"I generally like this series; I think the story lines are better than average and the characters are people you can get behind.

Against the Paw is probably the least cozy of the 4 I've read, venturing into the slightly darker territory of voyeurism. As a police officer, Megan has the agency to investigate, and she does so more or less realistically (the last scene dings credibility a bit).

I still find the dog POV chapters weird, but they are super short so it's easy to over look it. It's obvious Kelly has done her research; unfortunately I found it a little too obvious. There's a bit of over-explaining done about the law and about the honour of being a police officer and it makes the narrative lean towards the clunky.

Generally though, it was a good read and I'll happily read the next one." ( )

Entertaining. ( )

This was an impulse buy. I saw it at the grocery store and was immediately drawn in by the dog on the cover. Even though I knew it wasn’t the first book in the series, it sounded like something a newbie should be able to jump into fairly easily.

Against the Paw is set in Fort Worth, Texas and stars police officer Megan Luz. Megan used to be partnered with Derek Mackey until he made one crude and sexist comment too many and she tased him. Megan was assigned a K-9 partner named Brigit, and Derek’s job was saved by his friendship with the chief of police. In this entry in the series, Megan and Brigit are investigating reports of a peeping tom at Berkeley Place. There’s a possibility these incidents may be connected to Ralph Hurley, a parolee who recently cut off his ankle monitor.

My latest Booklikes-opoly game roll asked that I read something tagged as a “cozy mystery” on Goodreads or elsewhere. Soon after I started reading, I double-checked that this was indeed marketed as a cozy mystery (Amazon lists it as such), because it had a few features that made me skeptical.

The big one was that one of the book’s three POVs was the peeping tom. I couldn’t recall if I’d ever read a cozy mystery that included the villain’s POV, and I found it to be an unpleasant surprise here (there are things I’m okay with in other mysteries or thrillers that I don’t particularly expect or want in cozy mysteries). Thankfully, for the most part it wasn’t quite as bad as I feared. The peeping tom’s efforts often went awry in some way. Unfortunately, there were a few more distasteful scenes later in the book - for example, one in which the peeping tom spied on a hijabi and got off on seeing her brush her hair, and one in which the peeping tom spied on a woman having sex.

The book’s other two POVs were Megan (first person POV) and Brigit (third person POV). The Brigit POV parts tended to be on the cutesy side but were usually too brief to be annoying, only a page or two long. They were kind of pointless, though. There were only a couple times when Brigit’s POV contributed a little extra information, and it was never anything that wasn’t covered by another POV later in the book. I suppose Brigit’s POV added a bit of extra humor to the book, but I only really laughed at one part.

Megan’s POV wasn’t bad, but she had some blind spots that bugged me. Some examples:

"Anyone who'd served his or her country couldn't be all bad, right?" (95)

"[Derek Mackey] and Garrett Hawke were cut from the same cloth. Arrogant. Unreasonable. Uncompromising. Still, they worked to protect others. I had to give them that, even if I thought their reasons were less about concern for others and more about basking in hero worship." (136)

Megan seemed to be prone to the belief that cops and soldiers were unlikely (or less likely?) to be bad people, even if she had evidence to the contrary. Sure, Derek Mackey was a disgusting sexist pig who apparently couldn’t go more than a few minutes without saying something horrible, but hey, he was also a brave cop. Personally, I couldn’t help but shudder at the thought of how Derek probably handled rape victims (female or male) or, hell, female victims in general.

I did really like the partnership between Megan and Brigit, and the parts that dealt with Megan’s efforts to understand what Brigit was telling her were really interesting. There were a couple times when Brigit correctly identified the peeping tom and Megan misinterpreted her actions, but Megan did eventually catch on.

The characters were okay. In addition to Megan and Brigit, there was Seth, Megan’s boyfriend (still working through some personal issues involving his mother), and Frankie, Megan’s friend and roommate. I could tell I’d missed out on some relationship info by starting this series with the fifth book, but the author provided enough background that I didn’t feel lost.

I don’t feel particularly inclined to hunt down the rest of the series, but this was an okay read overall.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) ( )

Against the Paw by Diane Kelly is the fourth book in A Paw Enforcement series. Megan Luz is an officer with the Fort Worth Police Department. Megan’s partner is Sergeant Brigit (Megan does not play well with others—a Taser was involved). Megan is a patrol officer and they are currently on the lookout for Ralph Hurley, a dangerous fugitive. He targets females (who are alone), breaks in, steals their debit cards and coerces their PIN from them (awful man). In addition, a peeper has popped up! Megan is determined (and a little fixated) to catch this creeper before he escalates. The press dubs him the Berkley Place Peeper (not very original). The local neighborhood watch is getting involved thanks to Garrett Hawke, president of Berkley Place Neighborhood Watch. Garrett is very proactive and is increasing the neighborhood watch patrols (and getting in the way of the police). Will Megan and Brigit be able to find this guy (without getting into more hot water with the chief)? Of course, Brigit might go on strike. The vet stated that Brigit needs to lose some weight, but Brigit does not agree. Brigit looks forward to her rewarding liver treats (for doing a good job). Megan has her work cut out for her. Join Megan and Brigit in Against the Paw to see if their hard work pays off with an arrest (and treats for Brigit)!

Against the Paw has good writing, some interesting characters, and a good setting of Fort Worth, Texas. I love Brigit’s comments (she gets her own chapters). They are hilarious and provide a nice humor to the book. I love how she manages to get her treats despite her diet. Dogs can be stubborn and that is shown with Brigit. She loves her work as long as she gets the appropriate rewards (food). Brigit is a nice contrast to Megan. The story is told is alternating points-of-view: Megan, Brigit, and “Tom” (the peeper). There are parts of the novel that I really did not like. There is one character, Derek “The Big Di—“ Mackay that is rude, crude, and sexist. I really wish the author would write him out of the series (he is what prevents this book from being a true cozy mystery). Mackay is sexist and makes horrible (degrading) comments. I do not understand why Megan does not file a sexual harassment complaint with human resources (I would document his comments and find a way to record them). I know it is just a book, but Mackay and his remarks extremely offensive (and they affect my enjoyment of the novel as well as the rating I give it). I thought it was easy to figure out the identity of the peeper. I give Against the Paw 3.75 out of 5 stars. The book does contain some foul language and there are a couple of slow areas. I thought there was a little too much of the book devoted to the romance between Megan and Seth Rutledge (bomb person with the Ft. Worth Fire Department). We get to see them on a date and then a double date (and then there is Sean’s mother). Will I read the next book in the series? Yes. I can hope that Mackay gets another Taser taken to his nether regions (that really made me laugh because he deserved it). Also, I like the characters and want to see what happens with them (especially Brigit).

I received a complimentary copy of Against the Paw from NetGalley in exchange for an honest evaluation of the novel. ( )