Pre-meditated Murder: A Downward Dog Mystery

Weber’s enjoyable fifth Downward Dog mystery (after 2017’s A Fatal Twist) finds yoga teacher Kate Davidson and her boyfriend, Michael Massey, at Seattle’s Space Needle for her birthday dinner. Kate, who’s anticipating a proposal, is devastated when Michael confesses he’s married to a woman who needed a green card. His wife, Gabriella Massey, has demanded a large payment in exchange for agreeing to a divorce, so Kate and Michael head to Cannon Beach, Ore., to confront her, accompanied by Kate’s German shepherd, Bella, and their friends Rene and Sam. The initial meeting with Gabriella goes very wrong, and when Kate and Bella discover Gabriella buried on the beach the next morning, Michael is the immediate suspect. Since he and Kate do little to make police officer Alex Lewis change her mind, Kate naturally has to start sleuthing. Lots of red herrings and potential motives eventually lead Kate to a surprising killer. Cozy fans will cheer her every step of the way. [em]Agent: Priya Doraswamy, Lotus Lane Literary Agency. (Jan.) [/em]