This Dog For Hire

I was trying out a new app on my library's website, Novelist.  It's supposed to pull up titles for similar fiction to the title you are searching for in the catalog.  I decided to give it a try after looking for Spencer Quinn's Chet and Bernie series, and it suggested Carol Lea Benjamin's This Dog For Hire (#1,045).  The Rachel Alexander and Dash series features former dog groomer turned P.I. Rachel Alexander with her pit bull dog Dashiell, solving mysteries from her cozy Greenwich Village apartment.

In This Dog For Hire, Rachel is contacted by Dennis Keaton following the death of his close friend and fellow artist Clifford Cole.  The police have written off Cliff's death as a gay-bashing incident. (The book is set in the 90s.)   But Cliff's champion basenji dog, Magritte, has been missing since Cliff's death.  Dennis isn't sure the police have looked hard enough into Cliff's death, and besides, he wants Magritte found.  He's due to be shown at Westminster in a few weeks.  Rachel accepts the case, not convinced that she will turn up any more than the police have, but sure enough, one thread pulled leads to another.  Magritte is recovered, but now Cliff's death has proven to be personal, particular crime...

It's an interesting window into how things used to be in the New York Art scene, gay culture (remember AIDS?) and the politics of the Westminster Dog Show.  It was a little overwrought for my taste, but there were redeeming flashes of humor that moved the story along.  I'm just not sure I'm motivated enough to go seek out other titles in this series.