A Mythical Case of Arson (A Mythical Pet Sitting Mystery Libro 1) – Melissa Erin Jackson
Sinopsis
Just when she thinks her day can’t get any weirder, she finds a baby dragon …
Deandra Hendricks works her fingers to the bone at two jobs to keep her Los Angeles apartment. With a rapidly dwindling savings account, the prospects for her future are bleak. So when her cousin invites her to visit Axia—the hidden, magical hub their grandparents retired to—she agrees. Deandra doesn’t possess a stitch of magic herself, but a long weekend vacation in a strange new town might be just what she needs.
Her first day in Axia is so bizarre, though, she wonders if her bleak life in Los Angeles hasn’t been so bad after all. And, just when she thinks her day can’t get any stranger, she finds a baby dragon trapped in a dumpster. At a loss, she takes a trip to the vet, hoping they can help find the little guy’s owner.
The dragon, it turns out, only appears in its true form to her, while everyone else sees a dire wolf puppy. She and the vet discover that as long as the dragon wears his bespelled collar, his true identity is hidden. Someone went to great lengths to keep this supposed-to-be-extinct animal a secret.
Then the “dog” is accused of arson and is seized by authorities. Determined to help him, Deandra searches for the real arsonist. She catches wind of a thriving black market that’s populated by those who would stop at nothing to claim an animal this rare. She must work quickly to clear her dragon’s name, because if he falls into the wrong hands, she could lose him forever.
Review
The first half of the book follows the story of Dee as she travels to Axia, to see her grandparents and cousin/best friend Wendy. The interesting thing is that Axia is a “hub”, a magical place hidden from “normal” humans, where different species related to magic live.
Dee arrives at Axia wearing a transporter collar, which didn’t work as a transporter, or at least not like she imagined. Is it relevant to the story? No, but I wanted to complain anyway xD.
It is this half, I perfectly understood what a “cozy” story means. I’m not sure what the word means, but I’ve always had a notion of what it means and the story gave me just that feeling of security and warmth.
Just googled the translation of the word and it means “homely.” It makes a lot of sense haha.
It is from this point that the “mystery” part begins. When Dee is forced to investigate the culprit of a magically started fire, after being blamed alongside the fire-throwing “wolf” she rescued from a dumpster and who basically adopted her, and who is actually a baby dragon. In truth, the synopsis tells us almost the entire book xD, that shows that what is important is its development.
It was a little complicated for me that they get to “interview” people and that they are so open to talking. I think it’s good that Layla is friendly with Wendy because they knew each other by sight, but she told her her whole life xD.
The only thing I didn’t love about the story is that the dragon had less participation than I expected. Although the story unfolds around him, he was little in the “scene.”
In any case, it doesn’t seem that worrying to me since it is the first book in a saga, so we will probably have plenty of opportunities to see the beloved baby dragon.
This book met my expectations. I had never read a “cozy book,” let alone a mystery, but I definitely fell in love with the mix. The mystery is not something absolutely impossible to solve or something that plays with your psyche, but it did surprise me and I personally did not solve the mystery at first. In addition, this makes it a light and pleasant read.
Bye bye 💕
Author
Melissa lives in Northern California with her boyfriend and way too many pets. She divides her time between operating a dog walking business and writing. She (mostly) writes paranormal mysteries. Some of them are very cute and some of them are very creepy. You can find all of her books in ebook, paperback, and audio formats.
You can get in touch with her at the following sites:
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