Book Review: Dead Canaries Don't Sing

Reviewed By: Dawn Dowdle

Dead Canaries Don't Sing     Amazon US PB Amazon Canada PB
Cynthia Baxter
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Cats   Dogs   Veterinarian   Woman Main Character
Series: Reigning Cats and Dogs # 1
Bantam Dell, Paperback, 2/04, 371 pages, $6.99

Veterinarian, Dr. Jessica Popper heads off to a house call to a local horse farm. She ends up going a back way to the farm and has trouble with her van on the dirt road. Her two dogs take off into the woods and are soon barking. When she goes to investigate, she finds they have discovered a half buried corpse. Max, her Westie, digs up a dead canary which had been planted near the body.

Jessica feels compelled to discover who killed Tommee Frack, a PR mogul. She enlists the aid of her on-again off-again boyfriend Nick Burby, P.I.

At Tommee Frack’s funeral, she ends up befriending his ex-wife. This opens the door for her to talk about Tommee. Jessica being a veterinarian opens the door with many other people in Tommee’s life. She is able to find out quite a bit about his personal and business life by talking to these people.

To complicate Jessica’s personal life, she begins dating a policeman. Where does her heart lie? She is very confused and this complicates her investigation as well.

Jessica’s neighbor and good friend Betty is threatened. Jessica is concerned she is being followed, but can never get any information on the vehicle to have it traced. She doesn’t let any of this stop her in her quest for the truth. Will she be able to discover that truth without anyone else being hurt or killed, herself included?

I really enjoyed this book. Jessica is a terrific character and so likeable. I like the premise of her being a traveling veterinarian. The author did a great job of weaving this into the story and making her connections with people be more believable. I would love to have Jessica treat our dog!

I hope there will be many books in this series. I highly recommend it!

Dawn Dowdle

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Dawn Dowdle

Please visit Dawns website at www.mysteryloverscorner.com