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Sanibel Sunset Detective #5
The Hound of the Sanibel Sunset Detective
WANTED! A big, floppy-eared hound dog. Answers to the name of Clinton.
The FBI wants him. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police are hunting for him. All sorts of bad guys are willing to kill each other for Clinton. What Private Detective Tree Callister can’t figure out is why everyone wants the dog. Besides, Tree claims that he has recently retired. He’s no longer the only private detective on Sanibel Island, the laid-back paradise off the west coast of Florida. Except he keeps getting dragged back into a business where people tend to shoot him. Clinton has become part of the lives of Tree and his wife, Freddie. Despite their best efforts, they’ve fallen in love with their new pal. Tree is determined to protect him no matter what. Even if it means getting himself killed.
This Tree Callister mystery thriller isn’t only a fast-paced, page-turning suspense novel—it’s also a heartfelt love story about the effect dogs have on our lives, and the lengths we will go to protect and cherish them. The Hound of the Sanibel Sunset Detective will change Tree Callister’s life—and it might just do the same for you!
The FBI wants him. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police are hunting for him. All sorts of bad guys are willing to kill each other for Clinton. What Private Detective Tree Callister can’t figure out is why everyone wants the dog. Besides, Tree claims that he has recently retired. He’s no longer the only private detective on Sanibel Island, the laid-back paradise off the west coast of Florida. Except he keeps getting dragged back into a business where people tend to shoot him. Clinton has become part of the lives of Tree and his wife, Freddie. Despite their best efforts, they’ve fallen in love with their new pal. Tree is determined to protect him no matter what. Even if it means getting himself killed.
This Tree Callister mystery thriller isn’t only a fast-paced, page-turning suspense novel—it’s also a heartfelt love story about the effect dogs have on our lives, and the lengths we will go to protect and cherish them. The Hound of the Sanibel Sunset Detective will change Tree Callister’s life—and it might just do the same for you!
- GenresMystery
238 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 21, 2014
21 people are currently reading
73 people want to read
About the author
Ron Base
39 books42 followersRon Base was born in Belleville, Ontario, Dec. 9. His bank manager father, Eric, moved the family—mother Jean and younger brother Ric—from Belleville to Cobourg to Picton, and finally to Brockville, Ontario. Here Base finished elementary school and then attended Brockville Collegiate Institute and Vocational School.
He began writing for a weekly newspaper, The United Counties Packet, when he was 15 years old. Based on his work for the weekly, he landed a part-time job at the daily Recorder and Times where he wrote a column for teenagers and worked as a general assignment reporter during the summer. He was also the Brockville correspondent for the Kingston Whig Standard.
He dropped out of high school at the age of 18 but was able to attend the journalism school at Algonquin College for one year in 1967-1968. While at the college, he wrote freelance pieces for the Ottawa Journal.
Although he did not graduate from Algonquin, Base landed a fulltime job as general assignment reporter at the Oshawa Times in the summer of 1968. Three months later, he was hired at the Windsor Star where he wrote obituaries before being assigned to the night desk. Several months later, he was named the paper’s media columnist.
After five years at the Windsor Star, Base was hired by publisher Douglas Creighton as a feature writer when the Toronto Sunday Sun began publication in 1973. He wrote pieces for the Sunday newspaper’s magazine section and also did the weekly cover story for the paper’s TV guide.
After three years at the Sun, he left to work briefly at the Toronto Star, returned to the Sun, just as briefly, before leaving to write magazine pieces. During this period, Base worked for a New York-based magazine syndicate, Writers Bloc, and produced profiles on everyone from actgor Peter O’Toole and former New York governor Nelson Rockefeller to author Tom Wolfe, mystery writer Mickey Spillane, and Robert Blake before he was accused of killing anyone.
Those stories and others appeared in such publications as the Washington Post, New York Newsday, The New York Post, Chicago Tribune, The Miami Herald, and the Los Angeles Times. He also wrote several profiles for Cosmopolitan magazine and freelanced for Maclean’s Magazine, first as its television critic and later as a contributing editor writing profiles.
Among the other publications Base wrote for during that period: TV Guide, Chatelaine, Quest Magazine, Canadian Business, and Toronto Life.
Returning to the Toronto Star in 1980, Base wrote TV criticism for a year and then replaced the newspaper’s longtime movie critic Clyde Gilmour. From 1981 to 1987, Base wrote movie reviews as well as profiled the major stars of the day, including Clint Eastwood, Paul Newman, Meryl Streep, Goldie Hawn, Michael Caine, Eddie Murphy, Richard Burton, Dustin Hoffman, Warren Beatty, Diane Keaton, Woody Allen, Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, and Kevin Costner.
During this time, he hosted a syndicated radio show, Marquee Magazine at the Movies and also co-hosted The Movie Show with Alex Barris for TV Ontario. The series lasted for two seasons before being cancelled. He also appeared frequently on the CTV network’s Canada AM to talk about movies.
Heavenly Bodies, a script Base had co written while freelancing, was released by MGM in 1985, and sank at the box office. However, the movie about three young women who start their own workout club found renewed life in the burgeoning home video market, and, much to Base’s continuing bemusement, refused to go away, becoming something of a cult hit, complete with an annual screening in Los Angeles.
During this time, Doubleday published Base’s first novel, Matinee Idol. Base left the Star in 1987 and co-produced and wrote a thriller, White Light, directed by Al Waxman and starring Martin Kove. The film played theatrically in Canada.
He also worked with David Haslam, publisher of Marquee Magazine, to produce a number of movie-orient
He began writing for a weekly newspaper, The United Counties Packet, when he was 15 years old. Based on his work for the weekly, he landed a part-time job at the daily Recorder and Times where he wrote a column for teenagers and worked as a general assignment reporter during the summer. He was also the Brockville correspondent for the Kingston Whig Standard.
He dropped out of high school at the age of 18 but was able to attend the journalism school at Algonquin College for one year in 1967-1968. While at the college, he wrote freelance pieces for the Ottawa Journal.
Although he did not graduate from Algonquin, Base landed a fulltime job as general assignment reporter at the Oshawa Times in the summer of 1968. Three months later, he was hired at the Windsor Star where he wrote obituaries before being assigned to the night desk. Several months later, he was named the paper’s media columnist.
After five years at the Windsor Star, Base was hired by publisher Douglas Creighton as a feature writer when the Toronto Sunday Sun began publication in 1973. He wrote pieces for the Sunday newspaper’s magazine section and also did the weekly cover story for the paper’s TV guide.
After three years at the Sun, he left to work briefly at the Toronto Star, returned to the Sun, just as briefly, before leaving to write magazine pieces. During this period, Base worked for a New York-based magazine syndicate, Writers Bloc, and produced profiles on everyone from actgor Peter O’Toole and former New York governor Nelson Rockefeller to author Tom Wolfe, mystery writer Mickey Spillane, and Robert Blake before he was accused of killing anyone.
Those stories and others appeared in such publications as the Washington Post, New York Newsday, The New York Post, Chicago Tribune, The Miami Herald, and the Los Angeles Times. He also wrote several profiles for Cosmopolitan magazine and freelanced for Maclean’s Magazine, first as its television critic and later as a contributing editor writing profiles.
Among the other publications Base wrote for during that period: TV Guide, Chatelaine, Quest Magazine, Canadian Business, and Toronto Life.
Returning to the Toronto Star in 1980, Base wrote TV criticism for a year and then replaced the newspaper’s longtime movie critic Clyde Gilmour. From 1981 to 1987, Base wrote movie reviews as well as profiled the major stars of the day, including Clint Eastwood, Paul Newman, Meryl Streep, Goldie Hawn, Michael Caine, Eddie Murphy, Richard Burton, Dustin Hoffman, Warren Beatty, Diane Keaton, Woody Allen, Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, and Kevin Costner.
During this time, he hosted a syndicated radio show, Marquee Magazine at the Movies and also co-hosted The Movie Show with Alex Barris for TV Ontario. The series lasted for two seasons before being cancelled. He also appeared frequently on the CTV network’s Canada AM to talk about movies.
Heavenly Bodies, a script Base had co written while freelancing, was released by MGM in 1985, and sank at the box office. However, the movie about three young women who start their own workout club found renewed life in the burgeoning home video market, and, much to Base’s continuing bemusement, refused to go away, becoming something of a cult hit, complete with an annual screening in Los Angeles.
During this time, Doubleday published Base’s first novel, Matinee Idol. Base left the Star in 1987 and co-produced and wrote a thriller, White Light, directed by Al Waxman and starring Martin Kove. The film played theatrically in Canada.
He also worked with David Haslam, publisher of Marquee Magazine, to produce a number of movie-orient
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
September 30, 2025
4 Stars. A dog-gone good story. I thought Bill Clinton was a good president, but this Clinton, a French fox hound, they look like tall Beagles, is even further up the scale. Simply adorable. For those asking, he's real - the original owner of the dog named him after the president. The continuing saga of Tree Callister, soon to be a senior, is always amusing. He's the only private investigator on Sanibel Island, but the events outlined in entries #1-4 have driven him to close his office and retire. That's what he says. Too many people have considered shooting him and a few actually have. He and Frankie, his 4th wife, have a great marriage and she really wants him to stay in the land of the living. Then his lawyer, Edith Goldman of Fort Myers, calls. Just one favour before retiring? Can he visit an elderly Montreal businessman in Miami? One thing leads to another and Tree ends up with the dog and its owner, Vic Trinchera, ends up dead like a broken egg beside a Florida freeway. For some reason, everyone from the FBI and the RCMP, to Johnny Bravo and the mob, want to get hold of Clinton. It's a thriller and a love story for a wonderful dog too. (Au2022/Se2025)
September 24, 2025
I spent most of this book assuming that the reason that everyone was looking for Clinton the dog was because of some outlandish reason, like he could talk or something. In the end, he was just a good boy, and the fact that he dies at the end left me feeling gutted and numb. An excellent book, however, and a great installment in the series. I can't help but think, however, that the rapidly rising body count of this series makes it feel a little unrealistic, haha, even though I seriously don't care--I just have to find out what happens next!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 14, 2022
This was the first of this series that I read, and I fell in love with the characters who won me over with their heart, kindness, humor and rather poor detecting skills. The Hound of the novel: I also fell hard for this sweet, gentle creature around which so much activity and violence swirls. The author has a great sense of the location: Sanibel and Captiva are among the most enjoyable vacation spots in the USA. The characters have all the color, quirkiness and island-craziness that seems to be especially common in southern Florida. I laughed aloud. I cried. I have since read more of the series and find them all equally appealing.
April 12, 2018
I was at the Bubble Room restaurant on Capitva Island, I saw this book in the gift shop and decided to read it. I didn't know this was the 5th book in the series. It had a cute dog on the front. I have always enjoyed vacationing on Sanibel and Captiva. Apparently, it is difficult for me to find a decent book that takes place in this wonderful and pleasant barrier island off the coast of Florida. I tried reading the first book of the Doc Ford series by Randy Wayne White - that was pathetic. Doc Ford is a super sleazy James Bond wannabe.
The Hound of the Sanibel Sunset Detective. it's just meant to be a quick read. After just finishing Don Quixote, I was in the mood for a shorter book. The problem with this book and the Doc Ford book I read, is that other than occasionally mentioning Andy Rosse lane or Periwinkle Road, very little if anything happens on the island. The main story happens elsewhere. In The Hound, Retired PI Tree is always going to Miami. It's a very long and boring drive from Sanibel to Miami and so the main action is always happening in Miami or Coral Gables or on Alligator Alley - not Sanibel or Captiva. Furthermore, the action is just too much as in too unbelievable.
I've read reviews of a few other books that take place in Sanibel/Captiva and I'm not interested in broken romance stories. I don't know.....Sanibel and Captiva are such interesting islands, there's got a be a decent fun, fictional story worthy of a decent book - at least far better than what is currently available.
The Hound of the Sanibel Sunset Detective. it's just meant to be a quick read. After just finishing Don Quixote, I was in the mood for a shorter book. The problem with this book and the Doc Ford book I read, is that other than occasionally mentioning Andy Rosse lane or Periwinkle Road, very little if anything happens on the island. The main story happens elsewhere. In The Hound, Retired PI Tree is always going to Miami. It's a very long and boring drive from Sanibel to Miami and so the main action is always happening in Miami or Coral Gables or on Alligator Alley - not Sanibel or Captiva. Furthermore, the action is just too much as in too unbelievable.
I've read reviews of a few other books that take place in Sanibel/Captiva and I'm not interested in broken romance stories. I don't know.....Sanibel and Captiva are such interesting islands, there's got a be a decent fun, fictional story worthy of a decent book - at least far better than what is currently available.
November 14, 2015
Ron Base is a dog lover. This book is dedicated to “The Real Clinton”, his now deceased loved companion, with him again through writing about him. I like that.
This is a rip-roaring fun read. Tree Callister has decided to retire from being a private investigator. He just couldn’t convince his attorney, Edith Goldman, of that. She goaded him into that “one last job”. So, as a favorer to his attorney who had come to his rescue many times throughout his PI career he reluctantly headed for Miami in his Volkswagen Beetle convertible. He was just suppose to talk to Vic Trinchera (a Canadian businessman [ha, ha]). Vic didn’t do much talking before he was fleeing for his life, but not before he had saddled Tree with the dog. A French hound with big hound dog eyes named Clinton. Tree soon finds out a lot of unsavory people want to get their hands on Clinton, but he was determined to protect this lovable hound. And so the rip-roaring fun begins! Dead bodies to the left! Dead bodies to the right! Like his wife said, “Consider this, Tree. Maybe your life is one of those pulp thrillers you used to read as a kid.” And I say this is an over the top best action packed humorous thriller I’ve ever read!
This is a rip-roaring fun read. Tree Callister has decided to retire from being a private investigator. He just couldn’t convince his attorney, Edith Goldman, of that. She goaded him into that “one last job”. So, as a favorer to his attorney who had come to his rescue many times throughout his PI career he reluctantly headed for Miami in his Volkswagen Beetle convertible. He was just suppose to talk to Vic Trinchera (a Canadian businessman [ha, ha]). Vic didn’t do much talking before he was fleeing for his life, but not before he had saddled Tree with the dog. A French hound with big hound dog eyes named Clinton. Tree soon finds out a lot of unsavory people want to get their hands on Clinton, but he was determined to protect this lovable hound. And so the rip-roaring fun begins! Dead bodies to the left! Dead bodies to the right! Like his wife said, “Consider this, Tree. Maybe your life is one of those pulp thrillers you used to read as a kid.” And I say this is an over the top best action packed humorous thriller I’ve ever read!
March 13, 2016
I really enjoyed this book. Clinton was the star of the book. when you have a pet, they become an important part of the family. this is th he fifth in the series and I liked each one better than the last. It is like I am part of the book and I see the Sanibel Sunset detective all over Sanibel in his VW convertible and it makes me smile and wonder which case he is on now. I have to keep reminding myself that he is not a real person like I had to with Sherlock Holmes when we visited 220B Baker street and his home.
August 9, 2016
I love these stories by Ron Base. I love his writing style which makes me think of the old time detective movies. I love the short chapters, too. Always a fun ride with Tree Callister. Whenever I read this series, I have a difficult time putting the book down until I have finished it.
Spoiler Alert!!!
I did not expect what happened in the end. It wasn't what I was hoping for this story ending. But then after reading "Afterward: The Real Clinton", I completely understand why Mr. Base ended the story as he did. Pets are our family.
Spoiler Alert!!!
I did not expect what happened in the end. It wasn't what I was hoping for this story ending. But then after reading "Afterward: The Real Clinton", I completely understand why Mr. Base ended the story as he did. Pets are our family.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 24, 2020
OMG!!! I LOVED this book.....as I was reading it I was reminded of the witty banter in the old Thin Man movies from many years ago. The characters of Tree and Freddie are so William Powell and Myrna Loy......I read this book in their voices....I can't wait to get the others in the series. Of course, true to form, I had no idea who done it LOL.....but I did get portions of it right so that counts right? LOL....I would highly recommend this book.
July 11, 2015
A Story about a dog. . .
Ron Base has written a mystery that has turned into a memorial to his dog, Clinton. On the way, we meet an aging PI, his wife, several gangster types, a couple lady killers and a ladykiller. It's a fun trip, kinda surprising but attention compelling. You'll like it!
Ron Base has written a mystery that has turned into a memorial to his dog, Clinton. On the way, we meet an aging PI, his wife, several gangster types, a couple lady killers and a ladykiller. It's a fun trip, kinda surprising but attention compelling. You'll like it!
January 10, 2015
The Hound in this story is a beautiful part of Ron Base's best detective story yet. This is the 5th in his series and I definitely loved this. The story is a delightful read and another joyous Sanibel Island vacation novel.
February 13, 2015
Fun story taking place on and around Sanibel Island, Florida, one of my favorite vacation places. This is not as well written as the earlier books in the series. Lots of humor and crazy characters and the vision of the ending event on the Causeway was a riot!
July 19, 2015
Mixed feelings nun
A really nice, light, enjoyable read, that produced chuckles. Then and perhaps having personally suffered losses recently, could not understand not getting to an veterinary sooner, thus did not like ending.
A really nice, light, enjoyable read, that produced chuckles. Then and perhaps having personally suffered losses recently, could not understand not getting to an veterinary sooner, thus did not like ending.
July 22, 2015
Very enjoyable. Loved the introduction of Clinton and everybody's reaction to him. The story was fast-paced with touches of humor mixed in the action. I highly recommend this one.
December 26, 2015
I love these books
Good, entertaining story. Worth the read. The author does a great job and I find myself wanting to read the next one.
Good, entertaining story. Worth the read. The author does a great job and I find myself wanting to read the next one.
June 19, 2016
nice read!
March 22, 2017
Loved the book but hated the ending (hope I did not spoil it!).
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews