Dog Fiction Mystery

Help solve the mystery with the detective dog, set sail on an exciting adventure in the flying bath and cook up a feast for a very fussy king! This collection includes stories from four of Julia's illustrator partnerships: David Roberts, Sara Ogilvie, Catherine Rayner and Rebecca Cobb.

It's summertime, and the weather on Hank's West Texas ranch is hot and dry. So dry, in fact, that everyone is on the lookout for prairie fires. So Hank bravely adds the title of Head of Fire Safety to his already impressive list of responsibilities and gets to work. But patrolling for fires is dull, and it's hard to do on an empty stomach. Despite the distractions - desperate hunger, a cruel trick at the hands of Pete the Barncat - Hank somehow manages to stay focused on the job at hand.

Rufus the Doberman Pinscher has come to the ranch, and he's harassing the girl of Hank's dreams - the beautiful Miss Beulah the Collie. Meanwhile, Hank is suffering a serious case of mopwater poisoning. In his weakened condition, he enlists the help of that crafty little owl, Madame Moonshine.

When your Monday morning begins with a dead dog and ends with a dead boss, you know it's going to be one of those days. And breakfast TV reporter Cora Baxter has already had the weekend from hell, where the man she'd planned a fabulous future with unceremoniously dumped her. Now Cora's much-hated boss has been murdered. The list of suspects isn't exactly short, but as the enquiry continues, the trail leads frighteningly close to home.

Chicago may be the city of broad shoulders, but its political law is "Pay to Play." Money changes hands in the middle of the night, and by morning, buildings and parks are replaced by billion-dollar projects. Chicago PI V. I. Warshawski gets pulled into one of these clandestine deals through her impetuous goddaughter, Bernie Fouchard. Bernie tries to rescue Lydia Zamir, a famed singer-songwriter now living on the streets; Zamir’s life fell apart when her lover was murdered next to her in a mass shooting at an outdoor concert.

Slim’s phone doesn’t ring very often, so on the rare occasions that it does, he’s usually in for an adventure! This time it’s a search and rescue operation for Miss Viola’s father, Woodrow, who went missing while making his daily rounds of the pastures. Unfortunately, the mission led by Hank, Slim, and Deputy Kile comes to a screeching halt when an unexpected Texas downpour turns the ranch roads to mud and strands their vehicles in a ditch. Now, it’s up to Viola to save the day and get the search team back on track.

Hank the Cowdog is in hot water with Sally May--again! But, before Hank has a chance to convince her how sorry he is, he learns the ranch is being targeted for a major invasion from his arch-enemies the coyotes. Does Hank have what it takes to save his reputation, protect the ranch, and make things right with Sally May? Hank sings about his dog food in "Eating Doesn't Have to Be Fun", and Hank stops in his tracks when he hears "The Coyote Chicken Chant".

After losing her job and boyfriend, Jan Hamlin is in desperate need of a fresh start. So she jumps at the chance to rent a secluded cottage on the edge of Coleshaw Woods. Very quickly though, things take a dark turn. At night, Jan hears strange noises and faint taps at the window. Something, or someone, is out there. Jan refuses to be scared off. But whoever is outside isn’t going away, and it soon becomes clear that the nightmare is only just beginning....

It's a dark day for Hank the Cowdog. First, Loper invites Hank's archenemy, Plato the Bird Dog, over for some quail hunting on the ranch. Then Beulah, the collie of Hank's dreams, snubs him in favor of watching Plato in action. But when Beulah finds herself caught in the clutches of a ruthless cannibal, Hank knows there's only one dog tough enough to save her...and it isn't a bird dog.

Hank runs into a dispute with a giant bullfrog over the Emerald Pond. Then, there's a battle with a...well, let's just say a monster. It's too scary to even tell what kind of monster it is! However, things get really tough when Hank is entrusted with the job of guarding Little Alfred's soon-to-be prize winning chicks.

Cattle call. A gang of marauding dogs is threatening the calf population on the ranch, and Hank knows that it's up to the Head of Ranch Security to do something about it. But instead of being outside where he can fight off the fiends, Hank is trapped inside - at the mercy of Slim and his dreaded vampire sweeper!

Judy Moody is in a mood. A sleuthing, Nancy Drew kind of mood. So what’s a WBMS (world’s best mystery solver) to do? Go find a mystery, that’s what! And she doesn’t have to snoop for long: when Mr. Chips, a beloved crime-dog-in-training, goes missing, Judy Drewdy and her chums, agents Dills Pickle (Frank), Spuds Houdini (Rocky), and James Madagascar (Stink) find themselves smack-dab in the middle of a real-life, scare-your-pants-off whodunit. Was Mr. Chips stolen by dirty dognappers? And why are chocolate-chip cookies disappearing all over town?

Charlie Stanlon is a serial killer. A ghastly, vicious sociopath who chains women to a table in his basement and tortures them to death. He has no friends. He has no family. He despises his co-workers. His only pleasure in life is to cause pain and terror...until the day he finds an adorable Boston terrier and takes it home.

Reformed computer hacker Steve Levitan has built a new life for himself after prison, including a home with his fiancée and his golden retriever Rochester. It matters deeply to him, enough to risk it all to bring justice to a killer in his neighborhood.

Peggy was a great friend to Steve when they were teens. Can he help her now as she faces the death penalty? As teens, semi-reformed hacker Steve Levitan admired his friend Peggy because of the way she fought back from a difficult childhood to travel to France and aspire to a college degree and a career as a lawyer.

Someone has been raiding Sally May's garbage barrels! Hank knows the crime is the work of a notorious gang of raccoons, but in a tragic case of mistaken identity, the Head of Ranch Security is himself forced to take the heat. More trouble lies ahead. Rip and Snort, the good-for-nothing coyote brothers, are planning to pull an even bigger job.

Hank the Cowdog and his trusty partner, Drover, are just beginning their latest investigation when a pirate suddenly appears on the front porch! Has the ranch really been set upon by one-legged men of the sea? Hank and Drover soon realize that the pirate is just Little Alfred in disguise.

When Hank the Cowdog hears suspicious sounds coming from near Sally May's clothesline, it leads to a midnight investigation of the ranch. Before he knows it, Hank finds himself caught up with his old friend Eddy the Rac - and face-to-face with one of a dog's greatest enemies: the dreaded Laundry Monster!

Cameron Cripps Hayman is on vacation in the Yucatan Peninsula, taking a break from life as an amateur sleuth in Metamora, Indiana. With her crew back home, Cameron relaxes by the pool, walks along the beach, and tours Mayan ruins - until her whole trip gets ruined by a murder. She should've known something was up when a little chihuahua started following her around the resort. When Cameron follows the dog to a secluded area of rocks and palm trees, she discovers a new acquaintance lying dead....

When Judge Lundstrom is murdered in her office with her very own gavel leaving her little Pekingese behind, Cam and her crew set out to solve the case. But with Canal Days keeping her team busy, and a falling out between her last two Action Agency members, Cam finds herself searching for a new partner in crime. Josie Jensen, a mobile vet in town for the weekend, fits the bill. Between Josie's keen intuition and her knowledge of the shady bird conservation group that seems to be running the county election for judge, the two of them set out to catch the killer before he flies the coop!