Mutt Mysteries

Cagney and Lacey, two oh-so-cute Yorkies, are the stars of Teresa Inge’s Mutt Mystery stories. They stopped by today for a quick interview. Tell us your name, breed, and which story you appear in? I’m Cagney. I’m Lacey. We are Yorkshire Terriers who appear in the Mutt Mysteries series, To Fetch a Thief, To Fetch a Scoundrel, To Fetch a Villain, and the upcoming To Fetch a Killer.   Give us four words that describe you and your personality? Curious. Nosey. Protectors. Inquiring.   What is your job in the story? We help our owner/mom Catt Ramsey solve crime and murder in each book. Since our mom has a knack for finding dead bodies, there’s no way we’ll let the killer get away with murder when we are on the case. We consider ourselves doggy detectives!   Tell us about your favorite thing to do? Walk on the Virginia Beach boardwalk with our mom and all the various dogs she walks each day with the Woof-Pack Dog Walkers. Since she always takes us with her, we ha...

Margaret the Bulldog, the starring mutt in Heather Weidner’s story in To Fetch a Villain stops by the blog for a quick interview. Hi, all. I’m Margaret Thatcher Reynolds, and I’m a private eye. I work with my guy, computer guru, Duncan Reynolds, and his partner, Delanie Fitzgerald, at Falcon Investigations. I’m an English bulldog, and I star in “Strut Your Mutt.” This is my first appearance with the Mutt Mysteries. I usually have an active role in the Delanie Fitzgerald books. I’ve helped Duncan and Delanie solve the mystery of an 80s rock star who was living incognito in rural Virginia, I helped Delanie figure out who a serial killer was, and I saved my humans from a giant snake that was hiding in our office ceiling. In “Strut Your Mutt,” I help find a poodle who was dog-napped. I share an office with Duncan, and I go everywhere he does. I even ride shotgun in his snazzy canary-yellow Camaro. Give us four words that describe you and your personality.   I am determined, focus...

National Pet Day will take place on Sunday, April 11! The event got its start in the United States in 2006 to celebrate the joy that all pets bring to us. Since that time, it has expanded to the U.K., Ireland, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, Israel, Spain, Guam, Scotland, and other nations. In addition to celebrating pets on this special day, the event brings attention to the ongoing needs of pets waiting in shelters to be adopted. Which makes it timely to reach out to rescue organizations to adopt the millions of animals who enter shelters each year for various reasons. Some are strays, some are surrendered by their owners, and some are seized in legal action. But thanks to events like National Pet Day, owning a pet and specifically a dog, can bring great joy to people’s lives. Today, dogs are taking a more prominent role in society and becoming more important as family members, particularly as children to their owners. Further enhancing their importance, dogs are often portrayed...

Today I’m blogging about Dog-isms. You know, those colorful turns of the phrase that involve our canine companions. Some are silly, some are thoughtful, but all have interesting etymologies. Today we’ll examine my top five favorites.   5. RAINING CATS AND DOGS. I’m a sucker for a good folk story, so bought into the 16 th -century one about dogs and cats climbing up on thatched roofs of those oh-so-cute Costwold-style homes to burrow in for shelter. Then if it rained hard, they creatures would literally be flushed from their homes and fall onto the streets below. Hence, “raining cats and dogs.” But further research cites a reference to a Johnathan Swift poem “Descriptions of a City Shower” wherein he discusses the dead animals washed out of drainage systems during a hard rain. I prefer the folk story, thank you very much. 4.  DOG DAYS OF SUMMER. Again, southern folklore had me mistakenly thinking of those hot summer days where those long-eared southern hounds would scramble t...

Pound Signs, Number Signs, Octothorps – Hashtags are ways to make your posts part of larger lists. If you search for a hashtag on a social media site, you’ll find lists of related posts. Here are my favorite dog (pet) ones for Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter: #adorable #animalfriends #bark #barkinthepark #cutedogs #dog #doggo #doglove #doglover #doglovers #dogoftheday #dogs #dogslife #dogsofig #dogsofinstagram #dogsofinstaworld #dogsofRVA #dogsrule #dogstagram #eyes #funnydogs #guiltylook #happydog #howisthatcomfortable #ilovemydog #imhungry #instadog #instapet #Jackrussell #jackrusselllovers #jackrussellsofinsta #jackrussellsofinstagram #JRT #JRTlove #JRTofInstagram #love #lovedogs #mutt #muttmysteries #mydog #odddog #officedog #paws #pawtytime #perro #petoftheday #petsofinstagram #petsrule #petstagram #playwithme #pupflix #puppyeyes #pupsquad #sideeye #sleepingdog #sn...

  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.     ...

  Today, I am blogging about Mutt Mysteries and my protagonist Catt Ramsey. The Mutt Mysteries began a few years ago when four authors Jayne Ormerod, Heather Weidner, Rosemary Shomaker, and I met to discuss writing a dog themed series with four novellas. Since this group has been in several anthologies together over the years, we knew we had what it took to write a fun series. Plus, each author had dogs and loved animals! We began with To Fetch a Thief , book one in the series which featured “Four Fun Tails of Theft and Murder.” This was a great beginning as we promoted the book, did book signings, and introduced our readers to mutts and mysteries, a winning combination. Plus, we donated some book proceeds to animal organizations. It’s also where I introduced Catt Ramsey, Owner of the Woof-Pack Dog Walkers and her pups Cagney and Lacey who helped Catt solve crimes and right wrongs. To Fetch a Scoundrel , book two in the series included “Four Fun Tails of Scandal and Murder.” ...