Hello Readers!

I hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving holiday with no crazy shenanigans. The boyfriend and I got to host this year, and I had plenty of time over the long weekend to focus on writing and destressing, hooray! You know what else was a special holiday gift?

Tammie Painter’s new book The Scales of Justice!

If you’re familiar with this blog, then you know I am one of her staunchest supporters, so when I received an ARC copy of her book that comes out on Christmas, you know I just had to dive right in.

Let’s see what shenanigans Duncan the whimsical dragon is up to this time!

Series Review Links

Book Review: Hoard It All Before (The Circus of Unusual Creatures #1)

Book Review: Tipping the Scales (The Circus of Unusual Creatures #2)

Book Review: Fangs a Million (The Circus of Unusual Creatures #3)

Book Review: Beast or Famine (The Circus of Unusual Creatures #4)

Book Review: Too Claws for Comfort (The Circus of Unusual Creatures #5)

Blurb

A crime boss with a secret A swoon-inducing thief A heist that leads to murder It might be the perfect case for Duncan, but he’s really just in town for the omelets.

Zin’s Circus of Unusual Creatures is gearing up for a lengthy run in Chesterwood, a town run by the infamous crime boss, Rochester McCleary, aka “The Goblin King”.

No one knows why Rochester invited them to town, why he’s letting them set up on a recently demolished city block for free, or why he keeps lurking around the circus grounds, but no one is stupid enough to ask McCleary to divulge his suspicious secrets.

Meanwhile, Duncan’s performances have been drastically cut, and he’s bored off his scales. Bored, that is, until someone breaks into and empties Rochester’s vault.

The boredom is especially lifted when, soon after the heist, a body is found. The only trouble is that the most obvious suspects are a kind-hearted sculptor and Duncan’s favorite omelet chef, Pepper.

Although eager to take the case, Duncan is reluctant to tangle with The Goblin King. After all, he’s pretty sure he’d look terrible in cement shoes.

Can Duncan (along with his fellow amateur sleuths Boris and Cordelia) discover who the real culprit is before Rochester McCleary makes good on his threats? Can they uncover Chesterwood’s secrets without ending up in pine boxes?

Or will they get too distracted by cute co-workers, skimpy outfits, “modern” dating advice, and a certain dragon’s omelet goals to survive this confounding case?

Find out in The Scales of Justice , the latest addition to the Circus of Unusual Creatures Mysteries — a cozy fantasy series that mixes in laughs with murderous mayhem and mythical beasts.

GoodReads

Amazon

***Brief disclosure***

I am an Amazon affiliate and earn a tiny commission for purchases made through the Amazon links in this post at no cost to you. It’s a great way to help me keep things running on my blog if you’re already intrigued enough to make a purchase. 

The Review

I loved the heck out of this humorous whodunit!

Zin’s Circus of Unusual Creatures has arrived in Chesterwood, a small town run by Rochester McCleary aka the Goblin King. Despite staying free of charge, the Goblin King’s demands gets worse and worse until an even worse thing happens. A murder! Can Duncan the dragon and his trusty friends detectivate this one, or have their investigafying days ended once and for all?

When I read any of Painter’s works, I’ve come to expect whimsy, humor, and lots of plot twists I can’t get enough of, and this novel marked all the boxes and then some! They say lightning doesn’t strike twice, but Painter has struck lightning, what … 3, 5, 6 … oh heck, I don’t know how many times, but she’s knocked it out of the ballpark all over again.

The cast of characters really made this story hop right off the page. I don’t know how Painter manages to keep progression going for so many characters in each novel, but it was great to see them all struggle and overcome their dilemmas. Duncan’s heartsick for his girlfriend Viola, Cordelia’s tackles a dangerous turn in her performing career, and I loved Molly’s developments too. And that’s not even counting the new characters in this town.

Ryu, Kawa, and Gloria resonated with me the strongest, and they all had their part to play in the mystery at hand.

Speaking of mystery, I was really happy with how unpredictable things went this time. I failed to identify the killer, which was refreshing, and each chapter had lots of developments that kept me guessing. What else can I say? If you like whimsical vibes, daring feats of dragonly proportions, and a masterfully executed mystery, this is the series for you!

That’s A Wrap!

Well that’s it for this book review. Like what you see? Leave a tip!

Have you read this book? Are there other similar books you’ve read that you simply have to gush about? Feel free to leave a comment. I’d love to start a conversation!

Have a great day!

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