Firstly, thank you so much NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the E-Arc of Shady Hollow by Juneau Black in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.
I’ll be honest, this book is acres away from my usual reads, but for me 2022 is the year to expand my reading and to try something different and there is no question, Shady Hollow is definitely different.
Shady Hollow is a picturesque little town populated by woodland animals, it has a high street, book shop, and even a coffee shop…think small village/town feeling, just populated with animal rather than human characters. It all sounds rather lovely and probably pretty middle grade so far, but then add a murder mystery with a definite hint of Agatha Christie and you’ve got something that is so much more.
Told primarily from the perspective of Vera Vixen, investigative reporter extraordinaire, who definitely sees this as an opportunity to set herself as the town’s star reporter, you are pulled into a hunt for clues amidst multiple suspects for the murder of Otto. Otto was definitely not the most popular toad in town, infamous for his ability to argue or disagree with pretty much anyone, has been found dead and there’s a murderer on the loose!
Helping Vera in her hunt for the murder is her best friend Lenore, the raven who own’s the town bookshop, whom I absolutely adored – who couldn’t love a knowledgeable book owner who could swoop around the shop to find your perfect read, plus their relationship is so lovely and mutually supportive – it was fabulous.
At lot of the time I completely forgot that the characters were animals, until certain traits or aspects of their personalities came to light, which only brought a greater depth to the character, which was fabulous. The mystery itself is definitely not of Holmes’ standard, but the nods and easter eggs to other famous detectives did make me chuckle.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book, it was a fabulous, easy, enjoyable and cosy read that delivered a great mystery and some wonderful characters set in the sort of small town or village that I’d absolutely love to live in and it was wonderful to step away from my usual reads to be thoroughly entertained.

A cosy murder mystery with a cast of animals?? I’m sold!
I thoroughly enjoyed this story set in the small town of Shady Hollow. It had a historical vibe to it and reminded me of Farthing wood and Watership Down! I love an animal story and this one with anthropomorphic creatures really ticked all the boxes for me!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me read an advance copy of this book in exchange for my feedback.

I requested this ARC because I found the blurb intriguing and then I fell in love with the story.
It's an excellent cozy mystery but the characters are bears, ravens, foxes.
I fell in love with the story since the first pages and couldn't put it down.
It's a solid mystery, full of twists and turn. I couldn't guess the culprit and liked the solution.
The world building is excellent, the characters are fleshed out and some are quite funny (Heidegger the Owl).
I cant' wait to read the next installment as I loved this one.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine