes a powder . . .
“A skillful amateur detective with an impressive to-do list.”
—Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW, Address to Die For
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Snowed Under is the sixth book in the Maggie McDonald cozy mystery series written by Mary Feliz. I’ve previously read the earlier books in this series, and when the latest one became available, I quickly grabbed a copy. It was the best one in the collection thus far, and I’m excited to share more about it.
Maggie takes a trip with her good friend Tess to Lake Tahoe to prepare her second home for an upcoming sale. Tess needs money for her son’s college education, and the house brings up memories of her recently deceased husband. Since Maggie’s a professional organizer, it’s a perfect getaway trip. Unfortunately, a major storm descends upon them shortly before they arrive, and when they finally dig themselves out of a car issue, they find the body of a neighbor who’d gone missing months ago. Did Maggie hit him with her car? Was he buried under the snow for months? What’s going on in this tourist town?
Maggie’s keen to help Tess focus on clearing out the house, but everything stops them. I love when forces collide to stop our main character from achieving her goals… helps create tension and a true need to solve the crime as a priority. Not only is the death of a neighbor a major reminder to Tess that she just lost her own husband 18 months ago, but it creates some interesting dynamics with the remaining neighbors, as few people are around these days, which means one of them most likely had something to do with the guy’s death (neighbor, not husband).
Feliz brings all the characters to life in this book. Some of the neighbors were kind, others were strange. Maggie was focused, and Tess kept things on track for both solving the murder and figuring out what to do with everything in her house. The book was very easy to read, and I felt connected to all the side plots and new characters. When the mystery begins to unravel, there were quite a few culprits who could’ve had something to do with the murder. At first, I thought the guilty party was brilliant… but as things unfolded, we learned there were missing facts, and the actual villain was a slight letdown; it was a surprise yet also not as dramatic.
That said, it was a very strong book, and I enjoy the setting, characters and tone. It felt very much like Hudson Valley, when I visit friends for a long weekend… all the neighbors who come and go, yet seem to have something to hide… I could see something like this happening in real life, and that’s the great sign of a solid cozy mystery. Loved the quotes at the beginning of each chapter, a welcome change from the normal organizational tips in past books. Great edition in the series. 4.5 stars.
Maggie McDonald is a professional organizer.
She aides her customers in putting order into
unorganized spaces to downsize.
Maggie is traveling with her best friend, Tess
Olmos and their dogs to Tahoe Basin with
the purpose of clearing out the family
vacation home to sell.
The remaining family members will join them
on the weekend to hit the slopes.
But huge snowstorms have other plans for
the area and it’s residents.
The snowy drive proved to be horrendous,
scary and driving blindly so the car gets
parked at the bottom of the drive. Then the
women with their dogs trudge through the
unplowed snow up to the house for the night.
The following morning, Maggie and Tess go to
move the car up to the house and to bring in their
belongings left in the car.
Maggie slips……she grabs a boot to stop sliding
then realizes it wasn’t Tess boot. Whose boot did
she grab? Who is buried in the snow??
Maggie has found a dead body!!!
The body is that of a neighbor who had been
missing since around the Christmas holiday.
How had he died? Why was his body found
there now when the area had been searched
many times?
Maggie begins to use her investigation skills
along with Tess and the sheriff. As the story
continues, Stephen arrives with his mastiff,
Paolo, Penny and Rocket to help determine
and arrest the culprit.
Well written plot plus a surprising subplot
with plenty of drama, murder, intrigue, turmoil,
explosions, underlying threats, misgivings,
blizzard conditions with spiraling suspense,
twists with unexpected turns and issues such
as, drugs, illegal activities and sex trafficking.
The scenes are written with deft description.
The reader will feel the cold as they walk
with the characters. They will get clear insight
on living in the Lake Tahoe skiing area. They
will become acquainted with the groomers,
avalanche control, ski patrol lift operators and
the Red Hats.
The characters in the area are interesting,
colorful, relatable and considerate. Some are
quirky but they all pitch in to help one another
especially during the storms.
Even the fur babies are well described and take
part in the story. The reader will meet:
Belle, the golden retriever -Mozart, the German
Shepherd -Duke, a Chihuahua Mix- Winston, the
Old Labrador- Munchkin, the enormous Mastiff.
Remember when organizing make four piles:
Garbage, Recycling, Donate, Keep. This will
simplify your efforts.
This is book # 6 in the Maggie McDonald
Mysteries series. It can be read as a stand
alone.
I volunteered to read Snowed Under. Thanks
to the Mystery Review Crew for the opportunity.
My opinion is voluntary and my own.
Snowed Under is the first book I’ve read in the Maggie McDonald Mystery series by Mary Feliz and I am so happy I did. It was perfect timing too since Wisconsin was going through a heat wave and Lake Tahoe during the winter months helped to keep my mind off the heat. In regards to the snowy, icy weather Feliz really put you into the action with the descriptions of the weather, snow gear, and the treacherous conditions that can happen while walking or driving in the winter.
And for me a good cozy must have a cast of likeable characters that I want to get to know more about and keep visiting book to book. Feliz accomplished this wonderfully. Maggie and Tess are great friends and I love that Feliz even included moments of bickering between the two. It was fun getting to know the neighbors in the snowy village and since this took place outside of the town Maggie lives in, I look forward to getting to know the people from her town since Feliz developed these characters so well.
I loved that the local police were so inviting when it came to Maggie and Tess helping with the investigation, and it seems like the police force in her hometown may have a similar attitude. I enjoy when the police are encouraging instead of raging against the heroine and her friends all the time. I didn’t figure out whodunit early, so that is always a bonus in my book.
A very enjoyable cozy mystery and I look forward to reading more in the series. If you haven’t read any in the Maggie McDonald Mystery series yet, you may want to start with the first book, Address to Die For.
Regardless of season when you snuggle in to read this thrilling combination of cozy mystery and police procedural, you had best bring a blanket. You will find yourself chilled to the bone!
Headed up to a family home for a few days, to clean, declutter and prepare to sell, after the death of Tess’s husband, after which Maggie is looking forward to a family ski weekend.
What they didn’t plan upon arrival has a major impact on the days to come.
A neighbor had gone missing, only for his body to reappear in a snowbank, discovered by Maggie and Tess. You know they can not stop themselves from being dead center of this investigation.
Attempting to track down the big three (motive, means and opportunity) is more difficult when you add in the weather and the fact that almost everyone in town has access to snow removal equipment.
There are some “heavier themes” in this book (than previous books in series) as extended crimes move into the area, but it still has the same great characters. The dogs are wonderful, the friendships strong. The central focus is finding a killer, or discovering what happened to the neighbor.
While you may appreciate it more if you have read earlier books in series, I feel it stands well on its own two feet. The writing will make you feel cold, as if you are dashing through the snow rightbeside Maggie, Tess and other investigators.
I did get this book via Netgalley. Thank you to Kensington and the author for allowing me an early read.
Great reading
Synopsis:
When professional organizer Maggie McDonald finds a body in a snowdrift outside her friend’s ski cabin, she must plow through the clues to find a cold-blooded killer . . .
Lake Tahoe in February is beautiful, but Maggie can’t see a thing as she drives through a blinding blizzard with her friend Tess Olmos and their dogs, golden retriever Belle and German shepherd Mozart.Maggie has offered her professional decluttering skills to help Tess tidy up her late husband’s cabin in preparation to sell. She also plans to get in some skiing when her husband Max and their boys join them later in the week.
What she doesn’t plan on is finding a boot in a snowdrift attached to a corpse. The frozen stiff turns out to be Tess’s neighbor, Dev Bailey, who disappeared two months ago. His widow Leslie expresses grief, but Maggie can’t help but wonder if it’s a snow job. As more suspects start to pile up, things go downhill fast, and Maggie must keep her cool to solve the murder before the killer takes a powder . . .
“A skillful amateur detective with an impressive to-do list.”
—Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW, Address to Die For (Goodreads)
Review:
The characters are well rounded and well developed. Maggie and Tess are good friends and Maggie has offered her services to get Tess’s cabin cleaned out to sell. But they do not get very far with that, because there is a blizzard pounding the area and Maggie uncovers a dead body buried in a snow drift. She will have to use her sleuthing skills to figure out who the murderer is.
The author is very talented in her descriptive writing and I felt like I was right there, watching the blizzard hit and feel the cold. The writing style flows smoothly and defines the characters very clearly through their actions and words. I enjoyed getting to know Tess a little better, seeing her with her other friends. The mystery was well plotted and not easily solved.
I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a well crafted cozy mystery. I am looking forward to seeing what new adventure awaits Maggie and Tess.
I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book provided by the publisher, Kensington Books, and NetGalley, which I greatly appreciate.
I read this exciting new Maggie McDonald mystery in the heat of a summer desert, where few settings sound better to me than a snowy mountain getaway. Except, perhaps, a February snowstorm in the High Sierras. The characters are defined well through their actions and conversations. Maggie can’t seem to go anywhere without finding a mystery! This murder is hard to solve, and they learn there is dark side of crime in this little community that they had hoped was left behind in the Silicon Valley.
Maggie, our professional organizer, and her best friend Tess take us through back to back blizzards. There is a ski resort and close-knit neighborhood where Tess is now owner the cabin that has been in her late husband Patrick’s family for decades. Tess plans to sell it to pay for her son Teddy’s college and her own career change. Maggie is there to help Tess organize and clean out generations of clothing and miscellany. On Friday, her husband will bring their sons and Teddy for a ski weekend.
The morning after they arrive, they go to bring in the groceries they couldn’t in last night’s storm. Maggie slipped, slid, and grabbed onto a leg to steady herself. The only problem was that it wasn’t Tess’s leg. No, it was the frozen leg of a body that was buried head-first in the snowdrift she slid into. The body was that of Dev, a neighbor who disappeared several weeks earlier. He left behind a pregnant wife, two pre-school children, and younger sister who is there as a nanny. Not only do they wonder how he died, but where he had been in the weeks since he went missing.
One thing after another keep Maggie and Tess from organizing the cottage, including a power outage, distressed neighbors, an accident that sends Maggie’s car into the garage door of the cabin, and her own injury. She intends to let Quinn, the local police chief, take care of this investigation rather than ask questions and investigate as she does at home. As she sees the toll it takes on Dev’s widow Leslie and his sister Amrita, and other problems arise in the neighborhood, she feels she simply has to step in.
This is the first time in the series that I have seen Maggie feel anything but in control. She is in a different town and is having a hard time acclimatizing to the ice, snow, and high altitude. We see her back in her comfort zone when helping Leslie and searching for the whodunit. She has very creative games that kept the little ones busy “helping” with chores!
The mystery seemed, to me, to have bit of a slow start. There was no way for the reader to guess who the bad guys could be despite the many possible suspects. We get to see Stephen, Munchkin, and Paolo as they come to keep Maggie safe. The end was definitely a surprise. When the full scope of the death was revealed, the details were difficult to hear. Amrita was a huge help in getting a confession despite the short-term cost to her. Overall, I highly recommend this novel to fans of the series, those who enjoy well-written cozy mysteries, activities for the snowbound, and the comradery of a small community.
I received an advanced copy of this book. I was not required to leave a review.
Here we are with the 6th book in this wonderful mystery series. Poor Maggie – if she had any idea of what was in store for her she might have stayed in bed, as they say. First she and her friend Tess believed the weather gurus and thought they would have a pretty easy drive to Tess’s house near Lake Tahoe. Tess is a recent widow and she wants to clear the house of clutter so she can sell the house and move on to the next chapter of her life. Sounds like a plan until the weather turns to an almost white out blizzard and they barely make it safely to their destination. Taking only what they can easily carry in one slippery trip from car to house, they wait to make another trip to the car so they can move it per neighborhood rules. One slip and slide later, Maggie comes face to foot with a body hidden in the snow bank. As it becomes clear she didn’t hit him with the car when she moved it, the question becomes was it some other type of accident or was he put there. He has been missing from his neighboring home and now all of the locals are on the suspect list. It’s a very interesting list, to be sure.
Maggie starts to sort out both the house and the clues to track the killer and works with police chief Quinn Petit who also happens to be one of the neighbors. Maggie brings a fresh point of view to the neighborhood and her organized mind help sort out the clues. It’s always a pleasure to watch her investigate. The mystery was solid, the clues misdirected me more than once. I always enjoy my ‘visits’ with Maggie and her family and friends, not to mention the dogs, Mozart and Belle. I’m looking forward to Maggie’s next investigation.
Loved this latest book in the series! I have read the first two and really enjoyed them. This one was just as good and a little different since it mainly centered on Maggie and Tess in Lake Tahoe. Maggie and Tess have arrived early to get the cabin organized for Tess to sell. Upon finding a dead body of a neighbor that had gone mussing, things change. The interaction and sense of community between the neighbors was such a nice addition to this story. I loved seeing how the neighbors all seemed to look out for each other. This book really kept me intrigued and I could not identify who the killer was at all. I enjoyed the addition of Stephen and Paolo near the end of the book and, of course, the dogs are a delight! The quotes instead of organizing tips were a nice addition to this book as well. I am eagerly anticipating more books in this series!! Highly recommend reading this series!!
This is book 6 in the Maggie McDonald mystery series and I must say I think this was one of the best . Love the characters with a fun storyline. Maggie and her friend Tess go to unclutter Tess’s late husband‘s cabin taking along their dogs, find a corpse and try to find who did it before anyone else comes up dead. Some of the same characters from the other books show up but can be read as a standalone . It is set in late February in the snow, makes things even more interesting. Looking forward to more from the series
I really liked the setting and the dogs. It was a good story. It kept my interest and I’m looking forward to the next one.
SNOWED UNDER by Mary Felix is the sixth book in the Maggie McDonald cozy mystery series. This is the second book in the series that I have read. A few of the same characters from book five showed up, but there were largely new secondary characters since this one does not take place in Maggie’s home town.
Maggie McDonald is a professional organizer and agrees to help her friend Tess de-clutter her Lake Tahoe home in advance of selling it. However, when Maggie ends up finding a body in a snowdrift upon arrival at the ski cabin, nothing goes as planned. Instead of decluttering, Maggie goes into amateur sleuth mode and tries to find the killer. But suspects are abundant, and clear answers are few.
The prose is entertaining and engaging. The plot is interesting and steady-paced. The ending was somewhat forced and unrealistic. Additionally, the local police chief was too accommodating to Maggie and her friends’ efforts to solve the case. The dogs were an excellent addition to the story.
Several themes run through the story line including human trafficking, drugs, murder, blizzards, power outages, neighbor helping neighbor and much more. Overall, the book was fun and entertaining. I recommend this series to those that enjoy cozy mysteries and I recommend reading the series in order.
Thanks to Kensington Books and Mary Felix for a complimentary ARC of this novel via NetGalley and the opportunity to provide an honest review. Opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way.
cozy-mystery, mountains, snow-season, dogs, suspense
I get the feeling that I might have appreciated it better if I had read one or two of the earlier books in the series. Upon arriving at her friend’s vacation home in a wealthy area of near Tahoe in the midst of a blizzard where Maggie discovers the frozen body of a nearby resident who went missing a couple of months ago. Turns out that he had a meeting with a blunt instrument to the skull elsewhere and was moved to where he was found. Much conflicting information is uncovered as well as red herrings and plot twists. Very interesting!
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Kensington Books via NetGalley.
Neither snow, nor ice, nor wind, nor avalanche shall stop professional organizer Maggie McDonald in her quest to shovel out a killer. This well-plotted mystery kept me guessing all the way! Another fine edition to the Maggie McDonald Mystery series.
Fun and entertaining cozy mystery set in the Lake Tahoe area. Lots of snow and cold and a dead body or two. I really liked the characters and the mystery kept me guessing. Plus there’s dogs!
I definitely recommend.
Thank you to the publisher, Lyrical Press, and NetGalley. My thoughts and opinions are my own and without bias or favor.
This is the first book that I have read by this author and I really liked it. The title really fit the book and the snow felt like it’s own character in a way, directing the action in the story. I also loved the cover. Maggie and Tess are at a ski cabin in Lake Tahoe, where Maggie is going to help Tess clean it out to get it ready to be put up for sale. I loved the tight-knit community of neighbors that looked out for each other in the bad weather and when there were events in the neighborhood. I also liked the relationship between Tess, Maggie and Quinn, the police chief, when he was investigating the crimes. There were a lot of suspects and my opinion kept changing about who the culprit was. I can’t wait to go back and read the rest of the books in the series.
I received an advanced copy of this book through the Cozy Mystery Review Crew. I was not required to leave a review.
I’ve not read any of the previous books in this series. At the beginning the author did a great job of giving just enough back-story information to understand what was going on and learn who the characters were. As the story progressed, new people were introduced that didn’t totally make sense and I felt like the relationship between the main protagonist and her best friend’s vacation home neighbors was very presumptuous and not natural. The story was choppy and I couldn’t always follow what was going on and why they were doing things. It may be better if you’ve read the whole series but just from this book I don’t feel the need to catch up or continue when more are released.
Cold and Snowy Cozy Mystery
What can be more fun in the heat of summer than reading a cozy mystery that is packed in snow? This is a really good mystery. This book is sixth in a series, but the first that I have read. The book definitely stands alone just fine. The story takes place in February near the Lake Tahoe ski areas. They are having blizzards with 12 feet of snow expected. WOW. I love reading cold and snowy stories when it is so hot outside. This a very good story. I’m sure that I would like it just as well in December. I have read lots of this author’s work and you can count on a high-quality story from her. I received this ARC book for free from Net Galley and this is my honest review.
Loved the chapter headings with notes on chaos/organization. Lots of snow! What better place to stumble over a dead body than in the snow! Entertaining mystery. I must now read the first five books.
Maggie heads to Lake Tahoe to her best friend’s family cabin, to undertake the task of helping Tess declutter to ready for sale. This is a close knit community, and they aren’t afraid to tout their town v. tourist mentality when needed. But like any neighborhood, big city problems come to seemingly quiet areas too. I like this series a lot. Maggie is a both a wife and mom, and it was a change to see her in just friend mode while on a working vacation with Tess. Like Maggie, I think I would have been labeled a flatlander–those loud noises described avalanche prevention would have been foreign to me too.