How to Talk to Your Dog About Murder by Emily Soderberg: Audiobook Review of a Charming Cozy Mystery Debut

🎧 Listened in audio | 📢 Narrated by Kristie Lee Walsh
⏱ Duration: 9 hours | Genre: Cozy Mystery
🏷️ Publisher name: Spotify Audiobooks and Crooked Lane Books

Book Blurb:

Pet behaviorist Nikki Jackson-Ramanathan is paying the bills as a dog walker while she tries to get her business off the ground. A job in a wealthy Saint Louis suburb looks like her big break. Mrs. Van Meer wants help for the family’s old hound, who is grieving his owner. Then Mrs. Van Meer turns up dead. With suspects ranging from a sketchy landscaper to a money-obsessed family, Nikki would happily let the police sort it out. But the will puts her in charge of a sizable sum, and the cops start dogging her every step. Now she has to catch the real culprit herself.

Let’s talk … murder!!!

I can’t believe this is a debut. Emily Soderberg writes with the confidence of someone well into a series.

Nikki Jackson-Ramanathan is a dog walker and pet behaviorist trying to build her business. She’s hired to help Reginald, an old hound grieving his owner, and then Mrs. Van Meer turns up dead. Nikki ends up a suspect, and her shift from dog whisperer to amateur detective is the best part of the book. It feels earned. Her work gives her a natural way into people’s homes and routines, so her sleuthing grows out of who she is.

And then there’s Reginald. I fell completely in love with this brilliant old dog. He’s the emotional core of the story, and he gives it warmth and heart on top of the mystery.

The conclusion made total sense and was deeply satisfying. The clues add up, nothing comes out of nowhere, and the mystery plays fair.

I had two reservations. The first is how much flexibility the police gave Nikki. For someone who was a suspect, she was allowed to explain herself and move around much more freely than I found believable, though cozies often bend procedure to keep the amateur sleuth in the action.

The second is Nikki’s relationship with her husband, Jai. She calls him her best friend, but when she’s in trouble she turns to her friends or confides in Reginald first. Jai does step up once she brings him in, but their dynamic read more like roommates than partners. I’d love to see it deepen in the next books, because there’s real potential there, and a stronger partnership could add a lot to the series.

Would I recommend it?

Yes, especially if you love dogs. How to Talk to Your Dog About Murder is a debut that reads like the work of someone well into a series. The mystery plays fair, the clues add up, and an old hound named Reginald stole my heart completely. The police give Nikki more freedom than I believed, and her marriage to Jai felt more like roommates than partners, but I’d happily follow this series to see that grow.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

If You Loved Reginald, Try These Next

1. Dog on It by Spencer Quinn
   A sleuthing dog narrates this one, so if Reginald won you over, you’ll want more of a dog’s-eye view of a case.
2. A Pedigree to Die For by Laurien Berenson
   Dogs are woven right into the mystery here, which makes it a natural next pick for anyone who loved Nikki’s pet-expert angle.
3. By Book or by Crook by Eva Gates
   The Goodreads blurb for Soderberg’s book compares her to Eva Gates, and this first Lighthouse Library mystery is a warm, small-community cozy.
4. Booked for Death by Victoria Gilbert
   The other author named in that blurb, with a Blue Ridge library setting and a puzzle that rewards close attention.
5. Curiosity Thrilled the Cat by Sofie Kelly
   If you love a pet with personality who clearly knows more than the humans do, the cats in this series have it in spades.

Tell Me Your Favourite Four-Legged Sleuth

Reginald has officially joined my list of favourite animals in cozy mysteries. Do you have one? A dog, a cat, or something stranger that quietly steals the book from its human lead? Tell me in the comments. And if you’ve read How to Talk to Your Dog About Murder, I’d love to know what you made of Nikki and Jai.

Book Links

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Indiebookstores.ca | Bookshop.org | Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | Booktrovert
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