I've given this book 3 1/2 stars. The Pet Rescue Mystery series shows some promise, but I was a little disappointed with the writing. Even for a cozy series, I found the character development was lacking somewhat. I'm not sure I liked Lauren Vancouver. She is far too outspoken and rude for my taste, but I love the animal portrayals. Lauren manages a private animal rescue shelter. As we just recently adopted a shelter animal, the animals struck a chord with me. The mystery was fairly tricky, and some of the characters were quite well portrayed. The book opens with Lauren called in to observe when a notorious puppy mill is busted by animal control. She is appalled to see one of her own volunteer employees at the scene, and what's worse it appears that he's involved in it somehow. When her employee is found dead right in Lauren's shelter, she becomes the prime suspect in the murder. In order to remove herself from suspicion, she sets out on her own to unmask the killer. I will probably read another book in this series as I love the premise behind the adorable animals waiting to be adopted. That's enough to maintain my interest for now. ( )

Beaglemania is filled with useful information on shelters, puppy mills, and how to care for animals, and I enjoyed all of that very much. If only the rest of the book had been as interesting.

The mystery is fairly predictable, and I knew the identity of the killer in the first scene in which that person made an appearance. (I hate that when it happens.) Even then I would have liked the book if I'd liked the characters, but they seemed lackluster as well. The rest of the cast takes a backseat to Lauren Vancouver, who has an irritating tendency to fly off half-cocked. She's trying to find a killer, so she goes off to question the people on her suspect list by herself. She's lucky she didn't get stabbed and shoved down a storm drain. Then she agrees to an interview and expects the media not to do a slice-dice-and-spin-it-our-way on the tape. It's very difficult for me to like a character who repeatedly forgets to use her little grey cells.

I was expecting something a little bit different in this book because of the first two lines I quoted-- which I found very intriguing; however, those lines came to nothing, and I was left feeling as though Beaglemania was a sad-eyed dog that couldn't wag its tail. ( )

Great book, I had a hard time putting it down to sleep! ( )

This is what I call a "grandma mystery". Nothing to exciting, no foul language, no sex, no violence. Its a book my grandma would enjoy.
I'll read any book about animals but this one was pretty uneventful. Its an easy nonthinking read that was perfect for the plane ride from New York to Seattle and back home. ( )

“Beaglemania” is the first in the new Pet Rescue Mystery Series from Linda O. Johnston, the well-known creator of the popular Pet-Setter Mysteries. It’s easy to tell the author has a soft spot for all sorts of animals, big and small, and even human, especially if they are extra kind to animals. Unfortunately, not all humans are, as Lauren Vancouver—head of HotRescues, a no-kill animal shelter—discovers all too often.
At a particularly nasty puppy mill, Lauren helps rescue four adorable beagle puppies that were dumped down a storm drain, and she’s pretty sure she knows whodunit. Lauren discovers Efram Kiley, one of HotRescue’s employees (he’s doing community service to atone for past instances of dog abuse), at the puppy mill and is convinced he’s responsible for this latest example of animal cruelty. Efram shows up at HotRescues and threatens her. When Efram is found dead at the shelter (guess who finds him!), Lauren becomes the prime suspect. In trying to clear her own name, Lauren discovers more suspects than she bargained for, including a member or two of her own staff.
A promising beginning to a cute series. But I couldn’t help but wonder…what happened to the beagles? Once they’re rescued from the storm drain, we don’t hear from them any more. I hope they found a good home.
Reviewed by Susan Santangelo, author of “Moving Can Be Murder” for Suspense Magazine ( )