Writing as Kallie E. Benjamin, Valerie Burns (V.M. Burns) launches the Bailey the Bloodhound cozy mystery series. She’s carved out a little niche for herself in northern Indiana, southern Michigan, for settings. This series is set in Crosbyville, a city of 30,000 in northwestern Indiana.

Priscilla Cummings’ first children’s book based on her bloodhound, Bailey, is a bestseller, and she’s just about to quit her job as a teacher and buy a house in Crosbyville. First, she has one last parent-teacher conference that she’s dreading. Whitney Kelley was the ultimate mean girl in high school, and she hasn’t changed. But, she and her husband, Joe, have taken in their niece, and she’s not doing well in school. Of course, Whitney and Joe are upset, and Whitney blows up.

Whitney even causes a scene in the Blue Plate Diner Cafe, owned by Priscilla’s Aunt Agatha. As president of the school board, she intends to cut arts and special programs, including Priscilla’s favorite pet-assisted reading program. Then, she deliberately steps on Bailey’s tail in front of the new police chief so she can claim the dog attacked her. But, Agatha throws her out of the cafe before it gets worse.

Now, Priscilla has had two run-ins with Whitney Kelley. But, it’s Bailey who makes the problem worse. When Priscilla walks him in the park early the next morning, Bailey digs up Whitney’s body. It’s easy to see why Whitney’s sister Chelsea would accuse Priscilla of killing her. Fortunately, Police Chief Gilbert Morgan isn’t quite so fast to arrest Priscilla.

As Priscilla digs around to find the truth about Whitney, she uncovers stories of cheating, affairs, and possibly blackmail. It seems others may have more reasons to kill Whitney Kelley than Priscilla does. Then, another body is found.

Benjamin’s new series is off to a solid start. There’s a charming cast of characters, including Bailey. As a children’s author, Priscilla is able to incorporate The Adventures of Bailey the Bloodhound, Pet Detective, into her own adventures. The first in a cozy series is often an introduction with the protagonist as a suspect. For future mysteries, we can dig into the stories of other characters. I’m looking forward to this series. Sniffing Out Murder is a fun kickoff.

Valerie Burns, writing as Kallie E. Benjamin. Her website is http://VMBurns.com

Sniffing Out Murder by Kallie E. Benjamin. Berkley, 2023. ISBN 9780593547359 (paperback), 352p.

FTC Full Disclosure – I received a galley through NetGalley to review for a journal.