Curtains for Miss Plym: A canine mystery by Kathleen Delaney

Mary is getting ready for a big rummage sale so she goes down early to open up, do a final check on how it looks and make some coffee.  She didn't expect to find a dead body...

Severn House and Net Galley allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published April 1st.

Mary calls Dan, the local police chief, and reports the murder.  The victim is a little old lady who lives in another world in her mind.  She gets lost and can't find her home, forgets what she was talking about, and doesn't understand most of what she's told.  Why would anyone want to kill her?

This is a small town mystery, where the gossip outruns the facts.  Soon everyone knows all about it and everybody has a theory.  Dan's trying to stick to the facts but sometimes the gossip has some truth in it, so he listens.  So does Mary.

The old woman's relatives were staying with her and getting her ready to go in a home.  She had caretakers but they had their own apartment on the property and weren't with her all the time.  There's missing money involved and both Mary and Dan think that's the prime motivator for murder.  It shuts down the source of the money but enough has been withdrawn to make it worthwhile.

However, when Gloria, a nurse who does home care, is killed, too, it complicates the case.  What did she know?  Was it the same killer?

I like Mary as a character and her dog, Millie is cute.  Dan ends up with a dog before the end of the story.  I thought I knew where the money was; I was wrong.  I didn't suspect the killer.  And if the mystery itself doesn't entice you enough, there's a komodo dragon involved too...