A TAIL OF TWO MURDERS by T.C. LoTempio
Fiction, Cozy Mystery
4****

Blurb: It was the best of crimes, it was the worst of crimes, and Nick and Nora are dead-set on catching a killer without losing their heads . . .
When local police suspect that a dead body found in the woods is tied to an unsolved heist of rare gold coins, Nora Charles and her sidekick cat Nick are dying to get involved. But she’s got a catering gig to plan for at her friend Lance’s bar, and it looks like that might present a world of trouble all its own. The sleazy former owner of the bar has blown back into town and is aggressively harassing Lance to sell the bar back to him. Nora’s worried her friend is in real danger—until the former owner is found dead and Lance is pegged for the murder. Certain that her friend is innocent, Nora begins digging into the victim’s seedy past to figure out who would have wanted him dead. Then a sudden spark of inspiration tells her that the murders and the unsolved heist are all connected, and that someone is knocking off their fellow thieves to get all the loot for themselves. After tracking down every person even remotely connected to the heist, Nora’s still baffled by who’s behind it all. But that’s about to change, because now she and Nick are all that’s standing between a killer and a fortune . . . Includes mouthwatering sandwich recipes!

THOUGHTS: I enjoy these books with Nora and her cat Nick. Even though Nora is the one with the (new to her) PI license, Nick is often the one who comes up with the solutions and even saves her life a time or two. Nora runs a small cafe where she puts out delicious sandwiches named after famous people. Her good friend Lance owns a bar and hires Nora to cater his engagement party – where things go horribly wrong as the nasty man trying to force Lance to sell the bar to him ends up dead – and Lance is the main suspect. Nora and Nick start sleuthing in order to exonerate their friend and find the real killer. Using Scrabble tiles, Nick provides the main clue, but Nora misinterprets it. Still, when things go from bad to worse, it is Nick who saves the day – and Nora’s life.

I love Nick, but I have to wonder… I guess there aren’t any health code laws in this town? I mean, Nick is all over the kitchen and jumping up on tables and counters. That feels a little…icky to me. But to each his own and Nick is important to the story, and is adorable. So I’ll let this one go.

Overall a fun story and a good addition to the series.

Recommended.

Disclosure of Material: I received a final and/or advanced reader copy of this book with the hope that I will leave my unbiased opinion. I was not required to leave a review, positive or otherwise, and my opinions are just that… My Opinions. I am posting this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising” Thanks to Netgalley for providing this ARC.