Book reviews: Meet these crime-solving canines

If you’re a fan of mysteries featuring dogs, you may feel like too many books in this genre portray the dogs as canine window dressing rather than full-fledged characters. The two novels below are exceptions, with loyal pups Duke, Elvis, and Susie Bear helping to sniff out the bad guys.

Cayman Conundrum: A Liz Adams Mystery by Stacy Wilder. Wild Hawk Press, 2024. Softcover, 248 pages.

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Private investigator Liz Adams is back, hot on the trail of another killer. And as followers of this engaging series know, Liz’s faithful, truth-sniffing Labrador retriever Duke is right beside her.

In this third installment, Liz and her new husband, Brad, arrive in the Cayman Islands for their honeymoon. While there, they are looking forward to spending time with Brad’s former business partner and close friend, Tim. Since parting ways from the business, Tim has moved to the tropical paradise to work on a novel.

However, as Liz and Brad quickly discover, there are more questions than answers when Tim goes missing and no copies of his manuscript can be found. How the mystery unravels with a major move on Duke’s part will not disappoint Stacy Wilder (or Duke) fans.

The Night Woods: A Mercy Carr Mystery by Paula Munier. Minotaur Books, 2024. Hardcover, 320 pages.

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Army veteran turned private investigator Mercy Carr — along with her dog, Elvis, and the regular cast of characters — returns in The Night Woods, the sixth entry in this dependable mystery series. This time out, Elvis and a very pregnant Mercy come upon a body in the cabin of their reclusive friend, Homer Grant, and must work tirelessly to clear Homer’s name while also contending with a possible sinister threat from a former military comrade.

If these concerns were not enough, the Vermont countryside is being ravaged by record storms and flooding, and Mercy is being shadowed by a teenage relative whose job it is to keep her safe during the final days of pregnancy.

When Mercy’s game warden husband, Troy, and his search-and-rescue dog, Susie Bear, are drawn into the fray, danger becomes even more imminent as the plot threads become satisfyingly entwined. Readers of Paula Munier’s novels about Mercy will find themselves among familiar Vermont settings and Mercy’s often endearing (sometimes overwhelming) family members in the author’s latest page-turner.

Our goal at Best Friends is to support all animal shelters in the U.S. in reaching no-kill in 2025. No-kill means saving every dog and cat in a shelter who can be saved, accounting for community safety and good quality of life for pets. 

Shelter staff can’t do it alone. Saving animals in shelters is everyone’s responsibility, and it takes support and participation from the community. No-kill is possible when we work together thoughtfully, honestly, and collaboratively.