Dog obsession extends to every aspect of our lives. It’s an illness we don’t want to be cured of. It even extends to reading, our favorite non-dog hobby. Except some of our favorite books are mysteries with dogs!
Hope is currently reading “Gone to the Dogs” by Susan Conant. It’s part of a series with main character Holly Winter, a dog columnist, owner of Malamutes, and Obedience devotee. One of the things we love about this series is how closely we identify with someone doing obedience training with a breed not known for its obedience. Another thing we adore about it – we’re Facebook “friends” with Conant! We’ve actually “messaged” with her to talk about dogs and books! We may even forgive her for currently owning a stellar obedience breed – she has a Sheltie now.
Lighter fare
We’ve always been big readers – our family used to own a book store. And, despite the reputation that booksellers may have, we’ve always enjoyed “light” reading. These days we actively seek lighter fare for entertainment. We need the break from all the uncertainty this year.
So we’re revisiting some of our favorite authors of dog mysteries – because dogs always make us happy. There’s something connective reading about a character you know you’d be friends with – you have so much in common. Or maybe absolutely nothing but your love for dogs – but that’s enough!
Lots of choices
We just searched for “mysteries with dogs” and there are bunches of them! Lots of names that are new to us. Since the family bookstore closed and we brought home all the books we didn’t sell and couldn’t part with, we’ve been “shopping” on our own shelves. Lots of the new series look terrific – we’ll have to post an update when we’ve tried some of them.
In the meantime, these are the authors/series we love. For everybody who loves dogs and enjoys a “cozy” mystery, you should give them a try!
Laurien Berenson is a Poodle person and author of the series featuring Melanie Travis and her Poodles! Her Aunt Peg is a recurring character and an absolute delight.
Melissa Cleary’s main character is Jackie Walsh, whose sidekick is an ex-police dog named Jake.
Susan Conant’s books feature Holly Winter and her Alaskan Malamutes Rowdy and Kimi.
Virginia Lanier writes about Jo Beth Sidden and her tracking Bloodhounds.
Mysteries with dogs reviews
If you try one (or all) of these authors – let us know how you like the books! And if there’s someone we’ve missed, please let us know. The books don’t even have to feature dogs, although dogs do enhance most things in life.
I would like to add Rita Mae Brown, a very prolific writer of quite a few dog, cat, and horse series.
Love Rita Mae Brown’s books! Can’t believe we forgot to include them. Thank you!
Hi Hope and Fran,
I really have enjoyed the Raine Stockton series and Dogleg Island series of books by Donna Ball. Also anything by Carol Lea Benjamin. She has written many dog training books and was a columnist and illustrator in the AKC Gazette as well as having written dog mysteries. Here are some of her articles written more recently about all sorts of dog behavior https://fearfreehappyhomes.com/author/carolbenjamin/
Thumbs up on Carol Lea Benjamin, we should have included her, too! And we’re going to get Donna Ball’s books – thanks for the recommendation!