Bending the Paw

by Diane Kelly

Overview

Make way for the long paw of the law as police officer Megan Luz and her K-9 partner Brigit investigate a baffling new mystery in Bending the Paw, by Diane Kelly.

A MURDER WITHOUT A BODY IS LIKE A DOG WITHOUT A BONE

A bloodbath is a shocking new challenge for Megan and Brigit when Detective Audrey Jackson calls them to the scene of what could only be a brutal murder. But the one thing the nightmarish scene is missing is a victim. The frantic homeowner’s husband is gone, seemingly without a trace—and so is the money he was holding. Has a vicious killer committed what might just be the perfect crime?

Meanwhile, it’s hailing cats and dogs all over Fort Worth, and roofing contractors have descended on the city in droves. With plenty of damage and continuing storms, work delays are building up like so much runoff, but Megan is suspicious that one roofer may be a scam artist. Determined to leash every lawbreaker she and her K-9 partner find, Megan is building a case for prosecution, all while Brigit has her nose to the ground for a murderer…

“Be prepared for a laugh fest. Diane Kelly is first class.”—Night Owl Romance

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250197399
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	10/27/2020
Series:	Paw Enforcement Series , #9
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	347,974
Product dimensions:	6.70(w) x 4.10(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Diane Kelly is a former state assistant attorney general and tax advisor who spent much of her career fighting, or inadvertently working for, white-collar criminals. She is also a proud graduate of the Mansfield, Texas Citizens Police Academy. The first book in Diane’s IRS Special Agent Tara Holloway series, Death, Taxes, and a French Manicure, received a Romance Writers of America Golden Heart Award. Book #2, Death, Taxes, and a Skinny No-Whip Latte, won a Reviewers Choice award. Diane has combined her fascination with law enforcement and her love of animals in her K-9 cop Paw Enforcement series.

Editorial Reviews

"The procedural emphasis continues to set this series apart from other dog mysteries."-Kirkus

"Catchy, clever and cunning, Bending the Paw is totally unput-downable! Smooth, appealing and smartly concocted to maximize the wow factor."-Romance Junkies

"Continues to balance fascinating police procedural investigations with the delightful relationship between Megan and Brigit."-Kings Rivers Life Magazine

"Excellent . . . This is a well-researched police procedural that would appeal to armchair sleuths who like to solve the crime along with the detective."-Mystery & Suspense

From the Publisher

10/01/2020

Officer Megan Luz and her K-9 partner, Brigit, respond to a call from Megan's mentor, Det. Audrey Jackson. They find a Valentine's Day Massacre amount of blood in the kitchen at the Olsen home. The frantic wife reported her husband missing, but it's not likely he could survive if that blood was his. Brigit does what she can at the crime scene, and Megan is willing to help, but there are other crimes to investigate, including a possible scam artist contacting Fort Worth homeowners who need their roofs repaired after hailstorms. Megan and Brigit have a full agenda, and that doesn't even include wedding plans now that Megan has agreed to "form a pack" with her firefighter boyfriend, Seth, and his bomb-sniffing dog. VERDICT Kelly successfully combines police procedural with cozy in a mystery that has moments of humor. Readers of the previous title in the "Paw Enforcement" series, Paw of the Jungle, will be familiar with the author's style of incorporating viewpoints from Megan, Brigit, and the primary criminal. Fans of Spencer Quinn's "Chet and Bernie" books will enjoy Brigit's comments and the dog-human partnership.—Lesa Holstine, Evansville Vanderburgh P.L., IN

Library Journal

2020-08-18
A police officer and her canine partner search for a body missing from a gruesome crime scene.

A slasher has executed a St. Valentine’s Day massacre of his own in Fort Worth. A call from Detective Audrey Jackson summons Officer Megan Luz and Brigit, her K-9 teammate, to the scene, a suburban kitchen covered in blood. It’s not the way Megan pictured spending the night of her engagement to Seth, her firefighter boyfriend, but Seth has a dog of his own, and he understands the importance of K-9 teams. When Megan gets to the scene, poor homeowner Shelby Olsen is distraught by the gruesome mess but even more upset that Greg, her loving husband, is missing. She asks Audrey and Megan where Greg could be. The two don’t know how to tell her that, given the blood volume they see, it really doesn’t matter where Greg is any more. Eager to impress her mentor and prove that she’s fit to fill her shoes one day, Megan digs into the case of the apparent murder and the missing body. But all the obvious leads go nowhere, and Megan isn’t sure what’s next. Interspersed chapters adopt the perspectives of the slasher, who’s mainly keeping a low profile at a hotel, and Brigit, who’s equally concerned with tracking the killer and scoring some liver treats. At length Megan’s investigation leads her to the one and only possible conclusion.

The procedural emphasis continues to set this series apart from other dog mysteries.

Kirkus Reviews