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Frankie Chandler Pet Psychic #1
Barking Mad at Murder
Frankie Chandler is a pet psychic—at least that’s how she bills her services. Her “telepathic abilities” actually come to her via animal behavior books and her ability to cold read people, a skill that she learned from her tarot card-reading Aunt Gertrude, a.k.a. Madame Guinevere. That was before Sandy, a Golden Retriever with a secret, blows through Frankie's mental barrier and shows her an image she'll never forget.
- GenresMysteryCozy Mystery
344 pages, Paperback
First published May 5, 2012
198 people are currently reading
234 people want to read
About the author
Jacqueline Vick
36 books42 followersJacqueline Vick writes mysteries that include farcical situations and satirical humor. She writes about characters who are reluctant to accept their greatest (and often embarrassing) gifts.
She is the author of THE FRANKIE CHANDLER PET PSYCHIC MYSTERIES about a woman who, after faking her psychic abilities for years, discovers animals can communicate with her. The series evolved out of her desperate attempts to train a rescued mutt with fear-based aggression. Two visits with animal communicators inspired the article Calling All Canine Clairvoyants for Fido Friendly Magazine.
Her second series is THE HARLOW BROTHER MYSTERIES, featuring brothers Edward and Nicholas Harlow. Edward, a former college linebacker, now ghost writes the Aunt Civility etiquette books. Nicholas is his secretary and general dogsbody.
Her first mystery, Family Matters, was a semifinalist in the 2009 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Competition. Her short stories have appeared in numerous publications, including Future Mystery Anthology Magazine and The Best of Everyday Fiction Two Anthology. Her novella, Lovely As, was a finalist for the Black Orchid Novella Contest.
When she isn’t writing, Jacqueline enjoys acting as the neighborhood dog sitter and testing new recipes on her long-suffering husband.
She is the author of THE FRANKIE CHANDLER PET PSYCHIC MYSTERIES about a woman who, after faking her psychic abilities for years, discovers animals can communicate with her. The series evolved out of her desperate attempts to train a rescued mutt with fear-based aggression. Two visits with animal communicators inspired the article Calling All Canine Clairvoyants for Fido Friendly Magazine.
Her second series is THE HARLOW BROTHER MYSTERIES, featuring brothers Edward and Nicholas Harlow. Edward, a former college linebacker, now ghost writes the Aunt Civility etiquette books. Nicholas is his secretary and general dogsbody.
Her first mystery, Family Matters, was a semifinalist in the 2009 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Competition. Her short stories have appeared in numerous publications, including Future Mystery Anthology Magazine and The Best of Everyday Fiction Two Anthology. Her novella, Lovely As, was a finalist for the Black Orchid Novella Contest.
When she isn’t writing, Jacqueline enjoys acting as the neighborhood dog sitter and testing new recipes on her long-suffering husband.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews
April 28, 2019
Frankie Chandler makes her living as a pet psychic in a small town in Arizona. There’s just one problem – she’s a fake. She really uses cues from her knowledge of human and animal behavior and fakes her visions to help pet owners with their pets’ behavior. So, you can imagine how surprised Frankie is when a dog named Sandy actually gets through and gives her a vision of a murder. She’s willing to write off the entire thing as a bad dream until a body matching the victim in the vision turns up in the desert. Can Frankie figure out what really happened? Does Sandy know more than Frankie got in the first vision?
This is definitely a step away from my normal cozy choices, but I picked it up after chatting with the author for most of the day at an event. I’m glad I took a chance on it. With Frankie just developing her powers, this book had some fun exploring that and what it meant for her. The mystery was good. There were occasional pacing issues, but for the most part it kept me engaged until the wonderful climax. A solid sub-plot helped keep me interested as well. A couple of the supporting characters have room to grow as the series develops, but for the most part the cast is solid, and I certainly hope to see more of many of them in later books. The book kept me grinning as I read as Frankie gets into some pretty fun situations over the course of the story. This is a solid series debut anyone looking for a light, fun read will enjoy.
Read my full review at Carstairs Considers.
This is definitely a step away from my normal cozy choices, but I picked it up after chatting with the author for most of the day at an event. I’m glad I took a chance on it. With Frankie just developing her powers, this book had some fun exploring that and what it meant for her. The mystery was good. There were occasional pacing issues, but for the most part it kept me engaged until the wonderful climax. A solid sub-plot helped keep me interested as well. A couple of the supporting characters have room to grow as the series develops, but for the most part the cast is solid, and I certainly hope to see more of many of them in later books. The book kept me grinning as I read as Frankie gets into some pretty fun situations over the course of the story. This is a solid series debut anyone looking for a light, fun read will enjoy.
Read my full review at Carstairs Considers.
June 17, 2016
Since I don't normally write reviews unless I have something specific to say, here's the break down of how I rate my books...
1 star... This book was bad, so bad I may have given up and skipped to the end. I will avoid this author like the plague in the future.
2 stars... This book was not very good, and I won't be reading any more from the author.
3 stars... This book was ok, but I won't go out of my way to read more, But if I find another book by the author for under a dollar I'd pick it up.
4 stars... I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be on the look out to pick up more from the series/author.
5 stars... I loved this book! It has earned a permanent home in my collection and I'll be picking up the rest of the series and other books from the author ASAP.
October 18, 2022
Fun Pet Psychic
Frankie pretended to be a pet psychic by being very observant..until one day she was not pretending anymore. Art, animals and humor rule the day
Frankie pretended to be a pet psychic by being very observant..until one day she was not pretending anymore. Art, animals and humor rule the day
July 4, 2023
Needs a bit more realism.
The book was okay. I did like Frankie, but she needed a healthy dose of self-confidence. I absolutely did not like Penny. If Frankie thought she had a problem with noises in her head, she has a bigger one with being incredibly lazy about setting boundaries, even if Penny is her best friend. She allows Penny to sign her up for things she has no desire to do. She allows Penny to make blind dates for her, even after Frankie tells her never to do something like that again. Frankie allows Penny to push her around like a mop and that got tiring for me. They seem to be best friends because Penny demands it. I liked Frankie's humor and her gathering courage as she starts trying to solve the murder. I liked her involvement with pets and how she tries to help them communicate with their "owners", even if she views what she does as some kind of parlor trick. I don't know if I will read the next book, mostly because I find Penny so irritating. If I do read it, I hope she has the sense to go for Bowers and not Seamus.
The book was okay. I did like Frankie, but she needed a healthy dose of self-confidence. I absolutely did not like Penny. If Frankie thought she had a problem with noises in her head, she has a bigger one with being incredibly lazy about setting boundaries, even if Penny is her best friend. She allows Penny to sign her up for things she has no desire to do. She allows Penny to make blind dates for her, even after Frankie tells her never to do something like that again. Frankie allows Penny to push her around like a mop and that got tiring for me. They seem to be best friends because Penny demands it. I liked Frankie's humor and her gathering courage as she starts trying to solve the murder. I liked her involvement with pets and how she tries to help them communicate with their "owners", even if she views what she does as some kind of parlor trick. I don't know if I will read the next book, mostly because I find Penny so irritating. If I do read it, I hope she has the sense to go for Bowers and not Seamus.
June 5, 2022
Barking Mad at Murder
WOW what a rush Jacqueline Vick sure knows how to trot out a mystery 😉the characters are all vibrant, colorful and interesting except one wallflower but you'll like her. Anywhosers this para cozey mystery with a stroke of murder is quirky, enthralling and so intriguing you're introduced to so many twists and turns and likeable animals with interesting facts placed so you know more about different types of breeds whether dogs, cats,birds and even an indigenous animal to the area all so eloquently introduced .and the best part of the plot is even though you play close attention to the clues you may be quite surprised by who done it as well as an additional twist near the ending😉 😀 .Acquire " Barking Mad at Murder " for hours of marvelous entertainment. Kat
WOW what a rush Jacqueline Vick sure knows how to trot out a mystery 😉the characters are all vibrant, colorful and interesting except one wallflower but you'll like her. Anywhosers this para cozey mystery with a stroke of murder is quirky, enthralling and so intriguing you're introduced to so many twists and turns and likeable animals with interesting facts placed so you know more about different types of breeds whether dogs, cats,birds and even an indigenous animal to the area all so eloquently introduced .and the best part of the plot is even though you play close attention to the clues you may be quite surprised by who done it as well as an additional twist near the ending😉 😀 .Acquire " Barking Mad at Murder " for hours of marvelous entertainment. Kat
November 9, 2023
I'd like to thank Jacqueline Vick for coming up with such an entertaining read. I hadn't had a chance to read much lately and fortunately found her book, "Barking Mad at Murder" and really enjoyed it.
The protagonist, a self-described 'fake' Pet Psychic finds new, unknown abilities in communicating with animals. She puts these to the ultimate test in trying to solve a murder that was only witnessed by a dog. The story keep mova at a good clip, demanding that the reader keep up, and that's exactly what I wanted to do. I looked forward to opening the (e)book each time to see what was going to happen next and how it would affect Frankie, the femail protaganist.
Although this book deals with adults (I usually read MG and/or YA), it was a nice, clean worded mystery with some romance, but not too much.
I'd say this is a read you should try!
The protagonist, a self-described 'fake' Pet Psychic finds new, unknown abilities in communicating with animals. She puts these to the ultimate test in trying to solve a murder that was only witnessed by a dog. The story keep mova at a good clip, demanding that the reader keep up, and that's exactly what I wanted to do. I looked forward to opening the (e)book each time to see what was going to happen next and how it would affect Frankie, the femail protaganist.
Although this book deals with adults (I usually read MG and/or YA), it was a nice, clean worded mystery with some romance, but not too much.
I'd say this is a read you should try!
January 20, 2022
Frankie Chandler is so busy faking her way through psychic pet readings around the Phoenix area, she doesn’t realize she is, in fact, the real deal. Until she accidentally finds herself on the receiving end of a canine witness account of a violent abduction, that is. Frankie’s new-found gift lands her in water hotter than the desert sun and forces her to investigate fakes of another kind --- high-end art forgeries. Toss in her naive best friend, a ladder-climbing police detective, two rivals for her affection, and a menagerie of canines and felines, and readers are sure to enjoy a merry chase that is off-the-leash fun. I’ll be gobbling up the next Frankie Chandler mystery by Jacqueline Vick in two wags of a doggie’s tail.
September 6, 2025
Frances (Frankie) Chandler is trying to make a living as a pet psychic. She charges pet owners a fee to read the pet's mind - but in truth she's a fake. She learned to read body language and pick up on verbal cues from her aunt who does tarot card readings. When a new client brings in a depressed golden retriever, Frankie gets mental images of a murder from the dog's eye view. Suddenly she can really pick up info from the pets. As a new sensation, Frankie doesn't quite know how to best channel the information or how to turn the messages off.
She needs to figure it out in order to give the whole story to the police.
This is the first book in a fun series with amusing characters and situations.
She needs to figure it out in order to give the whole story to the police.
This is the first book in a fun series with amusing characters and situations.
January 13, 2024
Enjoyed it. Something strange is going on. When I first found the series, this was listed as the first in the series, now I find out that it is the second. Interesting characters, pet psychic is a great idea and it's okay if her ability comes and goes. Like this one better than what was supposed to be the next, but they are still worth the read. I was going to start what is supposedly number 3 - An Almost Purrfect Murder, but may go back and read the first instead - Pekingese Premonition instead. I want the backstory. I hate to miss important information. If you are into animal cozies, give this series a try.
February 14, 2022
A enjoyed this outrageously funny book about a woman, Frankie Chandler, who’s a fake pet psychic who suddenly becomes a real one, much to her surprise! I am not usually a reader of cozies or funny books. I’m much more the dark thriller kind, but this book was so much FUN. I know I’ll be turning to the second book in the series soon. If you need some laughs, some great characters, and a mystery you can’t predict with some animals thrown in, pick this one up. You’ll be glad you did.
June 11, 2024
A Fun Murderous Time
Love animals, check.
Enjoy murder mysteries, check.
Enjoy strong female leads, check.
At times, I was reminded of Stephanie Plum with the antics - but it was a very good read. A little surprising since I tracked the author and this series down from a FB ad.
Book 2 is on the way now. For this transplanted Arizonan, it definitely makes me smile thinking of all the places back home.
Love animals, check.
Enjoy murder mysteries, check.
Enjoy strong female leads, check.
At times, I was reminded of Stephanie Plum with the antics - but it was a very good read. A little surprising since I tracked the author and this series down from a FB ad.
Book 2 is on the way now. For this transplanted Arizonan, it definitely makes me smile thinking of all the places back home.
July 12, 2025
Couldn’t put it down
I saw Vick on instagram and was intrigued by her story idea. I started the first book and immediately ordered the full set on Kindle. I am usually an Audible fan and happy to hear these will be recorded books in the future.
The characters are likable and believable. I like woohoo stuff and excited to see how Frankie’s gifts develop and how she handles it. It should be fun as she tries to deny it. This is a great cozy mystery with a fun twist.
I saw Vick on instagram and was intrigued by her story idea. I started the first book and immediately ordered the full set on Kindle. I am usually an Audible fan and happy to hear these will be recorded books in the future.
The characters are likable and believable. I like woohoo stuff and excited to see how Frankie’s gifts develop and how she handles it. It should be fun as she tries to deny it. This is a great cozy mystery with a fun twist.
February 25, 2019
Loved this book.
I gave this story five stars because that's what it deserves. Frankie is very funny, she speaks her mind, and is courageous. It is so clever the way the author has Frankie "connect" with the animals. And most of all, I like the book because there is no "smut." I can't wait to read the next book.
I gave this story five stars because that's what it deserves. Frankie is very funny, she speaks her mind, and is courageous. It is so clever the way the author has Frankie "connect" with the animals. And most of all, I like the book because there is no "smut." I can't wait to read the next book.
March 10, 2021
Barking Mat at Murder is a fun cozy mystery about a woman (Frankie) who can connect with animals by psychic means. Parts of the book are hilarious and Frankie Chandler a likable heroine. The mystery part kept my guessing until the end and I was shocked to find out the identity of the actual murderer. Highly recommend!
June 10, 2024
Not my cup of tea. As I usually find in these ���cozy mysteries” the main character spends most of the book running around accusing people of having committed the crime with no actual basis in fact. Was supposed to be laugh out loud funny; perhaps it’s my sense of humor is lacking, but I never did laugh
July 15, 2024
Found: A New Series to Love
I loved this book. There were lots of twists and turns. The lead character is a hoot and the supporting characters are fun and interesting. I really like the premise of the pet psychic with real abilities as well as behavioral analysis skills. I’m ready to buy the next book!
I loved this book. There were lots of twists and turns. The lead character is a hoot and the supporting characters are fun and interesting. I really like the premise of the pet psychic with real abilities as well as behavioral analysis skills. I’m ready to buy the next book!
October 23, 2025
Your Doing It All Wrong
First come the aches and pains. Then you discover you can communicate with animals but not Dr. Doolittle-ish. Then you meet two guys who are interested in you and your BFF from high school is your Cheerleader but you are like a dog with a bone, you ain't letting go until you figure it out. Oy vey, the learning curve is steep.
Looking forward to book 2.
First come the aches and pains. Then you discover you can communicate with animals but not Dr. Doolittle-ish. Then you meet two guys who are interested in you and your BFF from high school is your Cheerleader but you are like a dog with a bone, you ain't letting go until you figure it out. Oy vey, the learning curve is steep.
Looking forward to book 2.
October 15, 2021
Dogs, mystery, and humor aplenty! Author Jacqueline Vick tosses readers this first "bone"—BARKING MAD AT MURDER—leaving us begging for more! I'm glad it's part of a four-book series. If I were a dog, my tail would be wagging!
November 17, 2022
For a cozy mystery, this one rises above the few that I’ve read. My only qualm is a fair number of grammatical, spelling and typo errors in the beginning pages. Story moved along well, there were some funny parts, and I loved the pet psychic angle.
June 13, 2025
Loved it! Love the idea of a fake pet psychic who suddenly realizes she can communicate with animals. It's very funny and a good mystery too. Highly recommend especially if you need a good laugh or something to perk you up when you're stressed or bummed out.
June 27, 2025
A fake pet psychic is suddenly able to read visions from animals. She tries to solve a murder in which a dog witnessed. The writing needed improvement. At times I had to reread parts to determine who actually said what. Also, the connection between characters was poorly developed.
July 21, 2025
I can’t believe I bought seven books before reading the first.
1. Solving a mystery with psycho babble. 2. I skipped so-o-o many paragraphs to not get bogged down in unnecessary ramblings. There will be 6 books collecting Kindle dust.
1. Solving a mystery with psycho babble. 2. I skipped so-o-o many paragraphs to not get bogged down in unnecessary ramblings. There will be 6 books collecting Kindle dust.
August 3, 2025
Not so funny
I was a little disappointed that this book was not out loud laughing material. When its introduced as funnier than another author, I expect it to be true. Not true. It dragged a little and then fast forward rushed at the end.
I was a little disappointed that this book was not out loud laughing material. When its introduced as funnier than another author, I expect it to be true. Not true. It dragged a little and then fast forward rushed at the end.
September 27, 2025
Delightful!
Meet Frankie Chandler, Pet Psychic, faking it, till it suddenly gets real. Real as in reading animals thoughts, and murders. This is a quick, well written mystery, filled with prerequisite characters, and of course pets…..lots and lots of pets.
Meet Frankie Chandler, Pet Psychic, faking it, till it suddenly gets real. Real as in reading animals thoughts, and murders. This is a quick, well written mystery, filled with prerequisite characters, and of course pets…..lots and lots of pets.
January 6, 2026
Simply a fun way to solve a murder
Characters you can relate to; dogs and other p
ets play important parts; mystery and murder. All in a small town setting visualized through Characters eyes. Quick read, but interesting enough to want to read more like it!
Characters you can relate to; dogs and other p
ets play important parts; mystery and murder. All in a small town setting visualized through Characters eyes. Quick read, but interesting enough to want to read more like it!
June 2, 2022
Words with Friends
This book grabbed me from the beginning, and I couldn't put it down. Imaginative, respectful to animals, and clever, the final twist was very satisfying.
This book grabbed me from the beginning, and I couldn't put it down. Imaginative, respectful to animals, and clever, the final twist was very satisfying.
October 13, 2022
Fun read
I enjoyed this book. Finished it in a day and a half. Mostly because I love dogs, but it was fun and entertaining.
I enjoyed this book. Finished it in a day and a half. Mostly because I love dogs, but it was fun and entertaining.
January 1, 2023
Good book
Easy reader, good plot. Goody cozy mystery read.g
A different type of detective book
I fully Enjoyed reading this book.
Easy reader, good plot. Goody cozy mystery read.g
A different type of detective book
I fully Enjoyed reading this book.
January 3, 2023
3.5
I'm not sure what I think about this one, but I liked it enough to try the second.
I'm not sure what I think about this one, but I liked it enough to try the second.
January 22, 2024
This was just fun! Enjoy it.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews