Death of a Dolly Waggler: A Jill Cooksey Mystery
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Puppets are cute, right? Deadly too! With her boyfriend MIA and her trip-of-a-lifetime canceled, cash-strapped Jill Cooksey decides to use her vacation to moonlight on the set of a children's TV show and earn some much needed dough. The Mr. Snicklefritz Show is celebrating its thirtieth anniversary, and all Jill has to do is give tours of the set and answer questions. Even better, she gets to meet all her childhood heroes: Mr. Snicklefritz, Princess Gretel, and Squirrelly-Joe. How difficult could it be? Deadly difficult. When a puppeteer is murdered, Jill's excitement turns to fear as she learns that puppets have problems and what you see on TV is far from the truth. With the TV network threatening cancellation, can Jill figure out who's pulling the strings and save The Mr. Snicklefritz Show? Death of a Dolly Waggler is the latest madcap adventure for Jill Cooksey, a PR professional whose clients never fail to misbehave but whose friends always have her back. With the help of her PR Posse, Jill takes on clients, criminals, and the New York dating scene. It’s hard to say which is worse. Fans of Janet Evanovich, Penny Reid, Zara Keane, and Jana Deleon will fall in love with Jill Cooksey and her hysterical adventures! LESLEY ST. JAMES is also the author of the award-winning novel The Sweet Scent of Death which first introduced feisty sleuth Jill Cooksey. Connect with Lesley at www.lesleystjames.com.
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I loved this cozy! I requested an ARC in exchange for an honest review, and quite honestly, I'm so glad I did. :) Normally I'm not a huge fan of puppets, but Jill and her friends and coworkers really made the book for me. I even came around to the puppets by the final scene! Plus, the book is set in NYC, which is a fun change from other cozies.
Jill, who normally works in PR, has taken up a side job running set tours at a children's show. The actors – and especially the puppets – have larger-than-life personalities, which makes the job difficult. However, when one of them is murdered, Jill agrees to help the police figure out who did it. What follows is a hilarious and heart-warming team up between Jill's friends and the PAs on set!
This is the second book in the series, but you can read it as a standalone if you like. Jill is very funny and relatable, and catches you up on anything you missed. I found her to be really relatable and would totally be part of her “posse” if possible. :)
Mystery-wise, [mild spoilers!!] I did not figure out who the murderer was until the very end. It made sense, though, and the end was satisfying. In fact, all the loose ends were tied up well (aside from one plotline which is going into the third book, but isn't really important for this story).
All in all, I would definitely recommend this book to any cozy reader. Or anyone with an interest in TV behind the scenes! And I'll be reading the third book for sure.