This was a fun beginning to a paranormal cozy mystery series. Lily Mason is a cougar shifter who has recently lost her family. When she learned that she has an uncle in Moonshine, Missouri, she decides to visit him and see what life is like in a human community.

She meets a number of people in the town including her uncle, Parker Knowles who runs a Pit Bull rescue business, and Katherine Kapersky, a woman no one likes. Lily is also adopted by a rescued Pit Bull that is named Smooshie and falls in love with the pit bull. Needing a place to stay while her truck is being repaired, Parker offers her an efficiency he has at his business.

She is settling in when she discovers Katherine's murdered body while taking Smooshie for her evening constitutional. Lily becomes involved in the case because the sheriff seems determined to arrest Parker for the crime. Sure, he had arguments with Katherine but there are very few people in the town who didn't.

As Lily investigates, she uncovers all sorts of reasons why someone would want Katherine dead. After all, she was a blackmailer who used her knowledge to get people to do things for her. It seems like there are quite a number of people who had a much better reason to want Katherine dead than Parker did.

I liked the interesting cast of characters. I liked Lily who is able to use her ability as a lie detector to uncover secrets that the townspeople would rather keep hidden. I liked her growing friendship with Parker and am wondering if it can go anywhere since he's human and she is secretly a shifter. ( )