Kay Hudson

Paw Enforcement is the first book in a new series by Diane Kelly, author of the hilarious Tara Holloway mysteries. Tara’s adventures have been on my auto-buy list since the first installment (Death, Taxes, and a French Manicure), so I was definitely looking forward to this, and I was not disappointed.

As Paw Enforcement begins, Officer Megan Luz of the Fort Worth PD is waiting to see if she’ll be canned for tasering her sexist partner in a most humiliating, um, location. But the Chief decides what Megan needs is a new partner. A female partner named Brigit. A 97-pound rescue dog occasionally mistaken for a bear.

It’s a good thing Brigit is an experienced K9 officer (her previous partner has retired), because Megan sure isn’t. Megan’s not thrilled with the idea of living with her new partner, either, not in a very small studio apartment. Not when Brigit insists on sharing Megan’s futon and chewing on her shoes.

But they survive the K9 training course (where Brigit kicks–and sniffs–the furry butts of the male dogs) and soon they find themselves in pursuit of a mad bomber. Not to mention the hunky bomb squad fire fighter and his bomb-sniffing dog, Blast, who take Megan and Brigit out to the dog park.

Megan’s first person narration alternates with short third person chapters from Brigit (working a case at the mall, Brigit shares the stolen remains of a chopped-beef sandwich with Blast: “No need to be stingy. Besides, the yellow Lab was kind of cute. She’d always had a thing for beta males.”) and from the mysterious bomber.

The characters are funny, quirky, and likable, the mystery is well done (with clues for the sharp-eyed reader), and the foundation is laid for the next installment, Paw and Order, scheduled for release on December 30, 2014. I’ll be looking forward to Megan and Brigit’s next adventure. It’s a long wait, but there’s a new Tara Holloway book (Death, Taxes, and Silver Spurs) coming in July.