Kindle E-Books on the Cheap: Dog Mysteries

Once you've purchased an Amazon Kindle e-book reader, the wonderful world of public domain, Creative Commons and free e-book promotions opens up to you. This regular feature points you to a few of the most interesting new free (or very cheap) e-books available for the Kindle reader who reads for enjoyment.

For this special posting, I searched out bargain-priced mysteries under $4.50 featuring dogs and their owners who somehow become involved as amateur sleuths in a murder investigation. All have the Kindle text-to-speech feature enabled and all can be loaned to friends once you've read them. For more information on the lending feature, check out Lending Kindle Books on Amazon.

A Bite of Death, by Susan Conant. Print Length: 179 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (5 reviews). Kindle edition $2.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled. Lending: Enabled.

"What if I died and came back to life as my own dog? Dog's Life columnist Holly Winter is writing a story based on that improbable premise when she's interrupted by an urgent summons to rush to the aid of feminist psychotherapist Elaine Walsh, whose wild-acting Alaskan malamute, Kimi, has driven Elaine to take refuge on her kitchen table. Elaine inherited Kimi when a patient, Donna Zalewski, apparently committed suicide. Before long, Elaine, too, is found dead - of a fatal overdose of the same prescription drug that killed her patient. Is a murderer targeting Kimi's owners? Or is Kimi the intended victim? Since the orphaned Kimi is Holly's dog now, Holly needs to find out who's next on the killer's hit list..." - Publisher.

Raining Cats and Dogs, by Laurien Berenson. Kensington Books, 2006. Print Length: 273 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (8 reviews). Kindle edition $4.30. Text-to-Speech: Enabled. Lending: Enabled.

"...trainer Melanie Travis is pleased to learn on enrolling one of her standard poodles in a class at the South Avenue Obedience Club that the club offers a visiting program at the Winston Pumpernill Nursing Home in Greenwich, Conn. A club member, Paul Lennox, started the program to cheer his Aunt Mary, a dog lover and resident at Winston Pumpernill. Unfortunately, during Melanie's first visit to the home, someone suffocates Aunt Mary in her bed. Aided by her astute Aunt Peg, Melanie once again turns sleuth, though catching a killer must compete with the demands of her new second husband, her eight-year-old son, her poodles and intrusive cats from next door." - Publishers Weekly.

Bone Yard, by Donna Ball. Blue Merle Publishing, 2011. Print Length: 82 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (11 reviews). Kindle edition $1.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled. Lending: Enabled.

"Dog trainer Raine Stockton has lived all her life in the quiet community of Hansonville, North Carolina. She is the daughter of a judge, the niece of a sheriff, and the ex-wife of a deputy. She does not lead the kind of life, generally speaking, in which people get buried in her back yard. But when Cisco, Raine’s mischievous golden retriever, digs up human bones beneath the site of what will soon be her new training kennel, mayhem ensues. With the state police swarming everywhere, concerns about a mass grave and suspicions of a serial killer, Raine is surrounded by chaos. But when her beautiful collie Majesty keeps disappearing and cryptic messages from a pet psychic only add to the confusion, Raine soon finds herself plunged into the midst of a mystery that is far too close to home." - Publisher.

Karma's A Bitch, by Shannon Esposito. Shannon Esposito, 2011. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (3 reviews). Kindle edition $2.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled. Lending: Enabled.

"Darwin Winters, reluctant pet psychic, is determined to leave her family’s paranormal past behind and lead a normal life. So she strikes out on her own and opens up a new pet boutique in St. Pete, Florida. When a local homeless man she befriends is found dead, and the police assume it’s a suicide, Darwin has no choice but to use her gift to help collar the killer. She adopts his grieving mastiff, Karma - and with the dog’s help - tries to piece together the events of that fatal night. Accepting the visions is one thing, but can she solve the mystery without revealing her powers to the jaded, yet drool-worthy, detective in charge of the case? Or will the killer put an end to her psychic sleuthing and bury the truth for good?" - Author.

The Mouse in the Mountain, by Norbert Davis. fallen leaves press (TM), ignacio hills press (TM), E-Pulp Adventures (TM), 2010. Print Length: 152 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (7 reviews). Kindle edition $0.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled. Lending: Enabled.

"Doan, the 'hero' of this story is a small-time detective with a dry, sardonic wit, and a huge Great Dane (Carstairs - don't call him a 'pet') in these absolutely delightful series of humor-tinged mysteries. Great fun that shouldn't be missed! In this adventure, the duo travel to Mexico during World War 2, along with an heiress, a revolutionary, an artist, and more than a few mysteries. This is the original and unabridged version of this classic." - Publisher.

Sleeping Dogs Lie, by Sharon Henegar. Saturday Books, 2010. Print Length: 276 p. Amazon customer rating: 5 stars (10 reviews). Kindle edition $2.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled. Lending: Enabled.

"On a rainy October night, Louisa McGuire waits in the car while her friend Bob makes a dash into the grocery store. Soon he comes out again - but with him is a woman in a sleek red suit. She leads him to her Mercedes and they drive away. Has Louisa been ditched, or has Bob been kidnapped? She enlists the help of her cousin Kay, owner of an antique store, and two intrepid canines, Jack and Emily Ann, to follow the scant clues to find Bob..." - Publisher.

In Dog We Trust, by Neil S. Plakcy. Self-Published, 2010. Print Length: 280 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (24 reviews). Kindle edition $2.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled. Lending: Enabled.

"After a bad divorce and a brief prison term for computer hacking, 42-year-old Steve Levitan has returned to his home town of Stewart’s Crossing and taken a part-time job as an adjunct professor of English at his alma mater, Eastern College. While walking around his gated community, he becomes friendly with his next-door neighbor, Caroline Kelly, and her golden retriever, Rochester. When Caroline is shot and killed while walking Rochester, Steve becomes the dog’s temporary guardian. Together, these two unlikely sleuths work to uncover the mystery behind Caroline’s death." - Publisher.
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Note to readers: The book prices quoted here are the Amazon.com prices in effect at the time of the blog posting. Please follow the links to the individual book to check the current price.