+In Desperate Housedogs by Sparkle Abbey, Caro Lamont serves as a dog psychologist, especially amid the elite in Laguna Beach, so she gets called to visit the home of Kevin Blackstone, owner of German shepherds Zeus and Tommy Boy, who have been going wild barking but refusing to go outside for two days. After working with the dogs for a little while, Caro stops to visit her closest friend, Diana Knight, a grandmother figure former celebrity who has turned into a passionate animal advocate. The two have been planning the “Fur Ball” to raise money for rescue animals at the local shelter where both are very active volunteers. Soon after arriving home from these visits, Caro gets a visit from Detective Judd Malone, who informs Caro that Kevin Blackstone has died under suspicious visits. Caro begins to snoop, getting involved in ever riskier and even illegal behaviors as she digs up more clues. But then Diana gets arrested, raising the stakes even higher, especially as Diana refuses to allow anyone to bail her out. Instead she uses her incarceration as a platform to get interviews with anyone possible in order to promote her fundraising for the animal shelter. Thus, Caro determines to investigate further to find the truth.
This book, a fairly light cozy mystery, has enjoyable details, but I didn’t find it especially memorable. I liked the details of the dog psychologist and all the information about different breeds of dogs. Some of the dogs such as Zeus and Tommy Boy show real character, though others show less. The mystery plot did have some interesting details, but I did feel that the conclusion arose with a bit of a surprise. Though the murderer was a regular character, the solution came without any hints to it in advance. One of the best parts to the book is the character of Diana, who really shines and creates a lot of fun moments in her activism.
Frances Fuller performs the audiobook narration of this book. She does an adequate job, and I found her voice pleasant enough, with a gentle Southern accent, which I suspect is lighter than the typical accent from Texas, where Caro comes from. But I also noticed her mispronouncing several words, which became bothersome at times.
Desperate Housedogs is a fun book, especially for lovers of dogs. It shows real promise for future books. But at this point, I give the book three stars.
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