Snowed Under by Mary Feliz | Blog Tour | Book Review

Snowed Under (A Maggie McDonald Mystery) by Mary Feliz

I am delighted to join the blog tour for Snowed Under by Mary Feliz today! My thanks to Lori at Great Escapes Book Tours for the chance to join and the review copy!

About Snowed Under

Snowed Under (A Maggie McDonald Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
6th in Series
Publisher: Lyrical Press (June 9, 2020)
250 Pages
Digital ASIN: B07WBY669T

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When professional organizer Maggie McDonald finds a body in a snowdrift outside her friend’s ski cabin, she must plough through the clues to find a cold-blooded killer . . .

Lake Tahoe in February is beautiful, but Maggie can’t see a thing as she drives through a blinding blizzard with her friend Tess Olmos and their dogs, golden retriever Belle and German shepherd Mozart.Maggie has offered her professional decluttering skills to help Tess tidy up her late husband’s cabin in preparation to sell. She also plans to get in some skiing when her husband Max and their boys join them later in the week.

What she doesn’t plan on is finding a boot in a snowdrift attached to a corpse. The frozen stiff turns out to be Tess’s neighbour, Dev Bailey, who disappeared two months ago. His widow Leslie expresses grief, but Maggie can’t help but wonder if it’s a snow job. As more suspects start to pile up, things go downhill fast, and Maggie must keep her cool to solve the murder before the killer takes a powder . . .

I Thought…

Snowed Under is the sixth book in the Maggie McDonald cosy mystery series written by Mary Feliz. Although I’ve not read the earlier books in this series I decided to jump in with this latest one anyway, as I thought it had a great premise.

Maggie McDonald, a professional organiser is travelling from her home in Orchard View, Silicon Valley to Lake Tahoe in a blizzard with her friend, Tess Olmos to help with the de-cluttering of a cabin, left to Tess by her late husband. Tess is planning to sell the cabin but neither Maggie nor Tess bargained on finding a body buried in the snow. The corpse turns out to be a neighbour of Tess, Dev Bailey, who unexpectedly vanished two months ago. Maggie is keen to focus on clearing the house, but ends up becoming embroiled in the investigation…

Maggie was a wonderfully drawn character and I loved her for her sensitivity, candour and focus. Dev’s murder is a reminder to Tess that she lost her own husband eighteen months ago, and Maggie showed her and her son Teddy great sensitivity, giving them time to make the best decisions for themselves.

The pacing was very comfortable and there was some interesting dynamics going on within the local neighbourhood. Many of the neighbours were potential suspects, making for some fascinating reading. There were lots of opportunities, red herrings and misdirections for me to play armchair detective and Maggie’s and Tess’s dogs, golden retriever Belle and German shepherd Mozart were a definite highlight, too. As the story continues, Maggie’s friend, Stephen Laird arrives with his mastiff, Munchkin, and others from Orchard View, Silicon Valley, including Rocket, a winter kills instructor, to help determine and arrest the culprit. The author is a talented descriptive writer and I felt like I was right there alongside Maggie, watching the blizzards and feeling the bitter cold.

This fabulous cosy was a fascinating cocktail of drama, murder, intrigue and threatening behaviour and I loved the additional subplot which served to enhance the main story very well. The ending was quite a surprise. I look forward to reading more in the series and I aim to start with the first book, Address to Die For. I recommend Snowed Under to those who appreciate well-written cosy mysteries with wintery themes and the camaraderie of a small community.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel from Great Escapes Book Tours at my request and this review is my unbiased opinion.

Brianne’s Book Reviews Rating | Five Stars

About Mary Feliz

Mary Feliz writes the Maggie McDonald Mysteries featuring a Silicon Valley professional organizer and her sidekick golden retriever. She’s worked for Fortune 500 firms and mom and pop enterprises, competed in whale boat races and done synchronized swimming. She attends organizing conferences in her character’s stead, but Maggie’s skills leave her in the dust.

Author Links: Website – Blog – Facebook – Twitter

Purchase Links:

Amazon – B&N – Kobo – Google Books – Kensington