Let Sleeping Dogs Die-Liz Wolfe

Let Sleeping Dogs Die
Liz Wolfe
Medallion, Aug 2009, $7.95
ISBN: 9781934755655

Photographer Skye Donovan is euphoric as she has been hired on her first big assignment; pictures for an eighteen month calendar for The Pet Place national chain of pet stores. The models are mostly trained cats and dogs, but there is also an iguana and a snake in the mix. Her friend Connie who got her the shoot is getting married to r in the Caribbean leaving Skye worried about doing the calendar shoot without her assistance.

The session takes place on the estate of the Pet Place CEO Frank Johnson. The venue is perfect and everything is smooth until Skye goes to the house to get some water when she finds Frank dead with marks on his neck indicating strangulation. Skye’s boyfriend Portland Police Detective Scott Madison leads the investigation, which gives the pair a chance to rekindle their on and off and now on relationship. They both learn that the victim had numerous enemies; neighbors who were irate over his canine population that allowed no one to sleep; a business partner who believed he was cheated out of his fair share of the profits; and a client who was outraged when Frank failed to sell him the puppy he was promised. Scott wants Skye to stay out of the case not in his bed; while she agrees with the bed but investigates anyway like a bulldog placing herself at risk.

Besides dealing with the animal antics, Skye copes with her hysterical friend who is giving birth in a week or so and with her back on boyfriend. The romance between the detective and the photographer adds realism to the mix as they find out that Frank messed with seemingly half the population of the northwest making it difficult to choose who killed him. Fans will enjoy Liz Wolfe’s delightful police procedural=amateur sleuth combo.

Harriet Klausner