Diane Kelly successfully combines police procedural with cozy mystery in the ninth Paw Enforcement mystery, Bending the Paw. It’s too bad Officer Megan Luz of the Fort Worth Police Department doesn’t have her dog, Brigit’s, nose. Cases would be cleaned up much faster. In fact, as a commentator in the story, Brigit points out that Megan often misses the scent clues that Brigit recognizes.
After a “Shall we form a pack?” proposal from her firefighter boyfriend, Seth, Megan is ready to celebrate Valentine’s Day. But, she and Brigit, like Seth and his bomb sniffing dog, Blast, are always on call. Megan’s mentor, Detective Audrey Jackson, calls her to the scene of what Megan can only describe as a Valentine’s Day Massacre. The kitchen of the Olsen home looks like a bloodbath. The frantic wife called when she returned home to find blood everywhere and her husband missing. Although Jackson and Megan will put in the time investigating, they can only assume the man couldn’t have survived with that much blood loss.
Megan is determined to be a detective someday, so she spends quite a bit of time working with Jackson. However, there are other cases in the day-to-day life of a police officer. After a hailstorm, people throughout the city are getting roofs repaired. But, one woman is a little unhappy about the company she hired. No one has shown up, and it takes a great deal of effort for Megan to track down the salesman. He’s a smooth talker with logical reasons the work hasn’t yet been done. But, the more Megan looks at him, the more she begins to wonder if there’s a scam in progress.
As a K-9 patrol officer, Officer Luz and Brigit respond to other crime scenes. But, the missing man from the Olsen kitchen and the roofing salesman are cases that require some digging. With those two primary cases, along with wedding plans, there’s plenty on Officer Megan Luz’ agenda.
If you’re not familiar with Diane Kelly’s series, you can easily pick this book up. Her style is to follow Megan’s work while Brigit and the primary criminal chime in occasionally. Fans of Spencer Quinn’s Chet and Bernie books might want to try this series.
Diane Kelly’s website is https://www.dianekelly.com/
Bending the Paw by Diane Kelly. St. Martin’s, 2020. ISBN 9781250197399 (paperback), 320p.
*****
FTC Full Disclosure – I received a .pdf to review for a journal.
Because of you, I now have the first three books coming by way of the library. I would have just done the first one, but all our virus metrics are soaring here and I am going to be amazed if we do not go back into lockdown right after election day. With that expectation, I put three on hold and the kiddo has been putting a bunch of stuff on hold.
These books are a little different, Kevin. Not as cozy as the ones you don't normally care for, so I think you'll like these books. The police angle makes a difference.
I like some cozies, but a lot of them hit me as very stupid setups. I do tend to the harder edge stuff.