Mutt Mysteries

  Writing, of course! Release date February 16, 2022. Pre-order HERE . 

The Mutt Mysteries Authors want to meet you, their faithful readers! Please join us from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on August 28, 2021 at The Attic at East Beach, 9555 Shore Drive, Norfolk, VA 23518. Food, giveaways and opportunity to win a gift basket. TO FETCH books available for purchase and signing. 

  We're hitting the cyber road for a blog tour thanks to the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours. Please click a link to see the reviews, the spotlights, the interviews, and the insights via author and character blog posts! August 18 – Novels Alive   August 18 – My Journey Back the Journey Back   August 19 – Ascroft, eh?   August 19 – Maureen's Musings   August 20 – Brooke Blogs   August 21 – My Reading Journeys   August 21 – MJB Reviewers   August 22 – Sneaky the Library Cat's Blog   August 22 – FUONLYKNEW   August 23 – Author Elena Taylor's Blog   August 24 – Christy's Cozy Corners   August 24 – Sapphyria's Book Reviews   August 25 – Reading Is My SuperPower   August 25 – Cassidy's Bookshelves   August 26 – Literary Gold   August 26 – I Read What You Write   August 27 – Diane Reviews Books   August 27 – Celticlady's Reviews   August 28 – Laura's Interests   August 28 – Escape With Dollycas...

  C HAPTER O NE T he beach rental house called the Osprey’s Nest was full of summer guests and should have been full of laughter and music but it wasn’t. It was dead quiet. In fact, it looked a bit like Gettysburg the day after the battle. In the big central living room people lay on the floor, sprawled across sofas, slouched in leather recliners, and slumped over laptop computers with hands hovering over keyboards. Crumpled paper dotted the floor. Glasses of iced tea and bottles of beer sat forgotten on tables. Flip-flops were scattered randomly around the room, but the people weren’t dead. They were writers. They called themselves the Sand Fiddlers Writers Group and this was the week of their annual retreat. Sophie Perone, author of the popular Mysterious Gourmet books, had volunteered to do all the cooking and on this morning, Sophie had arranged her special cheese straws in tall glass tumblers and placed them all around the room so the writers could snack on them while the...

 Another great cover from  San Coils at coverkicks.com  To be released August 18, 2021. Preorder/buy links to be posted soon. 

Trey and Kim are two very smart and supportive Bichon Frise who steal the spotlight in Maria Hudgins’ story included our latest mutt mysteries anthology, To Fetch a Villain. They stopped by for a quick interview today.     Tell us about yourselves and your story.  Hi! I am Trey Chastain and I’m a Bichon Frise. This is my best friend, Kim, and she’s a Bichon, too. We both star in the story “At Your Service.” Give us four words that describe you and your personality. I’m Trey and I’ll go first. Four words? Only four? Okay. I am Smart. I am dependable. I am loyal. I am a born leader.       I’m Kim and I am not surprised that Trey had to go first. My four words would be: Determined, stubborn, pretty, and observant.   What is your job in the story? Kim’s former owner, an evil man named Claude Raper, kept her imprisoned in a puppy mill until she escaped. He’s following her and trying to kidnap her back. Our job is to be very observant and help our mo...

  Mark Twain said, “To get the full value of joy you must have something to divide it with.”            My granddaughter has a new friend.   Her name is Celeste.           We don’t know much about her past because she’s adopted, and we have practically no information on her. She was taken from an abusive home and put into foster care. She may be one or two years old. She may have had puppies. She’s a bit skittish around men and vets. But she is getting better every day and she is loving her new home.           My granddaughter is an only child. I think the pandemic has hit these kids particularly hard. They have home school by Zoom, a house to play in, plenty of toys, lots of parental attention, but no one to play with. Play dates have to be carefully arranged and time-limited. Enter, a dog. Celeste, you have a job to do and you’re going to love it.     ...

I am stone deaf and live alone in a large house, but I never worry about break-ins because Trey handles that sort of thing for me. He could raise the roof with his barking, and it wouldn’t bother me because, as I said, I’m stone deaf. He could scare the bejeebers out of anyone who dared to enter without his approval, and, problem solved, pad happily up to me and explain what had happened. He can explain without words. Trey is a sweet, three-year-old bichon, the small white fluffs of the dog world, and a highly trained service dog who takes his job seriously. I named him Trey because he’s the third fluff I have owned and loved. Another dog, also a bichon, lives with us. I call her Kim because she reminds me of the young hero of Rudyard Kipling’s book—small, white, and desperately poor. More on her later. It started on an ordinary day when I was up in my third-floor observation deck. BTW, I am a mystery writer, and I publish under my real name of Jessica Chastain. Friends call me Jessie...

It's such an exciting day in a writer's life when a book launches. And today is the day for To Fetch a Villain, Four Fun "Tails" of Miscreants and Murder.   You can read about the stories by clicking here , or read more about the contributing authors by clicking here . Or buy your copy of the book by clicking here . Over the next few days we'll post excerpts from the four novellas included in the anthology, so check back. In the meantime, grab a noise maker, a few balloons, and maybe some cake and help us celebrate! 

Maria Hudgins is the newest addition to the Mutt Mysteries pack. An accomplished author and pet lover, she is a tremendous asset to our lineup. Her story "At Your Service" will warm your heart. But first, let's learn a little more about Maria and her cat Lulu.  Tell us about the furry members of your family?     My current fluff is Lulu. She's a 14-year-old snowshoe cat. (Think: Grumpy Cat with a sweet expression) Lulu is a rescue. She was living with a family who had to give her up because they had a child with behavior problems. Lulu has pretty blue eyes and she purrs very loudly. She's afraid of dogs. What do you do to you spoil your pets?   I give Lulu "Brushing Bites" as treats. Since they are theoretically good for her teeth, I give four of them to her whenever she asks. She asks by sitting in front of my chair and staring at me. She jumps on my bed in the morning and sits on my chest. I let her do this. What treat will your pet practically kno...

Old dogs and new tricks abound in To Fetch a Villain, the third installment in the Mutt Mysteries series. This collection of four novellas illustrates why dogs are our best friends and the perfect companions for digging up clues, solving crimes, and bringing villains to justice. Let sleeping dogs lie? Not when the MUTTS are on the case!   RUFF DAY by Jayne Ormerod Store owner Darby Moore suffers through a “ruff” day when a dead body is discovered in her custom dog house. With her best friend topping the suspect’s list, Darby knows the police are barking up the wrong tree. It’s up to Darby’s Great Dane Mr. Belvedere to channel his inner Scooby-Doo and save the day. AT YOUR SERVICE by Maria Hudgins Mystery writer Jessica Chastain is deaf, and relies on her service dog Trey who acts as Jessica’s ears. Kim, a Bichon like Trey, is the latest addition to their family. But life is not a walk in the park when someone threatens all they hold dear. Together they take on an unethica...

  On sale November 3, 2020

..And so do we! May we be aware we are shifting just like the wind.      It's a new season here at Mutt Mysteries central.      Rosemary Shomaker is stepping away from the team of contributing authors. We thank Rosemary for her above-and-beyond efforts on To Fetch a Thief  and To Fetch a Scoundrel.  New things on the horizon for the talented writer, and we wish her all the best.      The Mutt Mysteries authors would like to welcome Maria Hudgins to the pack! Her novella will appear in this fall's To Fetch a Villain . Welcome, Maria! You can read more about Maria and her many cozy accomplishments at www.mariahudgins.com      Rest assured that the remaining Mutt Mystery authors are still on the case: Teresa Inge, Jayne Ormerod and Heather Weidner. Watch for the release of the third Mutt Mystery soon!