The bitter cold weather had me ready to stay indoors and read, so I selected “Dicing Up Disaster” by Emmie Lyn. It is number six in her Little Dog Diner series.
Misty Harbor, Maine, is a friendly place where neighbors help neighbors. Dani Mackenzie has a history of helping solve crimes. Her precious dog, Pip, once belonged to a murder victim, but now Pip is solidly Dani’s dog.
Dani hasn’t told her husband, Luke, that she is terrified of flying, but she goes along with his helicopter flight over Blueberry Bay. It was to be followed by a special picnic, but plans change.
The three see a speed boat rushing out of the bay, then Dani sees a boat with a prone figure on deck. Suddenly, a woman and a large dog jump off the boat and begin swimming toward shore.
Dani returns to the diner to find a wet and cold Sunny Shaw and her Newfoundland, Jasper, waiting in her office. She says she and Jasper were in the bathroom on Benny Chadman’s boat when someone came on board. Sunny was too scared to move. When she did come out, she found Benny’s body on the deck, panicked and swam to shore.
Officer A.J. Crenshaw begins an investigation, and Dani agrees to help Sunny stay safe and find the killer. Benny was doing an environmental study of an area near Pineville. The land was Nine Pine Nursery and it belonged to Hunter Bodane. He’d done a major upgrade but was now drowning in debt.
Bodane hoped to sell to a group planning to create a golf course. Benny had been hired to do an environmental study before the sale can go through. Sunny is advised to stay in town, so Dani gets her friend Lily to let Sunny trade work for a room at the Blue Moon Inn.
Dani and Luke go to Sunny’s house in Pineville to get Benny’s report, Sunny’s clothes, and Jasper’s bed and supplies, but are immediately confronted by local police officer Mick Walker. He claims to be a friend of Sunny’s, but something feels off to Dani.
They only find a piece of paper listing the names of Mick Walker, Hunter Bodane, contractor Josh Whiting, Sen. Matt Nash and his assistant Crystal Tilson. The group planned to meet for brunch and receive Benny’s report, but that report is missing and Benny is dead.
As Dani and friends do their best to keep Sunny safe, they also dig into the backgrounds of everyone involved into potential golf course. The investigation turns ugly and complicated, and another person dies before the real killer reveals himself, and of course Pip plays a role in saving the day.
In the end, Luke and Dani finally get to have their special picnic.
AT A GLANCE
Book: Dicing Up Disaster (Little Dog Diner Mysteries, Book 6)
Author: Emmie Lyn
Publisher: Tule Publishing
Year published: 2019
Number of pages: 280
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