Mutt Mysteries

We’ve never met a dog we didn’t love, and Mr. Belvedere is no exception. He is one of the starring mutts in To Fetch a Villain . He stopped by the blog today to chat with us about what he does when he's not chasing killers. Tell us your name, breed, and which story you appear in. My name is Mr. Belvedere, and I’m a one-hundred-and-forty-pound Great Dane. My mom Darby Moore and I share our killer adventure in the story “Ruff Day.” Give us four words that describe you and your personality. Cuddly. Gentle. Helpful. Hungry. Always hungry. What is your job in the story? I help out mom at our dog store, Ruff Day Doggie Boutique, greeting customers and carrying items to the counter for them when they are ready to check out. She say’s I’m her best employee, and I work for kibble. (A lot of kibble, to be sure, but she still thinks I’m a bargain.) Tell us about your favorite thing to do. Sit on mom’s lap while she pets me. But between you and me, she could do with a bigger lap. I don’t ...

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...

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...