Unleashed, a review by Joanna

After breaking up with her narcissistic boyfriend, and acquiring a giant Great Dane mix puppy from the pound, Joy quits her job (recognising quite astutely that direct customer service is not her forte) and takes a job as a dog walker to wealthy New York patrons who don’t have the time or inclination to exercise their spoiled pedigree hounds themselves. Unfortunately on her first shift she finds a dead body – who happens to be one of her new clients, propelling her into an investigation of corruption at the top levels of Manhattan society.

While officially book one, it reads more like a prequel, about how dissolute 20-something barista turned dog walker Joy Humbolt becomes a kick-arse female vigilante. While I was warned that there would be spice, strong language and violence here, I still felt a bit wrong-footed because this starts out like, and has so many tropes in common with, many cosy mysteries. Yes Joy drinks a lot more than your average cosy heroine, is liberal with her affections, and stroppily and vocally impatient with idiots – or anyone who disagrees with her, but I still wasn’t prepared for the dark turn this took midway through.

The plot is quite complicated and implausible, and the writing very average with too much repetition – and not all plot threads are resolved by the end of the book. I didn’t particularly like Joy, even though I had sympathy for her situation. Even the dog, Blue, plays much less of a role than you would expect. This series now spans 18 books, so I’m guessing they improve, and am willing to give Sydney another chance, as the general premise does appeal and I think she may grow on me. 3.5 rounded down for killing off an innocent cat, even if “off-camera” – not cool to stress that the dog survives then casually murder another character’s pet for no good reason.