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Pet Rescue Mystery #4
Oodles of Poodles
Shelter manager and pet rescuer Lauren Vancouver once again takes on the role of amateur sleuth when there’s a murder on a film set . . .
Has Hollywood gone to the dogs? Pet rescuer Lauren Vancouver is observing production on a new movie called Sheba’s Story . The title character—a white Miniature poodle—is played by many similar-looking poodles, and to make sure no animals are harmed, Lauren’s friend, veterinarian Carlie Stellan, and Grant, a handsome representative from the American Humane Association, are on location. But when the film’s director is killed in a suspicious hit-and-run after arguing with Carlie about animal safety, it’s up to Lauren to clear her friend’s name and catch a killer before someone else ends up in oodles of deadly trouble.
Has Hollywood gone to the dogs? Pet rescuer Lauren Vancouver is observing production on a new movie called Sheba’s Story . The title character—a white Miniature poodle—is played by many similar-looking poodles, and to make sure no animals are harmed, Lauren’s friend, veterinarian Carlie Stellan, and Grant, a handsome representative from the American Humane Association, are on location. But when the film’s director is killed in a suspicious hit-and-run after arguing with Carlie about animal safety, it’s up to Lauren to clear her friend’s name and catch a killer before someone else ends up in oodles of deadly trouble.
304 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published February 5, 2013
4 people are currently reading
292 people want to read
About the author
Linda O. Johnston
132 books464 followersLinda O. Johnston's first published fiction appeared in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine and won the Robert L. Fish Memorial Award for Best First Mystery Short Story of the Year. Since then, Linda has had more short stories and novellas published, plus, by the end of 2018, she will have had fifty novels published, including mysteries and romance.
Linda currently writes the Barkery and Biscuits Mysteries cozy mystery series for Midnight Ink, and also wrote the Superstition Mysteries for them, both featuring dogs. She has also written the Pet Rescue Mystery series for Berkley Prime Crime, which was a spinoff from her Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter mystery series. And yes, they involved dogs, too.
Linda also writes for Harlequin Romantic Suspense, including a new miniseries about a K-9 ranch where dogs are trained. Linda additionally writes paranormal romance for Harlequin Nocturne including the Alpha Force miniseries about a covert military unit of shapeshifters--and all the werewolves also have cover dogs.
Linda, a currently inactive transactional attorney, now writes fiction full-time. She is a member of the Los Angeles chapters of Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime. She is also a member of Romance Writers of America, including the Los Angeles, Orange County and Santa Clarita chapters.
Linda currently writes the Barkery and Biscuits Mysteries cozy mystery series for Midnight Ink, and also wrote the Superstition Mysteries for them, both featuring dogs. She has also written the Pet Rescue Mystery series for Berkley Prime Crime, which was a spinoff from her Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter mystery series. And yes, they involved dogs, too.
Linda also writes for Harlequin Romantic Suspense, including a new miniseries about a K-9 ranch where dogs are trained. Linda additionally writes paranormal romance for Harlequin Nocturne including the Alpha Force miniseries about a covert military unit of shapeshifters--and all the werewolves also have cover dogs.
Linda, a currently inactive transactional attorney, now writes fiction full-time. She is a member of the Los Angeles chapters of Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime. She is also a member of Romance Writers of America, including the Los Angeles, Orange County and Santa Clarita chapters.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
February 23, 2013
The dogs on the cover are Bichon Frise.
February 25, 2015
Linda O. Johnston also writes the Kendra Ballantyne Pet Sitter mysteries and there is a cameo appearance in this story as Kendra happens to be Dante's girlfriend. Dante is the financial backer of Hot Rescues. Lauren Vancouver is the administrator of Hot Rescues. When a movie is being made about a bunch of puppies, white poodles in this case, escaping from a bad shelter, Lauren is at the filming along with Grant from the American Humane Association to make sure no animals are harmed in the filming. Dante is also a financial baker of the film. When the director, Hans Marford is killed in an hit and run accident which is declared a homicide, the police begin looking at persons of interest including Lauren's friend, Carlie Shelton, the Vet responsible for the health and welfare of the canines being used in the film, Sheba's Story. Lauren promises to investigate to help clear her friend as she has been successful in solving some previous murders. The story is fast paced and kept my interest although at times, Lauren's micromanaging irritates me and well as her inability to stay out of dangerous situations which is a point of confrontation with her boyfriend, Matt. There are interesting characters to help flesh out this story.
February 23, 2013
While Lauren has an important job, she seems like an egotistical jerk to me. How many times in this book did we read about how she was "never" emotional, or how she "never" did something...and yet she was and she did on a consistent enough basis that it stuck with me. Against the advise of so many people, she just rams ahead and does whatever she feels like doing; oftentimes at risk to herself or her reputation.She thinks she's some kind of maverick, but her character is getting tedious.
February 1, 2020
I've read the entire series and I have to say Lauren is starting to wear thin. As she is written, she is totally unlikeable. Her way of examining murder mysteries is unbelievable. Everything is over explained and just kind of a chore to read. I love Linda O. Johnston's other series but Lauren needs to get a revamp. Laborious and not very enjoyable reading.
May 19, 2024
This was a fun mystery. Once started, I just kept reading it until I finished. I loved it because it was about animals as well as being a mystery.
January 19, 2013
"Oodles of Poodles" is a cozy mystery. This book is the fourth in a series. You don't need to read the previous books to understand this one, and this book didn't spoil the whodunit of a previous book.
The heroine says that she has no imagination. By the end of the book, I thoroughly agreed with that statement. The only method she could come up with to investigate the murder was to go around asking everyone involved with the filming who they thought the murderer was. When that didn't turn up anything useful, she then asked everyone if they did it and, even if they didn't, what motive they would have had to murder the guy. Unsurprisingly, this turned up nothing useful and managed to anger everyone she talked to.
She was on the set representing her rescue shelter's rich patron, and yet she got upset when her angering everyone caused him to reconsider using her as his representative on the set. It didn't occur to her that this might be a result of her behavior. And when she set a trap for her suspected murderer, it didn't occur to her that one result of her stunt would be to leave people with a negative impression of her animal rescue operation that she's so smugly proud of.
So I wasn't impressed with the heroine and sometimes didn't like her attitude toward others. This wasn't a clue-puzzle mystery as whodunit was uncovered mostly by chance. There was a lot of nice detail about how an ideal animal rescue shelter is run and on filming an animal movie.
There were no graphic sex scenes. There was a minor amount of explicit bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this novel to dog lovers who wish they could spend every moment of their day playing with dogs or those interested in some behind-the-scenes on how animal movies are filmed.
I received a review copy of this book from the publisher.
The heroine says that she has no imagination. By the end of the book, I thoroughly agreed with that statement. The only method she could come up with to investigate the murder was to go around asking everyone involved with the filming who they thought the murderer was. When that didn't turn up anything useful, she then asked everyone if they did it and, even if they didn't, what motive they would have had to murder the guy. Unsurprisingly, this turned up nothing useful and managed to anger everyone she talked to.
She was on the set representing her rescue shelter's rich patron, and yet she got upset when her angering everyone caused him to reconsider using her as his representative on the set. It didn't occur to her that this might be a result of her behavior. And when she set a trap for her suspected murderer, it didn't occur to her that one result of her stunt would be to leave people with a negative impression of her animal rescue operation that she's so smugly proud of.
So I wasn't impressed with the heroine and sometimes didn't like her attitude toward others. This wasn't a clue-puzzle mystery as whodunit was uncovered mostly by chance. There was a lot of nice detail about how an ideal animal rescue shelter is run and on filming an animal movie.
There were no graphic sex scenes. There was a minor amount of explicit bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this novel to dog lovers who wish they could spend every moment of their day playing with dogs or those interested in some behind-the-scenes on how animal movies are filmed.
I received a review copy of this book from the publisher.
January 16, 2016
Lauren is on hand to observe a movie that stars oodles of poodles, a movie about rescued poodles no less. Also on hand are Lauren’s friend, veterinarian Carlie Stellan and Grant, a handsome representative from the American Humane Association. They are all there to insure no animals are hurt or in danger during the movie production.
Unfortunately the movie’s director didn’t have anyone protecting him. He was killed in a very suspicious hit and run accident after arguing with several people about animal safety. Carlie was one of the more outspoken people speaking up for the animal and that lands her in the hot seat as a prime suspect. Lauren start to search through the oodles of clues to try to save her friend and catch a killer before someone else is put out of the picture.
Dollycas’s Thoughts
I love this series because the author takes on real things that happen with animals and builds her intriguing mysteries around that issue. I have wondered for years about animals on television and movies and will now look for the “No Animals Harmed” tagline.
Lauren really does step in “it” in this installment, so much so that a few of the members of the production crew really don’t even want to be around her. She was clearly stumped by this mystery until the clues started to come together. I like that in a story – when the protagonist struggles with the evidence and suspects – and things don’t just magically fall into place. The struggles with Matt and Lauren’s relationship scare me a bit. Is their relationship strong enough to weather the ebbs and flows of the life that keep getting thrown at them?
Great Characters – Great Animals – Great Setting – Great Plot – Great Cozy Mystery!!!’
Unfortunately the movie’s director didn’t have anyone protecting him. He was killed in a very suspicious hit and run accident after arguing with several people about animal safety. Carlie was one of the more outspoken people speaking up for the animal and that lands her in the hot seat as a prime suspect. Lauren start to search through the oodles of clues to try to save her friend and catch a killer before someone else is put out of the picture.
Dollycas’s Thoughts
I love this series because the author takes on real things that happen with animals and builds her intriguing mysteries around that issue. I have wondered for years about animals on television and movies and will now look for the “No Animals Harmed” tagline.
Lauren really does step in “it” in this installment, so much so that a few of the members of the production crew really don’t even want to be around her. She was clearly stumped by this mystery until the clues started to come together. I like that in a story – when the protagonist struggles with the evidence and suspects – and things don’t just magically fall into place. The struggles with Matt and Lauren’s relationship scare me a bit. Is their relationship strong enough to weather the ebbs and flows of the life that keep getting thrown at them?
Great Characters – Great Animals – Great Setting – Great Plot – Great Cozy Mystery!!!’
April 15, 2013
Pet rescuer Lauren Vancouver owns a rescue shelter for animals in LA's San Fernando Valley. When Hollywood producers start filming a movie called Sheba's Story, in order to spotlight the issue of animals in need of protection, she is called upon to observe some of the action. The "star" of the show, Sheba, is portrayed by a number of similar-looking poodles.
Not too far into "Oodles of Poodles (A Pet Rescue Mystery)," the acerbic director of the movie, Hans Marford, is murdered, and Veterinarian Carlie Stellan, who was observed arguing with him over animal treatment, is deemed a Person of Interest. Naturally, Lauren, who considers herself an amateur sleuth, agrees to try to figure out who murdered him.
While there were cute scenarios involving the animals, and some of the dialogue was funny and even interesting, I didn't find this mystery to be very captivating. The amateur sleuth was definitely not very adept at the job, and we can emphasize the "amateur" aspect. She bluntly asked people if they had committed the murder, and then queried them as to what their motives might have been. Not at all professional, but then she is supposed to be an amateur.
In the end, the mystery is solved, and only accidentally, and not by anything Lauren has done. When the perpetrator was revealed, I did not even have a very good fix on this thinly developed character.
I did feel the purpose of the shelters and the movie featuring these issues were valuable themes...and this one is a story that animal lovers will probably enjoy. But I wouldn't recommend it for those who are expecting a sleuth who knows how to follow the clues. 3.5 stars.
Not too far into "Oodles of Poodles (A Pet Rescue Mystery)," the acerbic director of the movie, Hans Marford, is murdered, and Veterinarian Carlie Stellan, who was observed arguing with him over animal treatment, is deemed a Person of Interest. Naturally, Lauren, who considers herself an amateur sleuth, agrees to try to figure out who murdered him.
While there were cute scenarios involving the animals, and some of the dialogue was funny and even interesting, I didn't find this mystery to be very captivating. The amateur sleuth was definitely not very adept at the job, and we can emphasize the "amateur" aspect. She bluntly asked people if they had committed the murder, and then queried them as to what their motives might have been. Not at all professional, but then she is supposed to be an amateur.
In the end, the mystery is solved, and only accidentally, and not by anything Lauren has done. When the perpetrator was revealed, I did not even have a very good fix on this thinly developed character.
I did feel the purpose of the shelters and the movie featuring these issues were valuable themes...and this one is a story that animal lovers will probably enjoy. But I wouldn't recommend it for those who are expecting a sleuth who knows how to follow the clues. 3.5 stars.
May 5, 2013
Lauren Vancouver, Shelter Manager and animal rescuer finds herself on a movie shoot as this fourth novel in the 'A Pet Rescue Mystery' series opens.
Lauren is on the shoot as a stand-in for her boss, Dante DeFrancisco's second eyes as Producer for the filming of 'Sheba's Story.' Sheba, in this case, is a shelter rescue puppy, and her tale is heart-rendering enough to earn a movie script.
Lauren, is joined by Dr. Carlie Stellan, a veterinarian, Grant from the American Humane Association-trademarked, and various others concerned with the safety and care of the star and her fellow poodle actors. When a hallowing car/dog scene gets too close to dangerous, several persons take the famous Director to task. When the Director ends up 'dead' the next day...Lauren is asked to help find the real killer by her friend, Carlie.
This book was a terrific back behind the scenes of movie making for animal stars. It also teaches you what it takes to receive special certifications from the AHA. Also, how a private rescue shelter follows the state laws.
This was a great mystery, and I simply enjoyed the story lines. I must admit the suspense was a bit light, but towards the ending the action truly picked up. The culprit was interesting. Most of all, I liked the attitude of Lauren at the very end of the novel, to reveal that would spoil your fun, so... I won't. Happy Reading!
Lauren is on the shoot as a stand-in for her boss, Dante DeFrancisco's second eyes as Producer for the filming of 'Sheba's Story.' Sheba, in this case, is a shelter rescue puppy, and her tale is heart-rendering enough to earn a movie script.
Lauren, is joined by Dr. Carlie Stellan, a veterinarian, Grant from the American Humane Association-trademarked, and various others concerned with the safety and care of the star and her fellow poodle actors. When a hallowing car/dog scene gets too close to dangerous, several persons take the famous Director to task. When the Director ends up 'dead' the next day...Lauren is asked to help find the real killer by her friend, Carlie.
This book was a terrific back behind the scenes of movie making for animal stars. It also teaches you what it takes to receive special certifications from the AHA. Also, how a private rescue shelter follows the state laws.
This was a great mystery, and I simply enjoyed the story lines. I must admit the suspense was a bit light, but towards the ending the action truly picked up. The culprit was interesting. Most of all, I liked the attitude of Lauren at the very end of the novel, to reveal that would spoil your fun, so... I won't. Happy Reading!
August 7, 2013
This is the second book I've read by this author, Linda O. Johnston, and I was not disappointed. As a pet lover and owner of a toy poodle, Joey this book holds a warm spot in my heart.
This was just a fun and delightful who-done-it poodle puppy caper mystery. Not in the sense that the puppies solved the mystery, but they were just there to make the story that much more interesting.
I am a pet lover, so that made the book all that much better. Not only is there pet love, but the book has mystery, romance, and lots and lots of animals. There is also lots of mystery, I loved the way I was kept guessing right until the end as to who was the guilty person.
I understand this is the fourth book in this series, however, it was a stand alone book also. I will be looking forward to reading other books by this author.
This is my favorite kind of reading, pets, mystery, and a bit of romance. I liked it so much I awarded it 4****
This was just a fun and delightful who-done-it poodle puppy caper mystery. Not in the sense that the puppies solved the mystery, but they were just there to make the story that much more interesting.
I am a pet lover, so that made the book all that much better. Not only is there pet love, but the book has mystery, romance, and lots and lots of animals. There is also lots of mystery, I loved the way I was kept guessing right until the end as to who was the guilty person.
I understand this is the fourth book in this series, however, it was a stand alone book also. I will be looking forward to reading other books by this author.
This is my favorite kind of reading, pets, mystery, and a bit of romance. I liked it so much I awarded it 4****
March 3, 2014
Oodles of Poodles is an enjoyable cozy mystery. It is the fourth book of the Pet Rescue Mystery series but I was able to read it as a standalone. The director of Sheba's Story is murdered. Lauren Vancouver, the head administrator for HotRescues animal rescue shelter, is on the set to ensure that the animals in the movie are being cared for and not abused. She stirs up people when she asks questions trying to clear her friend Carlie, the vet for the animals. I liked the characters. I liked how they interact with each other and are not afraid to get mad with one another and let their feelings be known. I also liked how each dog mentioned is given a breed and a name so I could picture what the dog looks like. This was a fun read. Naturally, I did not figure out the murderer. I want to read the earlier books in the series as well as her other series, Kendra Ballantyne, Pet Sitters Mysteries.
February 25, 2013
This is the fourth release in a series featuring Lauren Vancouver as an administrator of a private pet rescue facility, HotRescues, who is also an amateur sleuth. In this novel, Lauren is asked to attend a movie being made with poodles in the San Fernando Valley, California. It's a fast-paced mystery with a solid plot and an intriguing glimpse into the filming industry, especially movies that feature animals. It's not necessary to read the first three releases, but for anyone interested in animal rescue, I highly recommend all four books.
May 26, 2013
In Johnston’s mystery novel, shelter manager and pet rescuer Lauren Vancouver is observing production on a new movie called Sheba’s Story. The main character is a white poodle and to ensure no animals are hurt during filming Lauren’s friend, veterinarian Carlie Stellan, and Grant, an American Humane Association representative, is on location. Following a run-in with Carlie about animal safety, the director is found dead and it’s up to amateur sleuth Lauren to solve the crime.
A great addition to a heartfelt series.
A great addition to a heartfelt series.
April 28, 2013
This was an enjoyable mystery with an interesting plot about the filming of a movie using several rescue dogs. What annoyed me (an not just in this book, either), were the many descriptions of exactly what everyone was wearing, even tho' their clothing had no bearing on the murder mystery part of the story. I really could care less what these characters wear, and describing clothing, unless it is an integral part of the story, just slows down the plot and the action.
August 19, 2014
OK, I've now rated a book a 1. This was insipid and formulaic. I might have enjoyed it when I was in fourth grade.
I appreciate Rick bringing home a book with poodle characters, but the dogs were just props to attract dog-loving readers.
Half Price Books, here comes my copy! Friends, don't buy it!
I appreciate Rick bringing home a book with poodle characters, but the dogs were just props to attract dog-loving readers.
Half Price Books, here comes my copy! Friends, don't buy it!
March 4, 2013
Lightweight reading....another in the Pet Rescuers mystery series
April 1, 2013
I gave up after 125 pages. The story just felt flat to me and I couldn't finish.
April 5, 2013
Another great story from Linda O. Johnston.... and a totally surprise twist at the end that will make you wonder why you didn't figure it out first.
April 15, 2013
Still entertaining but starting to get a bit slow and repetitive. And obvious.
July 16, 2013
ok 3/5 stars
September 9, 2016
Another great one from Linda O. Johnston.
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April 30, 2014Kindle
August 1, 2015
2.5 really
April 29, 2017
Really preachy and repetitive about how dogs should be taken care of, what the shelter was like, and so on. Ending wasn't very satisfying.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews