Review: Fields' Guide to Abduction by Julie Mulhern

The book opens with Poppy fixing to do a "walk of shame" after having spent the night with her ex-boyfriend. But, everything changes when she discovers he is dead in the bed she so recently occupied.

Trying to recover from finding the first dead body in her life, Poppy agrees to go to Mexico to the opening of a new luxury resort. Soon though, it seems like there are bodies dropping around her like flies and she has no passport to return home.  Soon the passport becomes irrelevant as she is abducted. There are more dead bodies. Add a somewhat contentious chihuahua named Consuela to the mix and you have Poppy's somewhat absurdly dangerous situation.

I've enjoyed another series by Julie Mulhern - the Country Club mysteries. I was a little skeptical about this one going in. But, I was relieved to find that I quite enjoyed Poppy and the craziness around her.

I wouldn't call it a cozy because of all the action and suspense. Poppy seems to go from the frying pan into the fire. The man making eyes at her at the resort belongs to a drug cartel. It becomes harder and harder to know who to trust except for her very closest friends and family members. And the action in the book picks up as the book goes on until it reaches a fever pitch.

I thought Consuela was a pretty neat addition to the book. She humanizes one of the enemies and gives added depth to Poppy as well.

I give this mystery 4 out of 5 stars. It's well-written action and suspense. The characters are just being introduced in this first book so some of them lack depth,  but I imagine that will change as the series goes on. Poppy is fully realized and I love that she changes in good ways during the course of the book. I expect that even Poppy will continue to grow and change. I recommend this book to fans of Julie Mulhern as well as those who enjoy light action and suspense titles.

As of February 14th, 2019, Fields' Guide to Abduction is still available for free on Amazon. It's definitely worth a read. The third book in the series, Fields' Guide to Voodoo, is expected to be available at the end of this month.