First in a new series from national bestselling author Kylie Logan, The Scent of Murder is a riveting mystery following Jazz Ramsey as she trains cadaver dogs. The way Jazz Ramsey figures it, life is pretty good. She owns her own home in one of Cleveland’s most diverse, artsy, and interesting neighborhoods. She has a job she likes as an administrative assistant at an all-girls school, and a … all-girls school, and a volunteer interest she’s passionate about–Jazz is a cadaver dog handler.
Jazz is working with Luther, a cadaver dog in training. Luther is still learning cadaver work, so Jazz is putting him through his paces at an abandoned building that will soon be turned into pricey condos. When Luther signals a find, Jazz is stunned to see the body of a young woman who is dressed in black and wearing the kind of make-up and jewelry Jazz used to see on the Goth kids back in high school.
She’s even more shocked when she realizes that beneath the tattoos and the piercings and all that pale make up is a familiar face.
The lead detective on the case is an old lover, and the murdered woman is a former student. Jazz finds herself sucked into the case, obsessed with learning the truth.
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law-enforcement, amateur-sleuth, murder-investigation, grief, family, relationships
I liked the book and it motivated me to read it in one day, but.
The good: the virtual tour of Cleveland, the development of complex characters, positive interactions with family and colleagues, showing the difference in perspectives of the same information, bringing to light the devastating effects of finding a corpse by one trained to do so, strong plot with twists and some unusual red herrings.
Things that need a little work: more focus on the work of the dogs and less on the main character’s relationship angst.
I requested and received a free ebook copy from St Martin’s Press via NetGalley. Thank you!
A very interesting beginning to a new series by Ms. Logan. Jasmine (Jazz) Ramsey works as an administrative assistant at a prestigious high school, but in her spare time she trains human-remains-detection dogs (HRD). While on a training session, in a building that was soon to be demolished, the dog is supposed to find the evidence that Jazz planted…not the body of a young woman. Jazz recognizes the young woman, Florie, who was a former student at the school. What was she doing in the abandoned building? Jazz has an uncomfortable history with the detective that arrives on scene, Nick Kolesov, a former lover who she has not seen in a year. Will he consider her a suspect in the case? Why was Florie dressed as a “goth” and who could have wanted her dead? Jazz will do some investigating on her own, little by little digging in to Florie’s recent past for clues. She knows she should stay out of the case, but she needs to find out what happened. I received an advance review copy at no cost and without obligation for an honest review. (by paytonpuppy)
I was so excited about this book!! I have read this author under a different name and loved them all. The premise of this book sounded great but the actual story just fell short of my expectations. It’s a nice amateur mystery but there was nothing in this book to make it stand out as great. I received a copy of this book from Netgally for a honest review.
The Scent of Murder takes place in Cleveland and tells the story of Jazz Ramsey, an administrative assistant at an all girls Catholic school during the day but in her off hours she trains cadaver dogs. Her current recruit is Luther, as pictured on the cover, a German Shepard and while training in an abandoned warehouse Luther suddenly goes on alert. This is alarming for Jazz, especially when she discovers a body. Even more alarming is the fact this is a former student from her school. The investigator turns out to be Jazz’s ex-boyfriend Nick. While there is an undertone of romance, this is not prominent but could have been more and would have made this book better. The mystery was somewhat flat in that the murderer was evident early on but for some reason the players could not see it. Yea, right. Anywho, I probably will not continue this series as there is only so much time but it was an okay book if you like cozy mysteries, it was just not full on as it was trying to be.
Cozy Murder with Working Police Dogs
I loved this book! The murder mystery is well done and has enough twists to make it fun. The story is highly populated with working police dogs. Our heroine is a dog trainer and is deeply involved with search/rescue dogs, cadaver dogs and all types of first responder pups. I am excited about this new series and want to read them all! I received this ARC book for free from Net Galley and this is my honest review.
The Scent of Murder is well-written and despite the nature of the story, an easy read. I prefer something with more grit, so the story is a little bit too cozy mystery for my tastes, but the fast pace and whodunit did hold my interest. This one reminded me of Murder She Wrote with Jazz and her determination to solve the murder regardless of any warnings from police or any danger to herself. There is an almost romance between Jazz and her ex – a bit of push and pull between them and some flirting on his part, but I didn’t really see them as a couple until the end. Nick’s feelings come across clearly, but Jazz is closed off and comes across as more confused about a relationship than anything else. In the end, I did enjoy the mystery, and we’re introduced to some interesting and quirky characters in Jazz’s world, especially Sarah and Eileen. The story is certainly worth the read, and I’ll be interested to see where things go for these characters.
The Scent of Murder by Kylie Logan
Jazz Ramsey #1
At the end of this book I felt this book was a bit more like a cozy mystery than anything else. The main character, Jasmine “Jazz” Ramsey is training Luther for his owner before Luther is to be tested and certified to be a Human Remains Detection (HRD) search and rescue dog. Stumbling upon a corpse at the beginning of the book is the introduction to Jazz, Luther and one-time-lover homicide detective Nick Kolesov. The blurb/synopsis of the book lays the groundwork and quite a bit of the backstory for this book and the characters within it.
To me Jazz felt a bit lost and I am not sure if that is due to the death of her father, the loss of Nick as her significant other or something else. I hope to learn more about what motivates Jazz in future books of the series. Nick was someone I could understand as he seemed to be dedicated to his work and because he seemed to care for Jazz. I sometimes wondered if Jazz was into finding out who killed Florie because she was at loose ends and needed a purpose or if she is in fact nosy and likes to solve puzzles.
I enjoyed following the leads that finally revealed who killed Florie. The supporting characters were interesting and no doubt will pop up in future books. I enjoyed the way the book was plotted and written and hope that Jazz’s personality will emerge more in the future.
What I liked:
* the dogs – when they appeared
* the puzzle pieces that at first didn’t seem to have any reason being there and then later made so much sense
* Nick – he seemed a level-headed and nice guy
* Jazz’s brothers
* The information about location
* Finding out that my first thoughts about some “bad” people were unfounded
* Not realizing right away who the murderer was
What I didn’t like:
* Some of Jazz’s less than polite ways of dealing with people she was questioning
* Not finding out what happened to break Nick and Jazz up – was it volatile or just a slow moving away from one another
* Not truly understanding what motivated Jazz
Did I enjoy reading this book? Yes
Would I read more in this series? Yes
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press – Minotaur Books for the ARC – This is my honest review.
3-4 Stars
I did like this book. I don’t know what it was but I couldn’t connect with Jazz. I like her enough it was just something off I couldn’t connect with. The story was interesting. I did know who the killer was early on but was still interesting to see how they got to that point to find who the killer was. I would like to see where this series goes as I’m thinking I will like Jazz the more I read about her.
*I received a free copy of this book via the NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.*
I’m kinda conflicted here because it’s a well written story even though it’s missing a few things I expected from the blurb and the cover art. First off if you’re looking for a story about a woman who works with these special dogs then this is a good mystery for you. If you’re looking for a story that includes the dog . . . well not so much. Since I am in both categories it was a good read. I haven’t read this author before but I did enjoy her style and the pace of the story. Jazz while she was a pretty flat character (her love of muted tones, beige and browns is even mentioned in the story) and accepts that fact what becomes clear is that she is intuitive. She is a single woman who just lost her father and her dog and fills her time with solving the case, so what’s not to like, especially since she has a knack for getting info and pissing folks off.This murder is personal because she knows the student so she makes it her mission to find justice. I enjoyed the story mainly because it’s good writing and the author didn’t feel the need to fluff it with romance but gave us a clear cut mystery.