Thursday, February 10, 2022

Is It Always the Dogwalker?



LUCY BURDETTE: About a month ago, Debs sent us a video of a comedienne. What with Covid and lots of other bad things happening in the world, we needed cheering up. (It’s rated R, but you can watch it here if you want.We all got a good laugh at the end when the performer is interacting with the audience, and says to one guy, "it’s always the dog walker who finds the body isn’t it?" 

Several of us realized we do already have dog walkers discovering dead guys, and several others of us plan to include that in a future scene. We thought you’d get a giggle out of reading these...


From A Dish to Die For, Lucy Burdette, coming 8/2022:


But as I got closer, I could see that inside the shallow hole he’d dug, he’d uncovered a piece of denim. And then, oh good gravy, what looked like the fingers on a man’s hand. He took hold of the loose denim and shook it hard, growling. Then I noticed that some of the sand around the right of the man’s head had been stained dark. The color of blood. My heart began to pound and my knees felt wobbly. But I needed to appear calm if I wanted a chance of getting him away from his prize.


“Good boy, Ziggeroo,” I said, squatting down to his level, hoping to lure him over before he destroyed what surely looked like a crime scene.


From Never Tell A Lie, Hallie Ephron


 Ivy patted Phoebe’s head and tried to calm the dog’s trembling.  She couldn’t remember ever seeing the Phoebe alone outside. Where was Mrs. Bindel? She pulled Phoebe to Mrs. Bindel’s front door, rang the bell, and waited. No answer. She knocked. Still nothing.


Maybe Mrs. Bindel was in the backyard.  Ivy carried the dog off the front porch. They were halfway around the house when the dog barked, squirmed free, and took off yelping. Ivy followed. Behind the house Mrs. Bindel’s forsythia, quince, and rhododendron bushes were clipped into tight spheres. Ivy ducked under the old-fashioned clothesline strung across mown grass from which no dandelion would dare rear its head.

Phoebe grunt-snorted to the poured-concrete steps by Mrs. Bindel’s back door and sank down in the grass, snuffling. Mrs. Bindel lay there, looking small and fragile, her head resting on the bottom step. 


Ivy rushed over to the stricken figure.


From Kissed a Sad Goodbye, Deborah Crombie


Sheba’s yip of impatience ended his reverie.  He moved on obligingly and soon she had her anticipated freedom, running full tilt off the lead.  George followed after her at his own pace, along the Rope Walk between the Mudchute and Millwall Park, then huffed a bit as they climbed to the Mudchute plateau.  There Sheba disappeared from view as she followed the rabbit trails though the thick grass, but he stayed to the narrow path that followed the boundaries of the park.  The dog always seemed to know where he was even when she couldn’t see him, and she wouldn’t stray far.


When he reached the gate that led down to the ASDA supermarket, he glanced at his watch.  Half-past nine‑‑his mates would most likely be gone.  The sun had moved higher in the sky and he was sweating freely‑‑the thought of something cold to drink, even on his own, was tempting.  But the longer he tarried, the hotter it would be going home. 


Mopping his head with his handkerchief, he went on.  Here the brambles encroached on the path, catching at his trouser legs, and he stopped for a moment to unhook a particularly tenacious thorn from his trainer laces.  As he knelt he heard Sheba whimper.


     He frowned as he finished retying his shoelace.  It seemed an odd sound for Sheba to make here, where her normal repertoire consisted of excited barks and yips‑‑could she be hurt?  Unease gripped him as he stood quickly and looked ahead.  The sound had come from further down the path, he was sure of that.


     “Sheba!” he called, and he heard the quaver of alarm in his voice. 


     This time the sound was more clear, ahead and to the right.  George hurried on, his heart pounding, and rounded a gentle curve.


     The woman lay on her back in the tall grass to the right of the path.  Her eyes were closed, and the spread of her long red-gold hair mingled with the white-flowering bindweed.  Sheba, crouching beside her, looked up at George expectantly.


     She was beautiful.  For an instant he thought she was sleeping, even hesitantly said, “Miss . . .” 


     Then a fly lit on the still white hand resting on the breast of her jacket, and he knew.  


From Julia Spencer-Fleming, A FOUNTAIN FILLED WITH BLOOD--Clare's guest dogs find a body...





Rhys Bowen: I’ve just introduced two puppies into the Royal Spyness books. I can see a body discovery in their future! (Readers, this is Lucy. I could not persuade her to quickly bang out that scene for us so I could include it in today's blog.)


Hank Ryan: I have a dog that plays a role in the new book--which MAY be called THE HOUSE GUEST--but I can't let you use it because it is a spoiler.


Okay Red readers, can you remember other dog-walking murder finders?

73 comments:

  1. I love this! Dogs definitely belong in murder mysteries . . .

    Dog-walking murder finders? A.J. Orde’s “Death and the Dogwalker” comes to mind as does Judi McCoy’s dog walker mystery “Till Death Do Us Bark” . . . .

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    1. A.J. Orde is a pen name of Sheri S. Tepper. Her Jason Lynx series is well worth reading.

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  2. I cannot wait to hear what you all come up with! This is the most hilarious blog ever!

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  3. I also understand that it is runners who find bodies. Which worries me since I am a runner.

    Thanks for sharing these scenes. They are great.

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    1. watch out Mark, it could happen to you! at least you'd know what to do...call the cops!!

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    2. I thought if I found the body, I had to solve the crime myself. :)

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  4. I love the dog scenes you’ve reminded us of. I’m looking forward to seeing what the puppies get up to with Lady Georgie. I’m quite fond of dogs in books.

    One series that I love has dogs often finding bodies, even though the dogs are search and rescue, not cadaver dogs. The FBI K-9 series by Sara Driscoll (Jen Danna and Ann Vanderlaan) is a wonderful series featuring dogs.

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  5. Please, dear Jungle Reds, don't feel you have to stop having dogs discover "your" dead bodies. After all, it makes perfect sense--the police USE dogs to find bodies. Now if you started using pet rats (modelled after the ones who sniff out landmines), that might get a bit weird.

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    1. Oh phew! thanks for reassuring us. I don't think we'll move to rats...

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  6. It is appropriate for dogs to find bodies. Their sense of smell is much more acute than ours and they investigate bad smells, while we tend to avoid them. As long as all of my favorite authors keep the dogs safe and unharmed, it's fine, and not too repetitive to see it in different mysteries.
    Debs, I recall that scene and George turns out to be quite a memorable character.

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  7. Great scenes! I agree with others, it makes sense that dogs would find bodies. I have a little black dog in my two-book Lauren Rousseau Mysteries. I don't think Maisie found any bodies, but she might have alerted to a bad guy or two.

    Liz Mugavero's Pawsitively series has dogs in it, but I can't remember if they find bodies. Similarly with Paula Munier's suspense novels.

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  8. Love these! The things dogs do for us ... in real life, AND in fiction. Margaret Mizushima's Timber Creek K9 series is great.

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    1. ALICIA: I agree Robo in Margaret's Timber Creek K9 series is wonderful! The series is getting better with each book (there are 7 books so far).

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    2. Hi Alicia! Welcome! Yes, Margaret is fantastic..

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    3. Another entry for the TBR pile. Thanks!

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  9. During my starting to write a mystery days, I googled "who finds the most bodies?" Of course, on British crime TV shows and in crime fiction of all kinds, it's the dog walker and her trusty canine. My standard poodles play a role in my books, mostly alerting the main character that someone is lurking behind the fence or peering in the window.

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    1. How funny Margaret! You were very clever to google that question...

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  10. My friend J doesn't have a dog. However, a year or so ago she opened her door to get the morning paper. And found a dead man. On her front lawn.


    Not a murder but certainly a mystery. He was a retired guy who walked every morning. This time he had a cardiac event and that was that.

    Unnerving from my friend. No dogs were involved in this happening..

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    1. No way! what an awful shock that must have been.

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    2. Many years ago, I stepped out with my two dogs of a summer morning and found a guy curled up on the lawn under my bathroom window. My heart lurched, and I hastily phoned 911. Turns out he was just drunk and passed out, but I wasn't going anywhere near him.

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  11. What a hoot! Thanks for the chuckles this early mornnig...

    How about Paula Munier's books with Mercy Carr and her dog Elvis; they work together in every story, with Elvis key to much of the action.

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    1. You're very welcome, and yes, love the dogs in Paula's series!

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    2. Love the dogs in Paula's series! Love Paula's series!

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  12. Yes, there are several mystery series featuring cadaver dogs:
    Margaret Mizushima's K-9 series (with Robo and Mattie Cobb)
    Paula Munier's books with Elvis and Mercy Carr
    Kylie Logan's new series with Luther and Jazz Ramsey
    Jeffrey Burton's K9 series with Vira and Mason Reid

    but there is also fun series such as Spencer Quinn's Chet an Bernie books.

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    1. thanks for the list Grace. I've read and enjoyed quite a few of the Chet and Bernie books

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    2. Nice list, Grace. I would add the series I mentioned in my comments, The FBI K-9 series by Sara Driscoll. Lone Wolf is the first book and Under Pressure (#6) is the most recentl, last year. The dogs in this series are search and rescue, not cadaver dogs, but they often end up finding a dead body. Also, I saw another search and rescue dog series at Amazon called the Flint K-9 Search and Rescue Mysteries by Jen Blood. There are three so far, last one in 2019. Have you heard of these books, Grace? They look pretty good.

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  13. If I remember correctly, Krista Davis has a series with a small dog (Jack Russell terrier?) who's primary talent is finding dead bodies. Paula Munier's and Margaret Mizushima's series are wonderful; now I need to track down the others mentioned here.

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    1. Oh yes, that's Krista's paws and claws series, and the dog is Trixie.

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  14. Funny blog, indeed!

    I can't remember any specific dogs finding bodies, in the thousands of mysteries I've read. How weird. I know there were many, including the books Debs and Julia quoted from above.

    Our friends Tom and Mary Kay were hiking in the woods with their own adorable Ziggy yesterday, and she found a half-submerged SUV in a mostly frozen creek. No dead bodies in it, thank goodness!

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    1. Oh, man, Sarah Millican is a scream. Thanks for sharing her!

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    2. Karen, you can find lots more of Sarah Millican. She is such a hoot!

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    3. Debs, I completely lost it when she was talking about multitasking with her mustache cream! LOL

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  15. Judi McCoy had a dogwalker series. Oh I see that Joan mentioned it.

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  16. The only thing any of my dogs ever found was a folded-up five dollar bill. I told him it was his, and let him pick out a toy at Pet Supplies Plus.

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  17. "Quick Lassie, get help, Lisa's in the well". Woof smirked the collie, "I pushed her. This time I will blame the cat.

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  18. Like others, I know I must have read about dogs finding dead bodies, but I can't think of any (other than the ones already mentioned). I must warn my brother-in-law who regularly walks Koda.

    Come to think of it, I think Rizzo, the Golden Retriever in my Laurel Highlands series, helps find a dead body in HEAVEN HAS NO RAGE.

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  19. This example isn't a book, but I feel like more than half of the episodes of "Midsomer Murders" feature a dog walker finding a body. Now that I think about it, it turns up a lot in "Vera", too. In fact I remember in one we recently watched, Vera arrived at the scene and her sergeant told her the body was found by a dog walker and she just kind of nodded and gestured as if to say, "of course."

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  20. And Lisa Gardner‘s new book, ONE STEP TOO FAR— which is absolutely amazing, truly brilliant – – stars a dog named Daisy. Do not miss this book! Of course, it is Daisy‘s job to find bodies. but Lisa gives Daisy a remarkable personality.

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  21. My neighborhood has always had a lot of dogs but since lockdown we are TEEMING with dogs and people walking them. So does that mean we're going to have an uptick in dead bodies?

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  22. I laughed when I read this. Yesterday I started rewatching Traces on Britbox because season 2 will be out soon. The young protagonist’s dead mother was found by a dog walker.

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  23. Skilled helpers! It's not surprising that dogs discover bodies and warn of danger, since they smell and hear so much better. We're wise to pay attention to them. <3
    I was once allowed to pet the drug-sniffing dogs at school. They had finished their sniffing shift and were allowed to be friendly on break. ;-)

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  24. A DISH TO DIE FOR is wonderful! I don't even want to start another book right now. I just want to stay in Key West.

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  25. Susan Conant's mysteries are all dog-centric. I remember "A New Leash on Death" and "Dead and Doggone."

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    1. I loved Susan Conant's books. I still have them all in paperback.

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  26. Wonderful post this morning! I remember Vicki Delany's Christmastown mysteries had a story about Merry's dog finding a dead body while they were out for a walk. I cannot recall the other mysteries where the dog found a dead body. This happens often.

    Thanks for the glimpses from your books, Jungle Reds.

    Diana

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  27. It's such a perfect set up, you must admit. In my very first published book, ZONED FOR MURDER, the protagonist is a dog walker, and guess what she finds!

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    1. It is perfect, and so tempting. I'm just writing another into book 13:)

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  28. Today’s blog post has given me more books to add to my TBR list!

    DebRo

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  29. I realized too late I could have included Clare and Russ's new dog, Oscar, who didn't find a body, but who was witness to murder, alerted Clare to the location of a missing person, and heroically saved Clare from the bad guy, despite getting shot! Don't worry, readers, Oscar recovers just fine and goes on to a quiet retirement laying in a comfortable dog bed in Clare's office.

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  30. How could I have forgotten the dogs finding the body in NO MARK UPON HER? And they're SAR dogs, too!

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  31. I can't add anything new to the dogs in mysteries list although I know there's lots more out there. If any of my dogs had found a body they would have sniffed it over and then rolled on it. Gah!

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  32. If there is a dog and a body, the dog should find the body. If your plot needs a body in a hard to reach place, add a dog because they can't really fail to find it. I will read stories that otherwise don't appeal if there is a dog in it -- as long as they aren't killed off. Kill as many people as you want, but don't kill the dogs. I like it when the dog becomes part of the family as Deb had done. Geez, even Gamache has a dog.

    Other authors come to mind. Spencer Quinn's Chet is quite a character. I like the way Quinn lets Chet speak for himself. I also like Laurien Berenson's Melanie Travis series mostly because a poodle is part of my family. The poodles aren't involved in the crime-solving so much, but she knows her dogs and the world of dog shows. There is also David Rosenfelt's new K-9 series in which the German Shepherd is a retired police dog.

    I have already added two new series to my TBR pile thanks to this post.

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  33. I totally agree that it makes perfect sense that the dogwalkers are often the ones to find a body! I had to laugh at the references to Midsomer Murders and Vera on TV because I had noticed the same thing about someone walking their dog and coming upon the victim.

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  34. Having just brought a high energy retriever type dog into my home, I don't think this is going to go well for me...LOL.

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