Customer Reviews

The Fright of the Iguana (Wheeler Cozy Mystery)

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I didn't care for this installment of the series as much as the others. The book was very predictable with the culprit's identity obvious from the first time they appeared in the book.

While Kendra is not a character I care much for, I found her unlikeable in this story. The ambivalence towards Jeff didn't seem to have any basis since his ex-wife is now out of the picture. I also got really tired of seeing the word "sexy" -- his sexy eyes, his sexy shoulders, his sexy jeans, the "sexy bites" Kendra took out of her sandwich. The character came across like she was in heat or something, and I found myself caring less and less about the whole relationship as the book progressed.

I also found the dialogue to be rather juvenile in this book. And, I'm no fan of cliffhangers as a gimmick to get me to buy the next book. If I want to buy it, I'll buy it.

Finally, I thought the author went a bit overboard with Lexie. I'm a dog lover and I used to take my Cocker Spaniels lots of places with me. But the author almost seems to be trying to force us to remember this is a series about pets (as if we could forget). Kendra brings Lexie with her to brand new petsitting clients, not knowing how these huge dogs might react to her dog. She takes her along to visit heartbroken owners whose own pets have been petnapped. She questions why on a first date with her vet, he didn't select a restaurant where she could bring her dog. It just seemed another gimmick to get her dog (who, according to the back cover, is actually Lexie) into the story as much as possible, to the point of overkill.

I hope the next installment is better.

Kendra Ballantyne is a pet sitter extraordinaire until one of her best client's pet comes up missing on her watch. The ransom note found on the iguana cage says don't contact the police, but Kendra needs help and calls in her favorite homicide detective, and her ex-boyfriend Jeff, a PI. While her goal is to stay out of his arms while they find the pet-napper, she also wants to stay alive. When she is attacked physically she knows she must find the villain.

This is the fifth in a cute and cozy series, Linda O. Johnston has created the Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter Mystery Series, and as always this one is funny and intense. Kendra may be a lawyer but when it comes to animals she focuses her attention on keeping them safe. Kendra's fast thinking, witty comebacks and a cast of cute animals and characters make this an enjoyable read.

This reader's biggest problem with this mystery was the amount of romance. Kendra spends a lot of time trying to stay out of the arms of both Jeff and her vet, Tom. This left this reader feeling like this one might be a cross-over into the romance field.

One warning to readers: The print in this book is TINY... Be prepared for eye strain, even while laughing at Kendra's antics this reader could not get past the small typeface used.

Review Courtesy of LoveRomancesandmore

This was not as good as the others. It seems to drag on and i got real tired with the constant boyfriend problems. Make up your mind already!
Other than that it was a cute mystery.

Kendra Ballantyne, Los Angeles attorney and part-time pet sitter, is horrified to find two pets in her care missing and a ransom note in their place. The missing pets are a wealthy film producer's beloved pup and iguana. Soon she discovers that other pets have been snatched when under the care of her fellow Southern California pet-sitting club pet sitters.

The police aren't very interested in finding missing pets. After a fellow pet sitter is found murdered, Kendra knows she must get to the bottom of things.

In the meantime she's trying to decide between her hunky investigator boyfriend and her new beau, a wonderful vet.

Can she juggle two men, find the missing pets, and unmask the killer without putting herself in any danger?

I really like this series. Kendra is a wonderful character. I like the pet sitting theme as well. I was happy to see that she makes a decision between the men in her life; I just hope that it will hold!

I always enjoy the pet-sitting antics in this series. The author has done a great job of making the reader care about the animals. Plus their personalities really shine through.

The Southern California is enjoyable as well. I highly recommend this book and series.

I have purchased and read (and enjoyed) all of the other books in Linda O. Johnson's Kendra Ballantyne series but I had a difficult time forcing myself to finish "Fright of the Iguana" and I don't know if I'd be willing to purchase another book by the author. This one was just too badly written. I don't know what has happened. Every sentence contains either a painful cliché, is loaded with at least two adjectives for every noun, or awkwardly employs long words where more common ones would have worked just as well.

I try to be generous in reviewing genre mysteries, the writing doesn't have to be top drawer to get a positive review from me if the story is enjoyable, but the writing in "Fright of the Iguana" is so dreadful, I couldn't tell you if the story was good or not, I was that distracted by the poor writing quality.

I can say Kendra is unlikeable in this outing, her thoughts seem to be entirely selfish in any interaction she has with other characters, the other characters are described almost universally with a judgmental slant and Kendra's romantic relationships are too much of the story. And let me tell you, if I had a pet sitter who waited to inform me "later" and by email that my dog was missing, *I* would be the one in trouble for murder! But that's what Kendra does.

Very disappointing.

Reviewed by Kathy Perschmann

This is the fifth in this cute and cozy series-a Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter Mystery

Kendra Ballantyne, attorney and pet-sitter, must deal with a series of pet nappings-and a murder! Two of her charges, the pets of high-powered Hollywood producers, are kidnapped. While Kendra does call in the police and the media, she is able to help the owner get them back by paying an exorbitant ransom.

Then Nya, a colleague, is found bludgeoned to death! Other members of Kendra's professional association, the PSCSC (Pet-Sitters Club of Southern California) have experienced client pet nappings, and Nya was investigating, apparently, when she was killed in the home of one of Tracy Owen's clients.

Tracy is the active and dedicated president of the club. Tracy and Nya's boyfriend, Jerry Jefferton, are the main suspects. While trying to solve both the kidnappings and the murder, find the missing pets, and solve a particularly difficult pet custody case, Kendra must also try and decide what to do about the two handsome and attentive men in her life, PI Jeff Hubbard and veterinarian Tom Venson.

Her favorite pet-sitting employee, Rachel, is accused of theft while taking her dog to a local nursing home, and also comes to Kendra for help. Worries that her beloved dog Lexie might be targeted, makes this work especially hard for Kendra.

The characters, both human and animal, are well-drawn, and the details of the pet law cases and the pet sitting business are interesting. This is a series I will keep on reading!

NOTE: Lexie does exist--the dog of author Linda Johnson! She is a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.

Armchair Interviews says: A cute story for a fun read.