The Maltese Felon

Reed Ferguson Mystery #3

by Renee Pawlish

Reed's back with a dose of humor and film noir that will keep you turning pages. When an attractive female client begs Reed Ferguson to find her prize-winning Maltese show dog stolen from her back yard, Reed suspects he may be channeling Ace Ventura: Pet Detective rather than his hero, Humphrey Bogart. It sounds like a simple case, but things take a dangerous turn and Reed discovers that man's-best-friend can attract some decidedly unfriendly characters!

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Crime

208 pages, Paperback

First published April 12, 2012

About the author

From the time she was ten and tried to write her own detective series in the fashion of the Hardy Boys, Renée Pawlish has been developing her craft. Along with creative writing classes, Renée studied great writers like Dashiell Hammett, Rex Stout, Stephen King, Sue Grafton and many more. Once Renée graduated from college, she began her first novel. Now, all these years later, she has penned numerous books in a variety of genres.

Renée was born in California, but has lived most of her life in Colorado. When she's not hiking, cycling, or chasing ballplayers for autographs, she is writing mysteries and thrillers. She also has some middle grade novels waiting to be published.

Renée loves to travel and has visited numerous countries around the world. She has also spent many summer days at her parents' cabin in the hills outside of Boulder, which was the inspiration for the setting of Taylor Crossing in her novel Nephilim: Genesis of Evil.

The Reed Ferguson Mystery Series
This Doesn't Happen In The Movies
Reel Estate Rip-off

The Nephilim Trilogy
Nephilim Genesis of Evil
Books Two and Three soon to be released

The Noah Winter YA Adventure Series
The Emerald Quest

Take Five
A short story collection that includes a Reed Ferguson tale.

The Sallie House: Exposing the Beast Within
A non-fiction book about one of the most haunted houses in America.

To learn more you can follow her on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/reneepawlish....

on her blog:
http://tobecomeawriter.wordpress.com/

on Twitter:
http://twitter.com/reneepawlish

Reviews

[Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, another Reed Ferguson hillarious whodunit! It was a fun adventure to follow Ferguson as he attempted once more to figure the maze of dogs and their humans. Excellent fun!

[Tex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute mystery with a Denver setting and a plot about stolen show dogs.

[Anne Fox · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yet another excellent Reed Ferguson adventure, this time as he tries to determine who's pilfering the pooches.

Yeah, you heard me right: pooches. But not just any pooches. Show dogs worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Reed is at his typical activity: getting more banged up than a car crash dummy as he chases the bad guys in an attempt to get the priceless purloined pooches back to their owners. And as is typical of a Reed Ferguson tale, what you think is the end isn't really the end—it's just the twist in the tale as you discover that Gilbert and Sullivan were right. Things are seldom as they seem.

As I read through this book, the following occurred to me. Given my many discussions with those I've known in law enforcement who typically say that the most realistic police show ever aired was Hill Street Blues, I'm betting that most P.I.s reading one of Renee Pawlish's Reed Ferguson books would sigh and say, "I've had a few days like that." If you like a cake baked up with action, comedy, and a bit of serious (but not a whole lot—after all, Reed just started at this P.I. business), then you will love licking the icing off of the Reed Ferguson series.

[Lois Welsh · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another unusual case for Reed.

I thought I knew who was stealing the dogs - and I was wrong.

I also learned a few things while I was reading this book---I love learning something new.

[Ruth Turner · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm enjoying her Novels

[Valorie Hunter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dog Shows can be fierce competition!!!!!!

I give this book 15 stars!!!!!
Renee you have done a excellent job on this book. I stayed up all night reading this book.
Reed got put in the dog house on this case. (Pardon the pun) Hahaha!
He got talked into this case by a group of women he couldn't say no to, then got Cal his best friend computer guy, then got the goofball brothers to help and they all got jammed up over this case.
Reed fell out of a moving truck, tied up and car running out of gas, boy what he went through. I already told you too much now you have to read this book to find out the rest.
YOU WON'T BE DISAPPOINTED!!!!!!!
I love this series. You go girl, Renee!!!!!!!

[Bob · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reed is back in a case of dog-napping. Reed is a PI and a rather amature one who manages to solve his cases with bumbling (sometimes) good luce and he help of some good fiends. He does seem to get injured often enough that his sort of girl friend is leary of getting too involved because of it. In this case he is hired to find a show dog that has been stolen and held for ransom. Things don't go well when delivering the ransome, but the dog is returned. It takes several more stolen dogs before he gets a handle on the case prevails altho not without more injuries. Sort, easy reads with humor.

[Thomas James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maltese is a dog breed not a bird.

This just fun. I can visualize Pawlish having fun writing it and it was fun reading it. I missed the historical trivia of his first two, though, and it seemed like it was too much like Ace Ventura in that Reed Ferguson made a lot of dangerous amateurish decisions - like hopping into the back of a suspect's pickup truck. Also, the title name, Maltese, was not made abundantly clear that was the breed of dog, or maybe I just missed it. In any event, lots of fun. Enjoy!

[J.L. Rallios · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars not for a literary masterpiece, but for a fun and enjoyable mystery that is a fast and clean read, except for some language I wouldn't have missed if it hadn't been added. Good twists and good narrative with entertaining characters. Reed Ferguson, private eye and Sam Spade wannabe, is on the track of dog-nappers and uncovers almost more than he can handle. So far Renee Pawlish has not disappointed me!

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really didn’t think that I would like reading about dog napping but this changed my mind. Reed and his downstairs brothers are always fun to follow. Not to mention his friend Cal and of course Willie. I’m glad I don’t here a mother like his though. Overall another fine Reed Ferguson read. Please keep them coming!

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

An easy read in the series. I got the first three books as part of an Amazon promotion. While I enjoyed them I doubt I will continue the series. It is a sort of tongue in cheek detective series with a bit of a bumbling detective as the lead character. In this novel he tries to solve a case of dognapping.

[Jeff Benham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reed hits the big time. A woman hires him to find her stolen dog. Not just any dog, but a show dog. Held for ransom, the dog is returned. When this happens to other dogs, Reed suspects someone within the dog show is involved. Seems he is going to be jumping through more hoops than the dogs. Another very entertaining Reed Ferguson.

[IMHO · Rating 5 out of 5]

Renee Pawlish's 3rd book, "The Maltese Felon" has a confusing
puzzle for Reed as he works to find who is taking
prize show dogs for ransom.

Renee Pawlish is on MY MUST READ LIST
and is Highly Recommended.

[Tim Shepard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another enjoyable book by Renee Pawlish. She's done a great job of developing the main character read and the characters that orbit around him. Well worth the read between the action, the humor, and the mystery of each new book.

[Elisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love these light-hearted noir type detective novels, they are funny, exciting with a dose of mystery to them, a great character who keep me coming back for more when I'm looking for a laid back humorous read these Reed Ferguson mysteries always hit the spot.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gail Saunders is desperate. The police can't help and so she has turned to private investigator Reed Ferguson. Her prize-winning Maltese show dog has been stolen from her back yard and soon she receives a ransom note. How does a dognapping get complicated.
An enjoyable read

[Ellen White · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reed newest case is one attraction woman whose Maltese was taken from the backyard. There was more then just kidnapping the dog, Reed soon finds out. His love for Bogart comes thru, giving us some comedy as well as a good noir mystery. Given audio for my voluntary review and my honest opinion

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good story about P.I. Reed Ferguson working to solve a series of dognappings. The characters are enjoyable and the story is good although I do get tired of Reed getting beaten up all the time. Still, it's an entertaining book.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

I felt like the solution to this one dragged on a bit.While overall it was a fun read, the "stake outs" and "chase scenes" seemed a bit much for a dog 🐕 napping case. There was less of that in the book with the murder🤨. This is a book that would have benefitted from being shortened into a novella.

[Rebecca Griffith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read!

One of my favorites so far. Ill be recommending to my friends. Gotta get back to reading! I wasn't kidding when I called myself Endlessreader...

[Sherri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reed really got himself into a huge mess this time. Poor Willie can't stand he gets hurt but can't seem to stay away. Good guy always wins in the end!

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intriguing and interesting group of characters and a well thought out plot made this an enjoyable read. I have most of the rest of the series in my reading queue.

[Danielle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reed takes on some dognappers. Ok but a bit under whelming.

[Coffeenoir (David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fun read from the Reed Ferguson series.

[Cindy B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love this series. And I love reading books in series I loved — clean with lots of 1940-1960 references to enjoy... and I do — I hope you will as well.

[Tom Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fast, but interesting read.

[Micgarcia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although they are quite similar, these Reed Ferguson books continue to surprise me.

[Rachelle Bachiu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great fun read. With Reed and his downstairs neighbors and Cal what can go wrong right. Brought so much laughter that I will read more from this author.

[Nora · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun story! Quite unique!

[Jennifer DeBord · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was cute but I gave it 3 stars due to the many typos and the correlation of Marv & Jack and Darren & Kelli. How do those two pairs tie-in? That was completely left open.