From Crime Reads: EVERYTHING YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT DETECTION DOGS
Excellent topic! Bring it on!
Let me see …
Search and Rescue … I once knew someone who owned two Bloodhounds and trained them for search and rescue. Those are certainly not dogs to just have as casual pets. Very much dogs that need a job. There’s a good mystery series by Virginia Lanier featuring Bloodhounds; the series starts with Death in Bloodhound Red. Wow, is the publisher falling down on the job! Looks like an imprint of Harper Collins? There are five books in this series, but they’re not linked together in either paper or Kindle editions. The fifth one in the series actually says it’s “Book 5 of 1,” which is quite a trick. There are actually six books in the series:
- Death in Bloodhound Red (1995)
- The House on Bloodhound Lane (1996)
- A Brace of Bloodhounds (1997)
- Blind Bloodhound Justice (1998)
- Ten Little Bloodhounds (1998)
- A Bloodhound to Die For (2003)
There, how hard was that? The link goes to the Wikipedia entry, where someone had no trouble listing all the titles in order. I highly recommend this series to anyone who finds mysteries engaging and likes Bloodhounds.
Back to the Crime Reads post …
Cadaver dogs … Explosives and narcotics detection … oh, here’s a category I didn’t expect to see: disease detection.
That’s very cool, of course, but not generally something that comes up in crime fiction. A friend of mine has Standard Schnauzers, so I’m aware that the concept of cancer detection with dogs was first proven with a fabulous Standard Schnauzer with the prosaic name of George.
Let me see, what else is here at the Crime Reads post …
Apprehending suspects. That’s not Bloodhounds, of course; Bloodhounds aren’t at all aggressive as a rule and the handler has to keep them safe if they’re tracking a potentially dangerous person. That would be Malinois and other similar breeds.
Well, let me see, we’re coming up on Christmas, so let me end this post with this book:
It’s Christmas time, and for Raine Stockton and her Search and Rescue dog, Cisco, Hansonville, North Carolina is just like a Norman Rockwell painting– except for the rash of thefts of baby Jesus figurines from nativity scenes, an abandoned box of golden retriever puppies that someone leaves beside her mailbox, and a mysterious gift from one of Cisco’s a grateful admirers. Raine already has her hands full with her own misbehaving pooches, unexpected house guests, and a complicated new relationship. But when a newborn is abandoned in the manger of the town’s living nativity and Raine walks in on what appears to be the scene of a murder, she has more to worry about than keeping the Christmas spirit alive. …
Christmas cozies — and Christmas Regencies too — have become microgenres of their own, haven’t they? I actually like this trend and often keep an eye out for a nice Christmas-themed mystery or romance that might suit me. This one sounds good! You know what, I think I’ll give it a try.
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