I absolutely requested this based solely on the blurb. It was described as ‘Beatrix Potter crossed with Agatha Christie’. While I have not read any Beatrix Potter for some years I used to happily read them in my childhood and as an adult I absolutely adore most type of crime fiction.
This was quite the cosy murder mystery. Completely worlds away from the gritty blood-soaked murder novels that are quite commonplace now. The anthropomorphic characters were delightful and the book while being fairly short at 200 or so pages is very well written. I would have liked more character development but saying that I would recommend this book and look forward to the next adventures of Vera and co.

Many thanks as always to Netgalley and to the publishers for letting me read this book in exchange for my review.

Shady Hollow by Juneau Black is a murder mystery with anthropomorphic woodland creatures.


Shady Hollow is the small town where  a grumpy toad is found dead, and newcomer and local reporter, Vera Vixen starts investigating.

It's a cosy mystery but with woodland creatures, and was an enjoyable read.

Shady Hollow was published on 3rd February 2022, and is available from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

You can follow Juneau Black on Twitter and their website.

I was given this book in exchange for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to Hodder & Stoughton.

Juneau Black transports us to a village occupied by animals and other woodland creatures where they live comfortably amongst one another.......most of the the time. Thoughtfully we are provided with a Map showing Shady Hollow's location and a street plan showing where everyone lives. We are introduced to the characters and it is hard not to think of human equivalents one has met in life. But stay transported in this world and discover new things about animal interactions as the village comes to terms with a murder.
Solving this crime is reminiscent of a Miss Marple thriller . As well as a not wholly diligent police effort to find the killer, the village has amateur sleuths also seeking out the truth. Animals have different skills when compared with mere mortals. For example, having an owl to keep its eyes open in darkness and able to glide around unnoticed can really aid an investigation. Over time, and after many twists and turns, the mystery is solved to everyone's satisfaction and Shady Hollow can return to its sleepier life..
Shady Hollow is a joy to read and to be carried away in. Well worth the effort.
Recommended..

Quirky, Delightful….
The first of the Shady Hollow mystery series where the reader is introduced to the secrets of this wooded community. Packed with whimsy and a delightful cast of characters, creatures that live together in seemingly perfect harmony. But, there’s a mystery here. It’s a quirky read, for sure, but manages all of the qualities of a traditional cosy mystery without being at all traditional. Fun and frothy.

Ein Cosy Crime der anderen Art. Ich gehörte einer Generation an, die sich von Watership Down faszinieren ließ. Deshalb stört es mich auch nicht, wenn es mal ein Krimi gibt in dem Tiere, die in einem Dorf zusammenleben mit einem 'Todesfall konfrontiert werden, obwohl man ein Verbrechen in einer solch idyllischen Gegend eigentlich nicht erwartet.

Shady Hollow is a cozy murder mystery with a fun twist — the whole village and cast are animals. The village of Shady Hollow is rocked by a murder, and reporter Vera Vixen is determined to find out the truth.

First of all, I loved the cover of this book, and I'm excited to see that the covers of the next two instalments, Cold Clay and Mirror Lake, line up with this one to create a cute scene from Shady Hollow.

I loved the small, local village feel to the book and the characters, who keep some of their animal traits and stereotypes. For example, Vera mentions Heidegger, an owl, to a rabbit who still shivers with fear involuntarily. Heidegger is still a "night owl" with great night vision and is considered very wise by the local community, well educated with a wealth of knowledge that Vera uses on a couple of occasions.

All of the characters are utterly charming and really won me over. They are all so unique. My favourite character was probably Lenore Lee, a raven who runs the local bookshop, Nevermore Books — which is cleverly designed so that Lenore can fly between the different floors. I loved her enthusiasm and research on famous detectives to help Vera solve the case!

This was such a delight to read, I loved it. The narrative voice is light and humorous with fun references throughout the book, such as references to Sherlock Holmes: "Reichenbach Falls = bad spot for getaway vacation." As well as this, Shady Hollow is about 200 pages long so it's a really short and fast read. It's the perfect escapist read — I read this when I was ill with COVID and it brought a huge smile to my face while reading. It's utterly charming.

The next books in the series will be out soon (Cold Clay on 5th March and Mirror Lake on 28th April), so you don't have to wait long to find out what happens next!

Oh my goodness, this book made me smile! The cast of characters is adorable, and I love a good mystery. I found it surprising, original, and completely charming. Thank you for the ARC!

I was excited for this, the premise is amazing, and who doesn't love a little mystery?

Unfortunately, it wasn't really for me. There was nothing wrong with the book persay, we just didn't click, and I didn't fall in love with any of the characters. I found myself not really caring what happened.

The writing style was great, it was definitely an easy read, and will not put me off reading more from this author.

The Thursday Murder Club meets the Wind in the Willows! I loved everything about this book and cannot wait to read more from this author

I was so excited for this, but unfortunately I was really disappointed. When the premise is this wild (and I LOVE the premise, but I think it would be a hard sell for customers), the execution has to be perfect - and here it wasn't. The prose is full of overused phrases and clichés; it reads like write-by-numbers. Gorgeous job done on the package though - love the book length and the design job!!

Imagine Beatrix Potter meets Agatha Christie and you have 'Shady Hollow'. A bunch of animals live together in a small town where differences in size and diet don’t seem to be a problem as they mix together in coffee bars and restaurants. Fortunately, they all seem to have taken up vegetarianism so they don’t eat each other, but when a toad is found stabbed in the lake near his house it’s obvious that someone in Shady Hollow is prepared to kill for reasons other than getting their next meal. And when the beaver who owns the local sawmill is also murdered, it seems there may be a serial killer on the loose.

Will ace reporter Vera Vixen be able to track down the murderer? Or will she be the next victim?

I got a copy of this book through NetGalley and I did enjoy it. It’s the lightest of light reads and maybe what we all need nowadays, but it’s difficult to review. I’ve really said all there is to say about it. It’s nicely written in plain prose, but it’s hardly going to offer a wealth of characterisation: everyone is defined by their species characteristics (real or imagined). So the racoon is a bandit, the fox is cunning and the local police force are bears: strong and patient if sometimes a little plodding.

If you like this sort of thing, you’ll like it and if you don’t, you won’t. 'Shady Hollow' is the first in a series. It worked well for me but three (so far) might be a bit much: one dip into a childhood world of talking animals is fun, but three suggests problems adapting to adult life. It’s nice to see odd books like this get support from their publishers but there are definitely worthier tomes out there being ignored.

I was given an ARC copy of Shady Hollow in exchange for an honest review. Novels about woodland characters are not usually what I would enjoy reading, however, the personification of the woodland animals lighten up the very dark themes of adultery, murder, class consciousness and outsiders, which are explored in this novel. The characterisations were credible and cleverly matched with the universal view of each specific creature featured in the novel. As such, I found Shady Hollow a very enjoyable read and would recommend although definitely not a book for children.

This title took me a while to get into it but became more engaging as the characters developed and the plot thickened. Really liked Vera, Ruby and Joe in particular and would enjoy finding out more about them in the future.

In this novel Vera Vixen, reporter, is on the case when toad Otto Sumpf turns up dead, with a knife in his back. As Vera investigates, and more creatures die, Vera's own life is in danger as she tries to uncover the truth.
This is a inoffensive, gentle crime novel

This book is set in a woodland village which is inhabited by creatures who would normally possibly consider each other food.
We start with the murder of a toad, discovered by a hummingbird gossip columnist, then passed to a vixen who is an intrepid investigative reporter. More suited to the job than the bear police. Throw in a bookshop owned by a raven, a cafe run by a moose, a factory owned by a beaver and, well, you get the start of a what looks like becoming a really interesting and intriguing series...
Honestly, if you can get your head around that then you are in for one heck of a ride with this cosy and very funny book.
It's hard to explain what really makes this book special. I guess, if you've ever attributed animal like qualities to people, you'll probably know what I am getting at when I say that it was really easy to just accept the characters as the animals they were. In fact, pretty much from the off, the fact that they weren't human didn't really bother me as the way they were described along with the storyline just compelled me to carry on reading. That is, when I wasn't too busy laughing my head off at some of the antics! Think Wind in the Willows crossed with MC Beaton's Agatha Raisin!
And the murder was both interesting and intriguing and had me chasing my tail trying to work it all out ahead of time. Which I didn't! So yeah, kudos for that too...
Honestly, if you like your cosy mysteries and want something a little different, a little quirky, do yourself a favour and check this out. I already have book two ready to go...

A fun read with animals instead of people although as you read and enjoy their characters, you forget they are not human! A typical mystery with a humorous style so easy to read. A good idea for a book and lots to keep you interested!

I was invited by Hodder & Stoughton via NetGalley to read and review ‘Shady Hollow’, the first in Juneau Black’s series of cosy mysteries set in a woodland community.

In Shady Hollow various woodland creatures live side by side in harmony. These are anthropomorphised creatures that run businesses including a cafe, bookstore, sawmill, and the like. It’s a quiet town until there is a murder!

The lead character is Vera Vixen, who works as a reporter for the Shady Hollow Herald, which is run by a cigar-chomping skunk. She undertakes her own investigation into the murder and this amateur sleuthing leads her into danger.

‘Shady Hollow’ proved a whimsical mystery with a few nods in the direction of stories such as ‘The Wind in the Willows’.

I found this a quick and easy read that provided an engaging whodunnit as well as a few hours of pure escapism. It was sweet and funny.

Following this positive experience I plan on reading further books in this delightful series.

First of all, thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for this review copy. This review is written voluntarily by me.

In general, other than easy and engaging read, there are several reasons why I give this novel 5 stars. First of all, this story is set in a fictional town where its inhabitants are woodland animals. Even though the characters are all animals, I always tend to forget that these guys are animals instead of human beings may be because of their characterization and backgrounds. The plot is well-organised and the writing is easy to understand and suits my taste. The humor in this novel really suits me like I always laugh at the customized ‘animalised’ words and phrases used by the author, like, they are always on point. For the mystery part, I am not able to guess the culprit until the revelation part which is okay for me, but I am quite annoyed at the motive. In conclusion, if you are a fan of cozy mystery, I recommended this book.

I have been quietly enjoying the trend towards cosy mystery lately – especially since it started incorporating magical and craft elements. Shady Hollow is a little different again, featuring a an all anthropomorphic animal cast but aimed at an adult audience. You’re either going to find it weird or charming. I fell into the latter camp. This is basically Agatha Christie meets Wind in the Willows and I am here for it.

Wow! This book cast suspicion on so many characters that I had no idea how it would turn out! The definition of the perfect suspense novel! Great mystery All I can say is "WOW - read it. You won't be disappointed

This is a really fun read!

We are introduced to Shady Hollow, a small town where everyone knows each other and everyone’s business, where nothing exciting ever happens, and life just trundles on….until there is a murder!

Who did it, and why?!!

This is a short read which I easily did in one day. Absolutely perfect for a stormy, windy, awful Sunday!

Just loved this! Wonderful! The story and especially the characters I just absolutely loved.

My thanks to Netgalley and Hodder for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review