Jazz Ramsey is the admin assistant at an all girl Catholic school but in her spare time she also trains cadaver dogs. While putting her latest trainee, Luther through his paces, Jazz discovers the body of Florie Allen, a former student at her school. Determined to find out who murdered Florie, Jazz digs deep into her background and activities.

There seemed to be a few holes in Jazz's background - references to Manny, her dog, and her family dynamics, but overall, this was an interesting mystery. ( )

This book introduces Jazz Ramsey who is the daughter of a fireman who died while fighting a fire and who is a dog trainer like her father. Jazz lost her father and her cadaver dog within a short time of each other. She's happy in her work as an administrative assistant at a private girls' school in Cleveland.

When she takes a friend's dog for training at an abandoned building that will soon be redeveloped, she is surprised when the dog finds a body instead of the evidence she hid. She's even more surprised to recognize the young woman under the bizarre horror makeup as a former student at the school where she works.

She begins asking questions to try to find out how the young woman - Florie Allen - died and who killed her. Her questioning does have her running into her former boyfriend who is a homicide cop. Their relationship fell apart because they just didn't seem to have time for each other and not because they didn't love each other.

As Jazz investigates, she learns about a lot of secrets Florie was keeping. There are a variety of people who might have wanted her dead from a high school rival to any of the people that she was blackmailing.

I enjoyed the story and liked Jazz. I learned a lot about cadaver dogs and the people who train them. ( )

I will fully admit, that once again, the dog on the cover made me want to read this novel. Well, it's not that simple, but I do have a fondness for crime stories that feature dogs. Jazz Ramsey works as an administrative assistant at an all-girls school. However, she also trains cadaver dogs to find bodies, and that's what we see her doing in this book. Jazz is out training with Luther at an abandoned building, however, she never expects Luther to find a body, nor did she expect to recognize the dead girl. To make the situation worse, her ex-boyfriend is the lead detective on the case. Since the dead girl is someone Jazz knew, she starts to investigate the case herself...

READ THE REST OF THE REVIEW OVER AT FRESH FICTION! ( )

I really wanted to like this book, it's based in my hometown and has dogs. I just had a hard time with the fact that an admin at a school/dog trainer was investigating a murder and the police didn't have any issues with it. It would have made more sense if Jazz was a private investigator. Despite this, it was still a good book and I really wish the dogs were in it more!

This review is based on an ARC from NetGalley, courtesy of the publisher. All opinions are my own. ( )

Scent of Murder by Kylie Logan is a 2019 publication.
Jazz Ramsey is a school administrator, but also trains cadaver dogs as a side job. When she takes her dog on a training mission in an abandoned building he alerts, just as she had hoped. Jazz is sure he is responding to the bait she planted for him. But, instead, the dog has located the real deal- the dead body of a woman- one that Jazz recognizes as a former student, one dressed in a way that is shocking and out of character.
Although, Jazz’s former boyfriend, Nick, is the lead detective on the case, Jazz embarks on her own investigation, almost obsessively determined to find out why her former student was murdered.
Meanwhile, her involvement brings her into constant contact with Nick, who is working hard to convince Jazz to give their relationship another chance. Who will solve the mystery first? Jazz or Nick? Or could they end up making a good detective team?

This is the first book in a new series by Kylie Logan, who has written a few cozy mysteries series before launching this one. This is my first book by Logan, so I had no set expectations, but I did find myself intrigued by the prospect of a series featuring a cadaver dog.
The dog, however, isn’t prominently featured in the book, and the story is most certainly a standard, no frills whodunit. That said, there are times when book like this one works quite well for days when one needs a distraction, despite having a divided attention span.
The plot is not at all complicated and the characters are equally one- dimensional, but it fits the bill for a quick, easy, ‘airplane’ read or for times when it is hard to focus on anything too challenging. The story may be a bit too basic for many, but the series shows a little promise if the author can liven up the plot and characterizations just a bit.
Overall, this was an enjoyable enough read, but with all the books, series, and authors out there competing for our attention, the author will have to step it up to stay competitive. ( )