Maxed Out – 4 Star Book Review

Welcome to one of the July 9th stops on the blog tour for Maxed Out by C.S. McDonald with iRead Book Tours. (Tour schedule linked.) Be sure to follow the rest of the tour for spotlights and reviews on all included books, other bonus content, and a giveaway! More on that at the end of this post.

You can also check out my review of book one in this series, Back to the Burgh!

Please note that this post contains affiliate links, which means there is no additional cost to you if you shop using my links, but I will earn a small percentage in commission. A program-specific disclaimer is at the bottom of this post.

About the Book

Maxed Out
The Owl’s Nest Mysteries Book Two
by C.S. McDonald

Published 2 May 2021
McWriter Books

Genre: Cozy Mystery
Page Count: 171
Add it to your Goodreads TBR!

The Owl’s Nest Couturier Shoppe is a huge success! Business is booming and Alexa Owl’s love life is heating up. Yet much to the seamstress’s dismay, Detective Bobby Starr is suddenly back again! Bobby isn’t your everyday gumshoe. Rather, he’s an angel who’s trying to earn a place in Saint Peter’s Guardian Angel Squad. He’s required to solve murders he had left unsettled from when he walked the earth in order to be accepted into this prestigious group. Of course, they will need to return to the time period in which the murder took place, and again, Alexa is a reluctant time traveler. Oh, and there’s one more little problem—this time, Bobby’s brought along a friend, Maxi Krogen, and she’s no angel! 

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My Review

My Rating: 4 Stars
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I was granted complimentary access to Maxed Out as part of my participation in a blog tour for this title with iRead Book Tours. Thank you to all involved in affording me this opportunity! My thoughts are my own and my review is honest.

Bobby Starr is back on Alexa Owl’s doorstep needing help solving another of his unfinished cases from life before angelhood, and this time they’ve got a time-travelling companion who’s.. let’s say “interesting.”

I loved being back in The Bergh with Alexa! I’ve been reading a lot of McDonald’s other unintentional detective character series, Fiona Quinn, but I originally jumped on the CS McDonald train with a blog tour for the first Owl’s Nest book. This formula of 3 days to solve a mystery from the past by jumping back to that point in the past and avoiding being seen at the same time as Bobby of the past, all while Alexa of the present runs on autopilot and makes questionable hiring decisions at the shop, really works well. It’s amusing, it’s both predictable and unpredictable, and it means we get to explore the glory days of the 1950s.

There are a lot of pop culture references and a lot of future characters back in 1950 borrowing from films of the 60s and 70s that had me chuckling all the way through this book. You are going to need to be familiar with the plot of The Godfather films (the main beats everything else references are good enough) to really appreciate some of the jokes, so if somehow you aren’t go look up a highlight reel before starting this book.

I kinda miss ghost cat Garbo, and while we still have a floofy ghost friend (a dog named Trixie this time) I was hoping Garbo would still make an appearance. I also wanted a few more “Oh good, you’re back, X went wrong while you were checked out” than we got since that was a huge part of book one and a big part of what made it so funny.

Bobby solves mystery #2 of 3 for his angel team requirement in this book, which has me wondering if Owl’s Nest is going to be a trilogy or if Bobby will continue to pull Alexa out on cases once he’s earned his position. I’m really hoping for the latter! This series is going great and I think Alexa has a lot more to offer than just one more book.

If you love paranormal cozy mysteries, go back to Back to the Bergh first and check out this series!

About the Author

For twenty-six years C.S. McDonald’s life whirled around a song and a dance. Classically trained at Pittsburgh Ballet Theater School, The Pittsburgh Dance Alloy, and many others, she became a professional dancer and choreographer. During that time, she choreographed many musicals and an opera for the Pittsburgh Savoyards. In 2011 she retired from her dance career to write. Under her real name, Cindy McDonald, she writes murder-suspense and romantic suspense novels. In 2014 she added the pen name, C.S. McDonald, to write children’s books for her grandchildren. In 2016 she added the Fiona Quinn Mysteries to that expansion. She decided to write the cozy mystery series that everyone, including teens and tweens, can read and enjoy. Presently, the Fiona Quinn Mysteries nine books with a tenth slated for 2021. The books are also available on audio, narrated by Maren Swenson Waxenberg. Cindy’s newest venture is The Owl’s Nest Mysteries. Once again, she has set her cozy mystery in Pittsburgh. The female protagonist, Alexa Owl, is much different from Fiona Quinn. The Owl’s Next Mysteries has a little grit, a little time travel, a little romance, and a whole lot of cozy! Ms. McDonald resides on her Thoroughbred farm known as Fly by Night Stables near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with her husband, Bill, and her poorly behaved Cocker Spaniel, Allister.

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Giveaway Alert!

Enter to win: Autographed copy of MAXED OUT, plus other gifts (USA only) (ends Jul 23)

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