Tag: author Dawn McKinnon

Review: Mr. Mustachio Gets Collared (The Mr. Mustachio Murders Book 3) by Dawn McKinnon

Rating: 4.5🌈

Mr. Mustachio Gets Collared has the feel of a finale story without all the characters and smaller threads getting their due.

McKinnon’s third book contains several mysteries, a couple of murders, and a case of mistaken paternity, in this case, Mr Mustachio, who has been accused of having “relations” with another prize winning Persian cat who’s now expecting kittens! And everyone, including Algernon wants his name cleared!

It’s hard to say if this is indeed the finale book because I can’t find anything else from the author (this was written in 2022). So I’m just not sure. But it has that tone.

It starts ,as they all have, with Mr Mustachio’s POV , him out on the town and having an encounter trying to prevent a amorous cattery attack that’s part of the story and his character’s thread.

Then it’s right off back to Chez Celine, the richly entertaining daily life of its human characters where more investigations are about to drop into Sam’s lap. At this point, Sam has finally finished his book, his and Algernon’s relationship is going well, and Chez Celine is adjusting nicely to new artists.

So things should start to fall apart, naturally!

There’s potential for Algernon real identity to be discovered by others outside of those already in the know. There’s multiple murders that center around a restaurant, and many other complex investigations for Sam, Algernon, Mr Mustachio, and Chief Baldwin to get involved in. Even Sven does his own wild part here.

I can’t help but think that the author crammed more than one book into this one. It’s full of so many different stories themes and plots that it’s hard for McKinnon to bring them all to completion, let alone explore them to the fullest extent possible.

Sam finishes a book he’s had problems writing. We never explore Algernon’s character fully, his background nebulous and his type of being purposefully vague on certain aspects. Sven never gets his due and that’s a shame.

But we do have several completely good mysteries, dramatic moments, adorable kitties, and HEA’s for more than one couple.

I can’t find any more information on this author or more books. But I’m ever hopeful. I just adore this series, found them charming. And am absolutely recommending them to all lovers of cozy mystery romance with a delightful twist.

Cover: Cate Ashwood

The Mr. Mustachio Murders (3 books)

✓ Mr. Mustachio Is Falsely Accused #1

✓ Mr. Mustachio Sings Like a Canary #2

✓ Mr. Mustachio Gets Collared #3-finale

Buy Link:

Mr. Mustachio Gets Collared (The Mr. Mustachio Murders)

Blurb:

Algernon is eager to assist Sam in his cases, and Sam is willing to let him—as long as there’s no murder involved. But the embezzlement case he’s been hired to investigate for a local restaurant turns sinister when a diner gets poisoned right in front of his eyes.

Sam sets out to discover whether the death was the accidental result of a plan to sabotage the restaurant or if the high-maintenance woman who got served poisonous mushrooms was the target of a plot to kill her. She does seem like the type you’d want dead.

Meanwhile, Chez Celine learns Mr. Mustachio is going to be a father. Or so the high-maintenance woman claims when her prize-winning cat turns up pregnant. Algernon denies responsibility, but how to prove it? When Mr. Mustachio’s habit of poking his nose in where it doesn’t belong lands him in cat jail, Sam has to ask the one man he least wants to turn to for help in saving his partner.

Mr. Mustachio Gets Collared is book 3 in the Mr. Mustachio Murders.

Review: Mr. Mustachio Sings Like a Canary (The Mr. Mustachio Murders Book 2) by Dawn McKinnon

Rating: 4.5🌈

Mr. Mustachio Sings Like a Canary is the second in the excellent The Mr. Mustachio Murders by Dawn McKinnon, a cozy murder mystery series with a paranormal twist.

McKinnon’s series picks up shortly after the events of the last book, with Chez Celine’s inhabitants trying to adjust to their losses and adapt to their newcomers.

As Sam valiantly tries to continue to struggle to write his book, another investigation comes his way. And then there’s another.

I love the way McKinnon weaves all the many happenings and storylines into a single narrative. It’s a slow, methodical but absorbing process as Sam, investigates one event after another. He’s often accompanied by Mr Mustachio, or Algernon, or the local Chief of Police (who’s only got himself as staff of one) as he visits people or places of interest to see and talk to.

While the murder(s) and investigations are ongoing, McKinnon is further exploring the mysterious layers that emerge whenever Algernon is around. Especially as they pertain to Sam and Mr Mustachio. No spoilers here but I don’t think many readers will be surprised.

What occurs will definitely make the reader want more background information if possible and definitely a lot more of the series and.

It’s still a very slow burn romance. Character and plot driven, which is wonderful given the great personalities and fabulous location the author has created and is enlarging with each book.

This is so charming and a real engaging cozy murder mystery with a paranormal twist. One I’m highly recommending.

Cover: Cate Ashwood

The Mr. Mustachio Murders:

✓ Mr. Mustachio Is Falsely Accused #1

✓ Mr. Mustachio Sings Like a Canary #2

◦ Mr. Mustachio Gets Collared #3

Buy Link:

Mr. Mustachio Sings Like a Canary (The Mr. Mustachio Murders)

Blurb:

Sam wasn’t living at Chez Celine long before he was tasked with catching a murderer, but his new case is simpler. Joan Peabody died from natural causes. All he has to do is find her will. But as he tries to figure out what the last surviving member of the town’s founding family did with her will, he begins to wonder whether something got done to her.

For an elderly lady with a heart condition, Joan had a lot of enemies. In fact, it seems like the only people who didn’t want her dead were the niece who expects to inherit her estate and the childhood sweetheart she spurned. And even they have motives.

Meanwhile, someone blew up a mailbox downtown, and there’s a reward for fingering the culprit. Investigating Joan’s death is only earning Sam enemies, one of whom is Algernon after Sam spirits Mr. Mustachio away to the vet. Algernon has secrets he’s not ready to spill, but to find Joan Peabody’s will, catch her killer, and save Mr. Mustachio from an unfortunate medical procedure, he’s going to have to start singing.

Mr. Mustachio Sings Like a Canary is book 2 in the Mr. Mustachio Murders.

Review: Mr Mustachio is Falsely Accused (Mr. Mustachio Murders Book 1) by Dawn McKinnon

Rating: 4.75🌈

I’m utterly charmed by the new murder mystery I just finished. A story along the lines of a cozy mystery with a touch of the mysterious or perhaps mystical, I also found a new wonderful author in Mr Mustachio is Falsely Accused (Mr. Mustachio Murders Book 1) by Dawn McKinnon.

Honestly, it was that cover! Then the description. But first that remarkable cover with the auburn Persian cat with the white mustache looking so smug and intelligent!

Then once I got into it, I was hooked. The prologue belongs to Mr Mustachio’s thoughts as he wanders through his nightly routine of checking in on his renters and those that have come to visit Chez Celine, his mansion that now houses artists and their shops. Turns out the wealthy woman who owned the huge house left everything to him, land, house, and lots of money.

McKinnon does a fascinating job of keeping Mr Mustachio’s thoughts less anthropomorphic, more in the realm of what a cat, an extraordinary one however, might think.

The second and primary POV belongs to ex police officer, Sam Jones, who’s just rented rooms in Chez Celine hoping to start his next career as a mystery writer and part time detective.

Once interviewed, inside Chez Celine and accepted as one of this strange group, the mysteries start piling up on Sam immediately. One happens to be in the form of Algernon, the strangely naive, mysterious, and very lovely man of indeterminate age that’s Mr Mustachio’s guardian. That’s just the beginning.

McKinnon’s narrative weaves a tale of multiple mysteries, several murders, a household of artists of different ages and backgrounds, some very strange and mysterious, the most interesting and unusual are those of Algernon and the cat, Mr Mustachio. Sam Jones is pretty special as the not so hard boiled detective narrator who’s falling for Algernon, the cat and Chez Celine.

I’m so thrilled to have found this new author and series. I immediately have two more books to discover, one that was recently published. Be still my heart.

If you’re a lover of murder mysteries, slow heat romance, cozy mysteries, mysterious characters, or even some strange elements or animals as main characters, well, this book and series has all of the above. And done right.

Plus it’s got those covers! Highly recommended.

Cover: Cate Ashwood

The Mr. Mustachio Murders:

✓ Mr. Mustachio Is Falsely Accused #1

◦ Mr. Mustachio Sings Like a Canary #2

◦ Mr. Mustachio Gets Collared #3

Buy Link:

Mr. Mustachio Is Falsely Accused (The Mr. Mustachio Murders)

Blurb:

What happens when a hard-boiled detective finds himself in a cozy mystery?

Sam Jones has left the force. Going forward, the only mysteries he’ll solve will be fictional ones as he pursues his dream of becoming an author. But he’s barely moved into Chez Celine, a former mansion repurposed as an artist collective, before two unfortunate discoveries demand his attention. One is the dead body of his new apartment’s previous occupant, found stuffed in a trunk. The other is an award-winning vase, found shattered on a storeroom floor.

The list of murder suspects is endless. Everyone hated Amelie. But when it comes to the broken vase, the perpetrator seems obvious. It must be Sam’s unlikely landlord—an unusually intelligent cat named Mr. Mustachio.

Sam has never made friends easily, but as he gets to know Mr. Mustachio’s human representative, Algernon, his feelings move beyond friendship. But Algernon seems to know more than an innocent man should. To find the true culprit, and perhaps true love, Sam must prove that both Algernon and Mr. Mustachio have been falsely accused.

Mr. Mustachio is Falsely Accused is book 1 in the Mr. Mustachio Murders.