Book review: ‘Bone Appétit, Murder’

Cover of the book, 'Bone Appétit, Murder: A Dog Cozy Mystery With Café Clues, Poison, and Small-Town Secrets'
A fundraiser for a local animal shelter goes horribly wrong, but shelter head Mia and her dog Biscuit unravel a tangled web of clues in this cozy mystery.
By Sally Rosenthal

Bone Appétit, Murder: A Dog Cozy Mystery With Café Clues, Poison, and Small-Town Secrets by Callie Rowan. Independently published, 2026. Softcover, 320 pages.

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It should have been a fun and profitable weekend for the town’s animal shelter. An adoption event in a local café with lots of animal-related games, educational workshops, and raffles … what on earth could go wrong? Plenty, as it turns out in Bone Appétit, Murder, the second entry in Callie Rowan’s Paws & Purpose cozy mystery series.

Having spent months planning the fundraiser weekend, shelter head Mia and her dog Biscuit are looking forward to reaping the rewards of her hard work. However, things take a horrible turn when a local property developer is found dead amid donated dog treats. Did he have a heart attack? Was he poisoned through contact with the mysterious dog treat donation? Or was he murdered?

Amid all the speculation, donations to the shelter drop dramatically, and townspeople begin pointing fingers at the shelter itself. Determined to get to the bottom of things, Mia investigates — with Biscuit’s help, of course — and works unofficially with a police detective to uncover what really happened and why.

Not only is Bone Appétit, Murder an engaging small-town whodunit, it is a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the enormous amount of work required to plan a fundraising event. If cozies are your passion, curl up with Bone Appétit, Murder. I guarantee you will not be disappointed.

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