A Mischief of Rats

(A Nell Ward Mystery #3)

by Sarah Yarwood-Lovett

Release date: February 28th, 2023

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I received a complimentary ARC copy of A Mischief of Rats (A Nell Ward Mystery #3) by Sarah Yarwood-Lovett from Net Galley and Embla Books in order to read and give an honest review.

…this part cozy mystery meets police procedural is an intelligent, authentic, and quirky read which I would highly recommend…

A Mischief of Rats is the third entry in the Nell Ward Mystery series and much better than the first book a Murder of Crows which I previously reviewed. Having not read the second book I was a bit lost in parts, but it was still good as a standalone. This time around the book had a much more cohesive feel and the prose flowed at a nice pace. Thankfully the dreaded love triangle is gone, and Nell is putting her life together after what appears to be traumatic trials, she endured in book two and starting a new life with her boyfriend Rav.

We begin with Nell in charge of organizing a race at her family’s estate featuring classic cars that have been converted with electric engines. We meet some of the race staff and participants, especially womanizing and reckless racer Jack Rafferty, his supermodel wife, and entourage.

With a complicated schedule of not only organizing the race, juggling a romance and the dreaded “meet the parents” weekend, Nell is up early helping her ecologist friend Mai put final changes in place after rehabilitating a woodlands pond for designation when they discover a car in the middle of the pond, and with the driver still at the wheel…. dead. When Nell recognizes the body as none other than Jack Rafferty she wonders if this was an accident or was something more sinister behind it. Knowing his reputation Nell is aware that the suspect pool is huge, and when a lone earring on the car’s dashboard indicates that her boyfriend’s sister might be somehow involved her life becomes more complicated.

This time around I really enjoyed this entry in the series. Author Sarah Yarwood-Lovett, who has created an intelligent likeable protagonist, Dr. Nell Ward who, like the author, is an ecologist, adding a nice angle to the story. Although I’m not fond of cliffhangers, this part cozy mystery meets police procedural is an intelligent, authentic, and quirky read which I would highly recommend.

by Rupert Holmes

Release date: February 21st, 2023

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I received a complimentary ARC copy of Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide by Rupert Holmes from NetGalley and Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster in order to read and give an honest review.

…Quirky, clever, inventive, and deliciously dark….…

Cliff Iverson has the boss from hell, Merrill Fiedler is a narcissistic jerk who has not only ruined Cliff’s career, and knowingly put people’s lives in danger but he’s driven Cliff’s dear friend and love interest to suicide.

In the opening of the book, we learn about Cliff’s failed attempt to murder Fiedler, but he is saved in a sense by a sponsored scholarship to The McMasters Conservatory for the Applied Arts, a private college which teaches one how to “delete” their treacherous employer, however there is one caveat, failure in the program is not an option.

The academy is in a completely unknown location, students are blindfolded and arrive at the academy by multiple means of transportation. A beautiful campus with all amenities, the Conservatory seems like an ivy league experience with classes such as “Remains to be seen” and “Principles of Deletion” students get a well-rounded education in the Art of Murder.

We learn of Cliff’s classes, classmates, and their respective stories, as well as meet students a little too competitive for their own good. The story is mostly told through journal entries, progress reports and correspondence. Upon graduation we follow Cliff and two of his classmates as they plot to delete their employers for reasons that make the reader root for the graduates.

Quirky, clever, inventive, and deliciously dark. I really enjoyed Murder Your Employer. My only complaint would be that at some points the story did drag a bit but overall, a fun read that has you flipping pages, I highly recommend.