Celia Buell's Reviews > Arsenic in the Azaleas

Last month I read a few cozies that were not exactly what I had hoped I would get out of the genre. I started reading them for small-town feels and quirky, lovable, real characters. I'm afraid to say the few I read in May didn't exactly fit those vibes. So I was a little bit wary when I first started reading Arsenic in the Azaleas.

I'm happy to report this novel was the new look at the genre that I needed this month. I loved Doreen as a character. She was cute, funny, and relatable, and she had true motivation and appreciation for everything she did in the novel.

Arsenic in the Azaleas starts off with the main character, Doreen, moving to her grandmother's house in her small Canadian town after a toxic marriage ends in an ugly divorce. Just after moving in, she discovers a dead body on her porch.

As in a lot of cozy mysteries, she tries to look at the case and figure the culprit out for herself, but she doesn't do this in a reckless or dangerous way, in contrast to a lot of cozy mystery heroines. She knows when to step back and let the police handle their job, but she can't help being in the wrong place at the wrong time, nor can she stop herself from finding interesting clues while cleaning out the old house she's inherited.

One thing that made this novel infinitely better was the three pets. There was Goliath, the cat she inherited with the house, who has a love-hate relationship with her Bassett hound Mugs. Mugs is the one who actually discovers most of the disturbing evidence, and insists on Doreen knowing about it. And then there's Thaddeus, the talking African Gray parrot who always says everything twice, starting with "Body in the garden. Body in the garden." He was easily my favorite, and he was great comic relief when the crime was at its worst.

I also hate to say it, with everything that's going on with the police violence in the real world, but the officer Mack was another one of my favorite characters. Although he chastised Doreen often for her involvement, he seemed to not really mind, and they work well together. I kept seeing him as Hopper from Stranger Things. Also, and again I feel bad for saying this with the current climate, but I really hope Doreen is on the force by the end of the series.

Speaking of the series, I definitely want to get my hands on the next book. I really want to see what Doreen and her hilarious animal family do next. And, I'm really rooting for a relationship between her and Mack. I will definitely look to see where I can find Bones in the Begonias at a low price. This was good and laugh-out-loud hilarious at a time when I needed something to put a smile on my face.