Our book for this week is Death of a Dolly Waggler by Lesley St. James (website here). For those not in the know, the book explains that “dolly waggler” is a derisive name for a puppeteer. Yep — this is a cozy mystery with puppets!
Now, normally, I don’t like puppets. I don’t even care for the Muppets (sorry!). However, I loved this book and all its characters. And that’s saying something, because there are a lot of characters, and yet they remained distinct and interesting. Well, except maybe the squirrel . . .
The basic premise is that Jill Cooksey, who usually works in PR, has picked up a holiday job running set visits at a studio making a popular children’s TV show. One of the actors is murdered on set. Jill, along with some of her PR friends, a reluctant police officer, and a team of production assistants, does some investigating and ends up staging a hilarious trap for the killer.
This is the second book in the series, but as the narrator, Jill catches the reader up on anything they missed. In fact Jill is an excellent narrator all round. Most cozy mystery protagonists are likeable, but Jill is especially funny and extremely true to herself! I also really enjoyed the relationships she forms with her friends and coworkers. (“Jill Cooksey is an island. Jill Cooksey is . . . part of an archipelago, actually.” One of my favorite running jokes in the book. 🙂 ) I enjoyed the PR take on cozy mystery, too; often the sleuth is a librarian or crafter or something of the sort, but the PR world was a great complement to investigating. Plus, the book is set in NYC — another neat distinction from small-town cozies (nothing wrong with those either, but the change is refreshing!).
I signed up for an ARC (Advance Reader’s Copy) of this book thinking I’d be doing the author a good turn, but honestly, reading and reviewing this book has been a complete delight. I’m giving it five stars and putting the sequel on my pre-order list. And if you’re interested in cozies or even just in TV production, you should give it a shot! 🙂
The Book in Question, in case you missed it:
St James, Lesley. Death of a Dolly Waggler. Madcap Mystery, 2021.
