Book #19 in 2005
Finished: 8/10
Title: Dead Canaries Don't Sing
Author: Cynthia Baxter
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Format: Mass Market
Pages: 371
My Rating: 4/5


I really enjoyed this book and look forward to other books in the series...

Jessica Popper, a veterinarian in Long Island, NY. gets a late start early one morning for an appointment with a horse that has swollen glands. In a hurry she takes a shortcut through the woods and gets her van stuck in the mud. She gets out of the van to investigate the trouble and her 2 dogs, Max (a Westie) and Lou (a Dalmatian) take off into the woods. When she goes to get them she sees they have found a dead body half buried in leaves and dirt. Max then digs up a dead canary near the body which Jessica finds very strange.

Feeling upset she calls her Private investigator ex-boyfriend Nick and he quickly comes to the scene of the crime shortly after the police arrive. He finds her flirting with one of the police officers trying to get information.

Jessica just can't seem to get this dead guy off her mind and decides to do some investigating of her own so she shows up at his funeral and finds out his name is Tommee Frack and he was in the PR business. She follows a woman that seems to be extremely upset to the ladies room that ends up being Tommee's ex-wife, who then invites Jessica to her home and starts her on her way to solving this case.

Being a veterinarian really helps her get into the lives of the people Tommee knew. She also accepts a date with the police officer she met at the scene of the crime to try and learn more about what the police are doing to solve the case, but she finds herself at a dead end here since he doesn't seem willing to give up any information. She also realizes that she is being followed and then her landlord, Betty gets a threatening phone call telling her to warn Jessica to stay away from this case ... But none of these things discourages Jessica from digging in deeper and finding out who the killer is.