Hounding the Pavement (Dog Walker, Book 1)

This was a very nice little story. What's not to like about telepathic communication with our best buddies. But the reason I'm writing this review is for people like me, who despise 1st person narratives. Most of these little mysteries are written in 1st person, and I could just cry every time I start the book and see "I". Not a reason not to read it, but a reason to enjoy it much less. With this book, you get other people's viewpoints, and it's just SO much better.

Enjoyed this light hearted mystery & learned a bit about the dog walking profession. Thought the human-dog communications were hilarious. Looking forward to the next book.

I'm so glad I came upon book #1 in this new series! As a huge dog lover, I figured I'd "like" the book....but with such great writing, wonderful characters (both human and canine) I LOVED it! The pacing of the story was perfect and hooked me from page one. Another thing I really liked was the fact the author absolutely knows and understands both dogs and their owners. No apology is made for those of us that truly consider those four-legged friends true members of our family. I also admired how the author addressed some pertinent owner responsibility issues....like getting our dogs neutered or spayed if we're not going to breed them. Or how vitally important it is to have a vet and have our dogs up to date on shots, etc. I highly recommend this book and I enjoyed the mystery....actually, I didn't figure out who done it until the very end. I thought for sure it was somebody else...but won't say here who, as that would be a spoiler. Now I just have to wait till October for book #2 in this series.

On the cover of this book (that caught my eye as a dog lover!) I noticed that the author is donating her royalties to charity (best friends- which benefits dogs). AWESOME- and I bought it on spot with just a glance at the back cover. I was surprised and delighted by the recently divorced Ellie (size 16 and not apologizing!) who finds herself connecting with dogs on a whole new level- they can talk! What I liked about this book is that the dogs choose whether or not they 'talk' to Ellie. They don't have to, and she can't hear just any dog. Mostly it seems the dogs that chat with her are her dog walking clients. She's new to dog walking and one day she walks into her client's home to find him dead and the dog gone. She gets in and works to help find the missing dog (and the killer). Now, I thought the actual mystery part was rather weak. I picked out the potential suspects and weird activity really quick - some of which I thought Ellie should have picked up quicker I thought. I wished that aspect was stronger, but I adored everything else about this book. This is definitely a mystery first, bit of romance second novel and from the ending it's clear that she will have to keep working on that 'happily ever after' in future books of this series. Ellie is a character I truly loved, and a strong cast of characters including some truly fabulous dogs will have me coming back for more!

Following her divorce Ellie Engleman decides she needs company, but chooses a four legged one as she adopts a Yorkie who insists he is her Rudy, dead a decade. She also thinks she is going crazy as humans cannot communicate with canines via speech and she never heard of doggy reincarnation. Still she decides her new skill will prove handy as she becomes a Manhattan professional small dog walker to the wealthy of the Upper East Side. She heads to the apartment of Buddy the Bichon only to find his owner Professor Albright dead and the prize winning dog missing. NYPD Police Detective Sam Ryder knows in his gut that Elle did not commit the homicide, but is doing something suspicious. Meanwhile Ellie searches for her pal Buddy fearing what will come of him from the dognapper. This is a fun paranormal investigative tale starring a quirky heroine, a straightforward cop, and a cast of loquacious canines. The story line is amusing but avoids the trap of the "talk to the animals" cuteness. With a nod to Dr. Doolittle, cozy fans will enjoy the competition between the amateur sleuth and the professional detective as she has a more accurate stoolie system to ask for help from than he does. Harriet Klausner