Karma's A Bitch (A Pet Psychic Mystery Book 1)

Karma’s A BitchA Pet Psychic Mystery, Book #1Shannon Esposito5+ StarsSynopsis:Darwin Winters, reluctant pet psychic, is determined to leave her family’s paranormal past behind and lead a normal life. So she strikes out on her own and opens up a new pet boutique in St. Pete, Florida. When a local homeless man she befriends is found dead, and the police assume it’s a suicide, Darwin has no choice but to use her gift to help collar the killer.She adopts his grieving mastiff, Karma—and with the dog’s help—tries to piece together the events of that fatal night. Accepting the visions is one thing, but can she solve the mystery without revealing her powers to the jaded, yet drool-worthy, detective in charge of the case? Or will the killer put an end to her psychic sleuthing and bury the truth for good? (Goodreads)Review:This book has everything I look for in a cozy mystery: humor, great characters, suspense and tension. And it has even that little extra something that set this book apart for me: a psychic.Darwin has moved to Florida and opened a pet boutique shop, where she can help pet owners pamper their pets. This works out well for her since she is a pet psychic. When her new friend, a homeless man, is found dead, she readily agrees to take Karma, her homeless friend’s dog, in and take care of him. When she gets visions from Karma as to what happened to her friend, she realizes he has been murdered. She knows she has to do her own sleuthing to find the killer.The characters are well developed, well rounded and three dimensional. Darwin is a strong willed, hard working woman who is not afraid to do what is needed to be done. But she has a soft spot, especially for those in need and for animals. I really enjoyed getting to know her and spending time with her. I also liked her friends, Sylvia and Frankie. I think the fact that this book revolved the homeless added another level to this book, one that I enjoyed. I felt that the secondary characters added a lot to the book.The writing style flows smoothly and the book is an easy quick read. The author is very talented in her descriptive writing and through much of the book, I felt like I was there, watching all the action taking place around me. She is also very talented in bringing a reader’s emotions out. While reading this book, I laughed, I cried, I worried and I smiled. I think it takes a special author to be able to do that.The mystery was carried on well throughout the book until the very end. There were enough suspects to consider, clues to sift through, and twists and turns to navigate that it was impossible for me to figure out the killer.I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a well crafted cozy mystery. This is the first book in the series and I am happy to know that I have more to read. I am so looking forward to that.

4 out of 5 stars.Karma is a Bitch is the first installment of the Pet Psychic series by Shannon Esposito. Darwin, the main character, moves to St. Pete, Florida and opens a Pet Boutique with her friend Sylvia. She’s trying to escape from the family gift and making an attempt to be normal. It’s alluded to that her family is full of psychics. Darwin herself is able to get visions from touching animals. She ends up befriending a homeless man, Mad Dog, who has a canine companion, Karma. When he ends up dead, Karma is alone and Darwin takes him in. She gets visions from him that shows her it is not a suicide like the police believe. She starts investigating on her own and finds out both the good and bad side of the homeless world.I got this book free from Amazon Kindle and I have to say, I really liked it! The characters were well developed and the story was engaging. Darwin was very sweet and easily likable and I absolutely loved the dog, Karma. I was glad to see that the love interest side of the story with Will, the detective, flowed nicely and didn’t take away from the mystery part. That is something I have seen happen in other cozy mysteries. Although I do have a hard time really calling this a cozy. It is a bit on the darker side but not so dark that you could categorize it as a hard hitting mystery. I think the fact that the author used the homeless community for this story is why. She was able to show the way they become family to each other, while also giving you a glimpse into the darker side. It wasn’t as light as other books and while there is a fun tone to it, there is also a depressing one as well.One thing I especially like though was the fact that when it came to the ending, it wasn’t one of those moments where the main character gets saved before anything happens to them. She didn’t walk away completely unscathed and it made it more believable. I was also not expecting the why. I had kind of figured out who the murderer was (I was not completely dead on, but close) but I had no idea really why they had done it so the ending came as a surprise to me.There were a couple of issues I had which led me to not give it a full 5 stars. I was disappointed that she didn’t share her secret with anyone, especially Will, since it was looking like she was going to. I was also wishing the author would have given more of a back story on Darwin’s family and why she left. The idea is that they are psychic, but doesn’t explain why that would be something for her to run from. Aside from that though I really enjoyed the story.

I give this book 3.5 stars. I got it because of the cover - I love dogs and also paranormal books.Although the story line was fine, I was a bit disappointed that there was so little paranormal in the book.All we had was 5 or 6 short flashes of various incidents when Darwin touched certain dogs.Darwin also kept hinting about her "abnormal" family and how they could do magic, and that she herselfcould do water magic. But we never discovered just what her family did or why she left home, and shecertainly didn't use any magic herself.There was a fair bit of romance with the lovely detective, but no sex or swearing.Living in Portugal I could understand most of Sylvia's Portuguese, but around here they say"olá" for hello. Perhaps the author was using Brazilian Pt. which is slightly different. In any caseher meaning could be understood from the context.I would read more by this autor, but would like more magic/paranormal/psychic content.

A wonderful read. A great plot about a psychic who gets visions from animals. Well written and flows smoothly. Great characters that immerse you into their lives, hopes and dreams.She and her friend have opened a pet boutique - dealing with everything from grooming to natural remedies. Although she hasn't opened up to her friend, she misses her sisters but this is her chance for a normal life. Her solitude is broken by befriending a homeless man and his dog. But she becomes concerned as he seems to suffering from beatings. When he turns up dead, she takes his dog in but refuses to believe that he had an accident or was suicidal. The dog has shown her that he tried to rescue him but failed. The more she speculates the more she vows to find the real reason the man died. A homeless village, new friends, a handsome detective, threats, accidents and a new girlfriend are all woven into a terrific read. Can she get answers?

Quite a good read and unusual to find a book with a psychic and a dog connected. A mystery that was solved by a psychic woman with some help from a dog, that was definitely a man's then a woman's best friend. A murder caused by a half crazed girl was a surprise to the psychic but more pain was also inflicted by a man, Vick who was a main suspect. Good read.

Love the subject - I'm a mug for anything with dogs or psychic phenomena in it - so I knew I'd like it. Also, the ending was not predictable My only problem was that it dealt with the seedier side of life and quite a bit of violence at a time that I'm in dire need of some light-hearted escapism.I'd like to have learnt more about Darwin's childhood and upbringing and how her 'gift' had handicapped her although I imagine we'll learn more in subsequent - or had done so in earlier - books about her.Like to hear more about Karma too.I'd also love to know more about the area in which it's set.

Just started reading this light-hearted whodunnnit and couldn't stop. Karma is actually a dog, whose owner has been murdered, but only the co-owner of a local St Petersburg (Florida) pet boutique believes it's murder - and she got the idea direct from the dog's mouth, so to speak. She's psychic, but only for animals. I'd recommend this story to any dog lover.

The characters in this book really spring to life, the authors gentleness comes over in the main character and in the dog.Two points run through out the book firstly the phychic experience and secondly the life of the homeless the author makes us see they also have personalities . Read it, I'm getting the next book to see where the traits go.

This was another free download which I was not expecting too much from, but was pleasantly surprised. The plot was good, the characters likeable and nothing felt too rushed. I enjoyed his book and did go and purchase the next ones in the series. Looking forward to more from this author.

Different , could have gone into the psychic part a bit more in depth . Thought the killer was someone else so that was a nice twist.And nice to add some perspective from the homeless / down and outs . Translation might have been a good , so we could understand the Dog groomer Otherwise I really liked it

I loved this book it made me happy ,sad,made ,feel romantic,feel scared for the characters ,loved the story line ,all the good characters ,I cannot wait to get the next book ,read this book ,you'll love it .

What a wonderful, feel good, mystery. A psychic dog groomer, a toothless mastitis , a homeless hoard, a rags to riches story, and a nasty villain. What more could a body ask for - oh, and Karma's not a Bitch- he's a boy!Fantastic read.

Did not expect much from this free light-hearted read but really enjoyed it. It has a bit of a different storyline but has legs.

different to what I usually read but I enjoyed it. Not sure whether I would read any more.

Entertaining and fun 'who-done-it' with some nice twists.

Loved this book. Real people with a good plot and storyline. Moved quickly but didn't rush to a quick conclusion.

Good read