Sirius about Murder
Sue Owens Wright
Five Star, Jan 2006, $25.95
ISBN: 1594143641

In South Lake Tahoe, the residents debate development of Alpine Paws Park on valuable shorefront property; some people feel the lakeside land should be used to develop expensive housing that will bring plenty of new income to the town. One person opposed to the land going to the dogs has been sending threatening email signed off as SIRIUS ABOUT MURDER.

When affluent matriarch and sponsor of the dog park Abigail Haversham is murdered the police immediately assume the anti canine Sirius committed the homicide. They investigate that path while Elsie "Beanie" MacBean and her canine Cruiser wonder if the land controversy hides a different motive. She follows leads down another path, but she and her Basset hound could become the next two victims as SIRIUS ABOUT MURDER has no qualms about killing again.

This interesting amateur sleuth stars a fine protagonist who's at home with the dogs probably more so than with people except for her best friend Rosie Clark, a canine lover of course. Though the killer and the motive come out of nowhere, Beanie outthinks the pros in solving the case while endangering herself, Rosie and their dogs. SIRIUS ABOUT MURDER is a treat for pet lovers.

Harriet Klausner