An Army of Noses! Dogs and Cats Unite to Solve Murder Mystery! Spunky Leads the Charge!

While the boys frolicked among the trees, Mom and I stuck
to the trail. Our here, Mom lets me run free, but I still stay
close. Today, her pace was brisk, and she seemed energized
by the beautiful weather. "Doesn't spring smell beautiful
girl? Everything's so crisp and fresh. Just look at those
beautiful crocuses. And what about that sky? It's such a
magnificent blue! As soon as the lilacs and honeysuckle
bloom, it will smell just like heaven."
Abruptly her steps slowed. "Oh, Spunky, what has John
gotten himself into? I sure hope he can explain all this,
but between you and me, I'm worried. A lot of cops in this
town aren't known for their liberal viewpoint. In fact,
I've met some who act like they enjoy the power of a badge
and a gun way too much...                                                ~~~

Hi Everybody! It's been awhile since we first visited Book Readers Heaven, so first wanted to say that I'm so happy to be back to tell you about our latest adventure! If you haven't read the earlier book review of our series debut, check it out before you leave Blogger... An Army of Noses certainly kept me busy because Mom was worried about the man who had been arrested for the murder...he was in one of her groups and a friend...So I had to take the lead and help her--I think we had just about every single cat and dog in town on this case. But believe me it was worth it because the real killer got caught, of course...  The "nose" did it again! 

Oh, two of my mates are here with me! Bobby had us all scared during this investigation and had to be taken to the vets twice. Sweetie, his brother, was so concerned that they had to take extra time to ensure things were going well for him. You know how siblings are! We also wanted to let fans know that he is doing well after all the chaos and confusion! 

An Army of Noses:

A Spunky Murder Mystery

By Holly L. Lewitas

You may not be aware that Mom, played by the author, is a psychologist who does her counseling

After her last session, Mom
checked her cell phone and played
back Frank's message, "Hannah,
I got your message. I'll try and see
what I can learn about John's arrest
but I want to be very clear about one
thing--I'm not butting into another
cop's case. Call me when you're
done seeing patients, and I'll let
you know what I've learned."
~~~

electronically! Cool, right? Lots of time we even participate... Imagine, one of us might sit on Mom's lap and start talking or hold our paws up to the person. Almost always we are able to get their minds cleared and feeling a little bit better as they smile and talk to us. It works really well. I'm letting you know about that because her work has to take priority and it puts more on me sometimes, to solve the mystery. It was especially important this time because Mom didn't know the cop that had been assigned to the murder, so wasn't satisfied he would do the job as it needed to be done

Mom and I have a long relationship--much more than the others and we have establish a form of non-verbal communication plus, although she hasn't yet realized it, I can give her mental thoughts if I can get her settled enough--I call it in the zone-- to place ideas in her mind... You see, I knew who the real killer was almost right from the beginning...or, at least, I knew what he smelled like! I had found a bit of the shirt that he had worn!

Before Mom could comment, John raised a
hand. "I know, I know. It was a stupid choice.
I wanted him to like me, so I let myself be
manipulated into something I didn't want to
do. Believe me, I've learned my lesson! But
I learned it too late. I went with him to that
private club for gays...Turns out it's really
the private home of some rich dude...
I was disgusted. This time I did stand up for
myself, and I told Richard I wanted to leave.
...I didn't stick around to see what
happened...
~~~

Later, though, I also smelled the same scent in the office of a professor friend of Mom's so the entire campus and town became the possible locations to find this man. 

Mom had also made arrangements with another friend to have his firm represent John. They had soon been able to get him out on bail. For a short time... Then he was arrested again! To say that Mom was mad would be quite true, of course...

"Hannah, hush a minute. This isn't about being gay or
straight." Frank's tone became slow and firm. "This is about
murder."
"What?"
"Hannah, two hours ago, Richard Keeley, the same guy who
took John to that club, was found murdered in his apartment.
It appears he was strangled to death. The evidenced suggests
that it may have3 occurred during a sexual encounter. John's
fingerprints are all over the place...
~~~

Fancy-Pants stuck his nose up a little
higher. "We prefer the term 'free
spirits...'"

By this time, I have all my feline friends totally involved with what I was thinking, and I knew even with their help it wouldn't be enough. When I mentioned this, Fancy Pants my other friend here with me today, spoke up and told me about a couple of guys who lived in the campus library basement. I immediately asked if they were feral since sometimes these guys and me don't get along..

And before I knew it, I was meeting the Lion King. Let's just say it was a little bit tense when we first met...

Every cat respects boundaries--every cat, that is, except Lion King. He rules, and he walks wherever and whenever he wants. He can go anywhere, anytime, any day. No one messes with the King. He struts his stuff down the street as if he owns it--and none of the regulars ever questions that he does.
When he struts his stuff, the message is clear, "Get out of my way or I'll hurt you." Fancy dropped his voice. "But, I'll let you in on a secret. When I was living on the streets it was common knowledge among the regulars that if you paid the King the respect he was due, then he'd look out for you. He saved my young cojones on more than one occasion. He stays the King because all the cats respect him. If he's your friend, you're safe. He's like you, Spunk!"
~~~

So first I had to establish a relationship with the Lion King so that his army of critters would

help. We wanted to check out all the buildings on the campus, for one thing. But as we learned more and more, I knew we needed even more backup...wonder whether I can get the dogs and cats of the community to work together... And then I was surprised to even get help from a specialist in communication...Ollie! What a great help he was! 

Now of course I had a plan, but everybody keeps telling me to keep it all hush-hush for now, so maybe sometime in the future, if we meet, I'll be able to tell you all the gritty details how it all came together. Even Frank was there to help make the arrest!

Well, both Bobby and Fancy-Pants are making faces at me to get me to shut up...But, shucks, it isn't often I get to shine as a "hero" as I guess I did leading this Army of Noses..." But, it sure would make me proud for you to check out the book that tells you all about what happens! That way, I won't have to embarrass everybody when I tell the world how me and all my friends got together to chase down a murderer...with our noses!

Oh, yeah, one more thing... I'm supposed to let everybody know that this is BRH Recommended! And thanks so much for inviting all of us to Book Readers Heaven!

Have a great week! Spunky...

Holly Lewitas loves a good mystery and she loves animals. So she decided to combine the two and that is how the Spunky Murder Mystery series began. Holly lives with one dog and eighteen cats - all rescues.

Holly is a transplanted Yankee, now living in Alabama - living in the south means all 18 cats do not HAVE to live inside - which makes the dog very happy -and the cats are all quite content with their heated beds. Holly never met a cat yet who didn't like a box or a basket.

Christine Whitehead Gives Us Winner for Readers!

"She broke the silence. "So, why do you think we haven't become
lovers?" Without looking at him, she quickly added, "I mean,
we're both free and over the age of consent, as they say. We like
each other. We're here. Why do you think it hasn't happened?"
"Dead Silence.
"Connor flushed, but Archer was still on her back and couldn't
see him. He turned to his side. Putting a hand on her shoulder,
he pulled her to her side to face him. They were looking at each
other, but neither spoke for several minutes. Finally, Connor said,
"Well that was a surprise."
"He waited for her to comment, but she said nothing.
"Uh, just for the record, was that a pass?"
"No, I was just curious--you know, from a sort of academic point
of view."
"Connor gazed at her and said, "Academic interest, huh? Okay,
well, fine. Look, in case you were wondering but didn't want to
ask--although that's hard to imagine--and just for the academic
record that we're setting straight here, I'm not gay, or impotent,
or infirm, or taken." Connor paused, weighing his words...

Tell Me When 
  It Hurts

By Christine M. Whitehead




When I read that Tell Me When It Hurts was the 2009 Readers Favorite Honorable Mention Winner for Fiction – General, I wasn't the least bit surprised. I don't know the competition for that, but I do know that this novel was one that I truly enjoyed reading. One of the reasons for me was that the author allowed readers to enjoy and watch a new relationship develop--and sex played such a small part... No jumping into bed right away because the book is only so long. LOL

Seriously, it was refreshing to watch a relationship develop slowly while the two characters took their time getting to know each other, to have fun together, and to begin to share about their lives. And they both had heartache in their pasts to keep them just as skittish as their horses could be at times!

And for this couple, Archer Loh especially, there was much in her life that she had to deal with. In order to live with the trauma, she withdrew from her life and bought a cabin up in the hills and woods. Hmmm, that sounds like exactly what I did, and am still living in my cabin. 

But Archer had experienced something far worse than most of us. Her young daughter had been murdered...

So Connor, seeing the cabin as simply the house next door, even though he was living in a tent, came knocking on her door, friendly-like...LOL Let's just say that Archer was not ready to invite him in...

But when he was away from his tent, she had discovered that he had brought a horse with him, a pinto that she quickly made friends with and began to visit while he was gone.

Connor owned a sheep farm in another state but was there to check out about 300 acres adjacent to Archer's cabin. He was there to walk the land and see if he would use or sell it. And while he never commented, he had noticed that Archer was spending time with his horse, Millie.

It was fun to watch the two of them, especially as Connor was prone to joke with Archer, mostly to get her to react! I loved the exchange and the day-by-day developments...

Too bad about Connor's unwillingness to accept her part-time job...

For a short time after college, Archer had worked for the government and had been selected for a special department. She had learned much about weapons, strategic planning and other mission-oriented responsibilities. But she had decided not to continue. She had been happily married before her daughter was killed. And maybe she would have slowly been able to get over it, except the man who had killed her got off on a technicality! As Archer left that day, somebody gave her a contact number and she later joined a group, who had members with similar events in their lives. A group that provided justice when the courts failed...

Do you remember the movie, Long Kiss GoodNight? It has always been one of my favorite movies and in a few ways, this novel reminded me of the storyline. Geena Davis would make a perfect Archer Loh and with the different twists in the novel, this certainly would make a thriller both exciting and ultimately fulfilling as the ending of this story provides.

If you missed this one earlier, like I did, hey, please check it out--it's on Kindle too... I didn't get too much into the horses in my review, but those who love horses will especially enjoy this. The slow pace makes this so tantalizing as Whitehead makes readers wait to see how and whether Archer will find her way back to allowing her emotions to return. I'm one of those who call it a reader's favorite now...so, you might find that it's for your bedside stack to be read! Enjoy!


GABixlerReviews

Christine M. Whitehead is a life-long resident of New England and a graduate of Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. She attended the University of Connecticut Law School and has practiced divorce law in Hartford, Connecticut for over twenty-five years. Her books always have dogs and horses and romance in them as all three are my passions. My novel Tell Me When It Hurts is about second chances and healing. 

www.christinewhitehead.com

Have you Considered the Cat and Dog...Really? Stan I. S. Law Has...

Anyway, there is nothing a dog can do that I can't. Normally, a lot better! I can even wag my tail.  What a stupid habit! I suppose, I can’t really blame them, though. Some canine twit must have started it God knows how many eons ago, and now, if they don’t wag their stupid tails, nobody believes that they are happy. It’s like people smiling. Why stretching one’s lips from ear to ear should indicate a happy state, I shall never know. Often it looks positively painful, almost scary. Especially, when some of them seem to have teeth twice the size of their mouths. Now a gentle purrrr—makes sense. It sets up vibrations from my throat, through my spine, right to the tip of my tail. Well, almost. 
CruCe (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

CATS AND DOGS SERIES


By Stan I.S.Law   
 Kindle Edition 




If you follow me, you know by now that if I see a title like this, I'm going to read it! This is an anthology and I wouldn't normally include the individual titles, but they are in themselves funny, so here goes:

• Anthology of Verse and Short Stories   Our Park, My Cat is Fat, The Ark, I am a Fat Cat, Just my Luck, I am still a Fat Cat, The Broohos, Sphinx, Two of a Kind, Sharing, Dreamax, Bad Apple, To Sleep or not to Sleep, The Good Witch and the Warlock

Now, I have to call your attention to the fact that there are three, count them, three poems about a fat cat. All I have to say is that I bet Law's cat did not approve of being called fat--I don't believe the author's claims that he participated in writing them! But apparently the cat may indeed have some problem about being touched because he sends a constant warning out to all readers...

Brandy and Cognac are the first dog characters introduced. This is a delicious romance only marred by the need to get around their masters in order to meet... A truly grrrrrrand affair!

And then there is the trials and fears of those animals that lived during Noah's big project. You realize, of course, that only two were to be taken on the Ark, right? Well, Noah had quite a lot of animal friends that were right there involved in the planning and building. All they heard was that they would be loading two by two...A real horror story as they feared for their own lives, their families...who would be chosen?

I think Sharing was my favorite in this funny, emotional and thought-provoking anthology...Here's just a short quote: “The need for sharing is a strange desire. Success resulting from adamant pursuit of ideas generated by an inquisitive mind loses its joy, when contained in an emotional vacuum." Many of us have turned to the Internet to share and we spend considerable time interacting with people we have never or will never meet, right? Now, interestingly, I have been bombarded by one of my cats to "talk" recently...She is the only one inside after a group of kittens had become old enough to stay out... Well, she has driven me crazy talking...and wanting to be close...Yes, it is not hard to know that Ricci wants to share her private time with me...Cool, isn't it?

Law has written extensively on our reality in his nonfiction works. Here he does a simple, easy, and wonderful set of stories and reminders to each of us, encouraging us to smile at the antics of our animal friends. He also, however, uses his stories to make us stop and ponder our own relationships, with animals, with other humans, and with a spiritual entity, reminding us that, for instance, both Adam and Eve were kicked out of that garden so long ago...

I enjoy when an author considers the world from an animal's point of view. It is, in my opinion, an earnest opportunity and intent to learn more about ourselves and the world around us. The author is an expert; however, not all of us are... This easy-to-read fun book has much to say and can be inspirational as well as funny. Enjoy this one! For many reasons!

GABixlerReviews 

Stanislaw Kapuscinski Writes as Stan I.S. Law

An architect, sculptor and writer was educated in Poland and England. Since 1965 he has resided in Canada. His special interests cover a broad spectrum of arts, sciences and philosophy. His fiction and non-fiction attest to his particular passion for the scope and the development of Human Potential.

Under his real name he published six non-fiction books sharing his vision of reality. He also composed two collections of poems in his original native tongue in which he satirizes his view of the world while paying homage to Bozena Happach's sculptures.

As an architect [RIBA, MRAIC, OAQ ret.] he designed a number high rise buildings in Montreal, including Regency Hyatt Hotel (now Delta), Place Mercantile, Headquarters for the Mutual Alliance, as well as a number of low and middle rise structures for private clients. In the National Capital he was the associate in charge of design of Royal Bank Headquarters on Sparks Street.