Dead Canaries Don't Sing - A Reigning Cats and Dogs Mystery

Informationen zum Autor Cynthia Baxter is a native of Long Island, New York. She is the author of the Reigning Cats & Dogs mystery series, featuring vet-turned-sleuth Jessie Popper, and the Murder Packs a Suitcase mystery series, featuring travel writer Mallory Marlowe. Baxter currently resides on the North Shore, where she is at work on her next mysteries in both series. Klappentext This first in a hilarious new mystery series introduces Long Island veterinarian/sleuth Jessica Popper! who finds herself investigating a murder that just might land her in the doghouse. Original. Leseprobe Chapter One "A bird in the hand makes a bit of a mess."—Anonymous Birdcatcher If I hadn't forgotten to seal up the package of English muffins, if I hadn't instantly become addicted to The Crocodile Hunter the minute it came on the air, if two of the beasts in my possession hadn't developed a Batman-and-Robin complex, that bleak Tuesday in November would have probably turned out to be just another day. I had a sense it wasn't off to a good start as soon as I opened my eyes and saw my alarm clock. For normal people, 5:45 is their cue to roll over and go back to sleep. But that's for normal people. For me, those numbers got the same reaction as if somebody casually mentioned they'd put a boa constrictor in my bed. I let out a cry that sounded like something a terrified animal would make. Then I leaped out of bed and immediately began hopping around the house, trying to keep warm. Chilly mornings are one of the few negatives of living in a stone cottage built back when Andrew Jackson was president. Meanwhile, I struggled to figure out how I would explain to the folks at Atherton Farm why I was so late for my six a.m. appointment to treat one of their horses for what I suspected would be a serious throat condition called strangles. My two trusty sidekicks, Lou and Max, were already in high gear. Both thought all this shrieking and leaping was a game. Of course, both think just about everything is a game. You'd think that a three-year-old, one-eyed Dalmatian and a two-year-old Westie with a stub for a tail would have developed some sense along the way. But you'd be wrong. Their reaction was to do some leaping and shrieking of their own, which prompted my parrot, Prometheus, to put in his two cents. From the living room, he squawked, "Crikey! Crikey! Awk! Crikey!" doing a perfect imitation of the great Croc Hunter himself. If there was anything more annoying than two dogs who acted as if they'd just overdosed at the espresso machine, it was a Blue and Gold Macaw who affected an Australian accent. "Give me a break, guys," I pleaded. They were the first real words I'd uttered that frigid morning, one lit by a sun that looked as if it were about as awake as I was. Predictably, they didn't listen. Prometheus moved on to some of his other favorite phrases. "News at eleven! Awk! News at eleven!" Meanwhile, Max and Lou continued their circus routine, tumbling over each other like, well, like a couple of puppies as they followed me into the kitchen. As usual, Catherine the Great lay draped across the rag rug in front of the sink, looking like a siren from the silent movies, even with her nicked ear. The cloud of silky gray cat fur glared at us in a way that revealed exactly what she was thinking. I had to agree. Yes, it would make much more sense if we all just turned around and headed back to bed. I was about to explain that duty called, but I needed coffee before I could attempt to reason with a cat who knew she was superior. So I turned to the coffeepot. "Damn," I muttered. That's where my Crocodile Hunter addiction caught up with me. I should have resisted the urge to stay up much too late, watching Steve Irwin play Twister with a seven-foot gator. That way, I would have gotten enough sleep. I would al...

Product details

• Authors: Cynthia Baxter
• Publisher: Bantam Books USA
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback
• Released: 03.02.2004
• EAN: 9780553586411
• ISBN: 978-0-553-58641-1
• No. of pages: 400
• Dimensions: 107 mm x 175 mm x 26 mm
• Series: Reigning Cats and Dogs Mystery; Reigning Cats and Dogs Mystery; Reigning Cats & Dogs Mysteries
• Subject: Fiction > Suspense