Bark M For Murder

Jo Beth Sidden "Bloodhound" Mystery #7

by J.A. Jance, Lee Charles Kelley, Virginia Lanier

Evildoers beware! Four of mystery fiction's top storytellers are setting the hounds on your trail -- in an incomparable quartet of crime stories with a canine edge. Man's (and woman's) best friends take the lead in this phenomenal collection of tales tense and surprising, humorous and thrilling. New York Times bestselling author J.A. Jance's spellbinding saga of a scam-busting septuagenarian and her two golden retrievers; Anthony Award winner Virginia Lanier's pureblood thriller featuring bloodhounds and bloody murder; Chassie West's suspenseful stunner about a life-saving German shepherd and a ghastly forgotten crime; rising star Lee Charles Kelley's edge-of-your-seat yarn that pits an ex-cop/kennel owner and a yappy toy poodle against a craven killer.

Genres: Mystery, Short Stories, Dogs, Fiction, Anthologies, Ebooks

320 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published February 28, 2006

About the author

Judith Ann Jance is the top 10 New York Times bestselling author of the Joanna Brady series; the J. P. Beaumont series; three interrelated thrillers featuring the Walker family; and Edge of Evil, the first in a series featuring Ali Reynolds. Born in South Dakota and brought up in Bisbee, Arizona, Jance lives with her husband in Seattle, Washington, and Tucson, Arizona.

Series:
* J.P. Beaumont
* Joanna Brady
* Ali Reynolds
* Walker Family

Reviews

[Vonny Farrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bark M For Murder

The short stories are just as cute as the title implies: Bark M For Murder. Unfortunately, it’s more about the people and less about the dogs.

We all know it would have been enormously better the other way ‘round. But, I’ll take what I can. Woof.

[Jana Williams Rouse · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gave the book a 3 because I couldn't give it a 2 1/2. Out of 4 stories, I only liked 2 of them so wanted to give it a 50/50. My favorite was the one by Chassie West, Nightmare In Nowhere, where a woman wakes up in the backseat of a car hanging over a river, no memory of who she is etc., gets saved by a german shephard. Far as I can tell Chassie West hasn't written anything else like this ever before or since. I looked hoping that there was a series about the cop and his search and rescue dogs. The other story I like was by Virginia Lanier and her search and rescue bloodhounds. Loved her whole series about them and is why I got this book in the first place. The other two stories I simply read because they were part of the book but no interest in seeing if there are any others about those characters. Took me a while to get through because I kept reading other things, doing other things.

[Melinda · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is pure airport reading to me. Which is where I read it. And I still didn't like it very much. The stories just weren't very engrossing. The best was the one by Virginia Lanier about a woman who comes to consciousness in the back seat of a car, hanging over a bridge. She has amnesia and is rescued by a dog and follows him home. As her memory comes back, she begins to wonder about who she is, who the dog's handler really is and what is going on. Are you gripped? No, me neither. I should have just brought an Ellery Queen Magazine.

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

This rating is more a 3-1/2. Short stories are fun and this collection by authors well known and reviewed gives the reader a chance to sample their style in a quick and revealing way. I've been recommended to read these authors by friends and now I know I like their individual styles. The bark angle - mystery with dogs in the plot - adds to the cozy aspect as well as leaving room in the mystery for humor and character development. I look forward to reading other works by these authors.

[Glenda · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are lots of appealing canine characters in these four short cozy mysteries.

[Dick Pilskog · Rating 3 out of 5]

From Kelly, West, Jance, and Lanier I couldn't kept them straight. Very confusing. They started quickly and I never recovered. Good book if I mentioned one. Good book I liked the last one.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

The trouble with a collection of short stories by different authors, is some are good, others not so, and I can't rate the stories individually.

Here we have four stories, murder mysteries with dogs. Not all the dogs are heroes in their stories. There are tracking bloodhounds, a toy poodle, golden retrievers, and a German shepherd.

The reason for just an "OK" rating is that 3/4 of them were just not very good stories! Nightmare in Nowhere was the 1/4 I liked. But... I felt the reason for the events was a letdown. Not far into it I did predict who AJ was, but expected a far more serious reason for her situation. Not that the one given isn't serious, I just thought it would be more.

I like dogs. I like mystery stories. These were good to pass some time. And right now that's all there is to do. My libraries are closed until further notice, so I have to read even the books I would have set aside a month ago!

[Sharon Peterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Short Stories: Bark M for Murder!
1. Red Shirt and Black Jacket, Virginia Lanier - bloodhounds in this story.
2. Nightmare in Nowhere, Chassie West - a shepherd in this story.
3. The French Poodle Connection, Lee Charles Kelley - you guessed it - a French poodle in this story.
4. The Case of the London Cabbie, J.A. Janice - 2 golden retrievers in this story.

[Nan · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 enjoyable stories - murder mysteries with wonderful dog charaters! I had read 2 of the authors - J.A. Jance and Virginia Lanier - so knew what to expect from them. The other 2 authors were new to me- but their sections were also nicely plotted and developed. A fun read if you like dogs - or murder mysteries!

[Jill Bjorklund · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four short stories - I have read 2 of the authors, J. A. Jance & Virginia Lanier. Those stories were my favorites too.
I'm so sorry that Virginia Lanier passed away because her series was terrific.

Jance should write a series featuring Maddy Watkins, she's a great character.

The other 2 stories were fine too. I would like to read their other books.

[Ana Paes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Notes: I liked 3/4 of the short stories, the last one was extremely annoying.

Fun fact: I picked this book randomly on a bookstore when I traveled to Orlando for the first time, I didn't know English very well at the time but I wanted a mystery book. Years later I found out this was four novellas about dogs discovering/helping to solve murder/crime cases.

[Les · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 short stories featuring dogs


1. Red Shirt and Black Jacket, Virginia Lanier
I didn't really like this one. It has a dog handler having stupid issues with cops in a back wards town but it's her backwards town. It was weird

2. Nightmare in Nowhere, Chassie West
This is weird and twisty. It is several unreliable narrators brought together by a dog

3. The French Poodle Connection, Lee Charles Kelley
A former detective turned dog trainer is set up to thwart a crime / be an alibi but a pesky poodle has different plans

4. The Case of the London Cabbie, J.A. Jance
I absolutely adored this story. A woman who is older sets out to protect her sister from a con man; she's got plenty of tricks up her sleeves

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute short stories - the best were the ones by JA Jance and Virginia Lanier’s bloodhounds.

[Belinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining short stories periferally involving dogs. Fast read. Good mysteries.
I miss virginia Lanier and her bloodhounds... RIP.

[Suzi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two novelllas and two short stories. I love, love, love Chasisie West's Nightmare in Nowhere -- thriller and love story.

[Sinda Conrad · Rating 4 out of 5]

All 4 stories were good and the book was an enjoyable read. They were all cozy mysteries and there were dogs in each of them although they were not involved very much.

[J.C. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was surprised how much I liked these four short mysteries that featured dogs.  Each was enjoyable.

[Sidney · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. Four short stories about amateur sleuths and their canine companions.

[Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun, quick read. I enjoyed the different stories and authors. Will be looking into their other works.

[mary blankenship · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy reading

Like the interesting storylines with dogs. Learned a couple commands best used on dogs also. Characters were very interesting too.

[Ronald House · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fantastic story from J A Jance!

I’m sorry the story ended!! I want to read the rest of the book! J A Jance is a wonderful author!!

[Claudia Masser · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the short stories and of course the various pups and their gifts! Was hard to put down.

[Roy Owen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun read. Very different styles by four authors.

[Julia Gregson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very woofy

The dogs are canine accessories to the hapless humans who manage to sort out crime after crime. Well written and entertaining.

[Kay · Rating 5 out of 5]

All of the authors did a terrific job. J A Jance was the famous author that drew me to read this on Kindle and I LOVED all of the stories (late into the night). On to find books they written.

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first and last of the 4 stories were the best.

[Ann Amadori · Rating 3 out of 5]

I much prefer books rather than novellas or short stories. These were fine but I wished for more.

[Lbaker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four stories, each including dogs.

Red Shirt and Black Jacket by Virginia Lanier - 5 stars - really enjoyed the characters and the information about blood hounds. This story didn't just have dogs peripherally in it, the hounds were the binding part of it, and it was well written.

Nightmare in Nowhere by Chassie West - 3.5 stars - liked the dog more than the people. Thought the story was a little weak, as was the male character. Female character was interesting, always like strong female characters,this one included an amnesia sideline which was well done.

The French Poodle Connection by Lee Charles Kelley 2.5 stars - too many coincidences, too many long legged beautiful women, dog was not needed in the story, seemed as though he'd just been thrown in to fit the topic.

The Case of the London Cabbie by J A Jance - 5 stars - loved the main character being an older woman who wasn't wimpy, ineffectual or dotty. The dogs were an integral part of the story, and really liked the inclusion of Ralph Ames from the J P Beaumont series.

[annapi · Rating 3 out of 5]

As with most anthologies, there are good and and not quite as good, but this one was overall a fun read. Each story featured dogs in some way. Virginia Lanier's story had police bloodhounds on the trail of a murderer. Chassie West's offering was a retired police detective whose retired police dog rescues an amnesiac woman from a car crash at the river in a storm, who turns out to have killers out to get her. Lee Charles Kelley's novella was a rather convoluted story involving a serial killer, stolen identities, and a femme fatale with a miniature poodle. J.A. Jance, surprisingly, disappointed me with her story about a woman with a pair of German Shepherds determined to save her sister from a gold-digging young man decades her junior.

Overall, an entertaining collection for a nice, light, easy read.

[Tom Mueller · Rating 3 out of 5]

This should prove to be a fun collection of short mystery fiction, based on Dogs. Overall this was good, the canine characters were mostly background noise though. An exception was Chassie West's "Nightmare in Nowhere". Her character, a GSD named Duke, was a star character who rescued the good guys more than once.