Mimi Lee has just opened her new business, a pet grooming business called Hollywoof. To celebrate, her younger sister brings her a gift—a beautiful white cat, who Mimi names Marshmallow. Mimi is excited about her new business, and making her dreams come true. Her first clients are all teacup chihuahuas, friends from a shared dog yoga class. And while they are all good natured and adorable, Mimi also notices that they all have something wrong with their leg.
As Mimi talks to their owners, all glamorous and successful California women, she learns more about the breeder who sold them their dogs. Mimi thinks it’s odd that all the dogs have the same issue with their leg, and she starts to check into the dog breeder. But as she’s starting her investigation, she hears a strange voice in her head. She tried to shake it off, but eventually she realizes that she’s not crazy. Somehow, Marshmallow is able to talk to her, telepathically. He learned the human language by watching television, and he’s able to transmit his thoughts, but only to his owner. Mimi is the only one who can hear the voice of Marshmallow.
Meanwhile, Mimi’s Malaysian mother has an agenda of her own. She is doing everything she can to set Mimi up on dates, from adding Mimi to a dating app without her knowing about it to ordering a Chinese food feast so she can meet the delivery guy. But despite all of her mother’s plotting and planning, it’s by doing laundry that Mimi meets Josh, the cute lawyer who lives in her apartment building.
Mimi manages to track down the dog breeder and goes to look at his dogs. What she finds is a dirty environment with too many dogs in too small a space. She leaves with bad feelings towards the breeder and immediately reports him to the authorities. She hopes that the dogs will be rescued. It’s not until the next day, when the detective comes to visit her at Hollywoof, that she finds out the dog breeder was murdered. And she was one of the last people to see him alive.
Mimi realizes that it will be up to her, with the help of Marshmallow, to figure out who killed the breeder so she can clear her own name. But she quickly learns that it’s not so easy to brush out a killer, and it will take all her resources to clean up well.
Mimi Lee Gets a Clue is a sweet cozy with a strong young woman and her talking cat at the center of the story. Author Jennifer J. Chow has started strong with her debut mystery novel, and the light-hearted fun of Mimi Lee and Marshmallow will charm readers looking for an easy-to-read murder mystery. I listened to the audio book for Mimi Lee Gets a Clue, and narrator Natalie Naudus brings Mimi to life with her lively reading of the book.
I wanted to really like Mimi Lee Gets a Clue. There is a lot to like. There is a talking cat. Mimi’s family is adorable. Mimi herself is interesting, and I think she will grow into a very interesting character. But I did find some holes in the writing that I struggled with. The police investigation was problematic, as was Mimi’s understanding of how to run a business. The idea of this series has potential, but it needs more work to be exceptional.
Egalleys for Mimi Lee Gets a Clue were provided by Berkley through Edelweiss, with many thanks, but I bought the audio book myself through Audible.
