| FICTION/Mystery & Detective/Women Sleuths |
| Fiction |
Summary
Summary
First in the brand-new Anna Hopkins dogwalking mystery series: an intriguing new departure for award-winning YA writer Annie Dalton. Anna Hopkins'' daily walk through Oxford''s picturesque Port Meadow is rudely interrupted one autumn morning when her white German Shepherd, Bonnie, unearths a bloodsoaked body in the undergrowth. For Anna it''s a double shock: she''d met the victim previously. Naomi Evans was a professional researcher who had told Anna she was working on a book about a famous Welsh poet, and who offered to help Anna trace Bonnie''s original owner.From her conversations with Naomi, Anna is convinced that she was not the random victim of a psychopathic serial killer, as the police believe. She was targeted because of what she knew. With the official investigation heading in the wrong direction entirely, Anna teams up with fellow dogwalkers Isadora Salzman and Tansy Lavelle to discover the truth."}}" data-sheets-userformat="{{"2":14401,"3":{{"1":0,"3":1}},"9":0,"14":{{"1":2,"2":0}},"15":"Calibri","16":11}}" style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, Arial;"First in the brand-new Anna Hopkins dogwalking mystery series: an intriguing new departure for award-winning YA writer Annie Dalton.First in the brand-new Anna Hopkins dogwalking mystery series: an intriguing new departure for award-winning YA writer Annie Dalton. Anna Hopkins'' daily walk through Oxford''s picturesque Port Meadow is rudely interrupted one autumn morning when her white German Shepherd, Bonnie, unearths a bloodsoaked body in the undergrowth. For Anna it''s a double shock: she''d met the victim previously. Naomi Evans was a professional researcher who had told Anna she was working on a book about a famous Welsh poet, and who offered to help Anna trace Bonnie''s original owner.From her conversations with Naomi, Anna is convinced that she was not the random victim of a psychopathic serial killer, as the police believe. She was targeted because of what she knew. With the official investigation heading in the wrong direction entirely, Anna teams up with fellow dogwalkers Isadora Salzman and Tansy Lavelle to discover the truth."}}" data-sheets-userformat="{{"2":14401,"3":{{"1":0,"3":1}},"9":0,"14":{{"1":2,"2":0}},"15":"Calibri","16":11}}" style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, Arial;"First in the brand-new Anna Hopkins dogwalking mystery series: an intriguing new departure for award-winning YA writer Annie Dalton. Anna Hopkins'' daily walk through Oxford''s picturesque Port Meadow is rudely interrupted one autumn morning when her white German Shepherd, Bonnie, unearths a bloodsoaked body in the undergrowth. For Anna it''s a double shock: she''d met the victim previously. Naomi Evans was a professional researcher who had told Anna she was working on a book about a famous Welsh poet, and who offered to help Anna trace Bonnie''s original owner.From her conversations with Naomi, Anna is convinced that she was not the random victim of a psychopathic serial killer, as the police believe. She was targeted because of what she knew. With the official investigation heading in the wrong direction entirely, Anna teams up with fellow dogwalkers Isadora Salzman and Tansy Lavelle to discover the truth."}}" data-sheets-userformat="{{"2":14401,"3":{{"1":0,"3":1}},"9":0,"14":{{"1":2,"2":0}},"15":"Calibri","16":11}}" style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, Arial;"Anna Hopkins'' daily walk through Oxford''s picturesque Port Meadow is rudely interrupted one autumn morning when her white German Shepherd, Bonnie, unearths a blood soaked body in the undergrowth. For Anna it''s a double shock: she''d met the victim previously. Naomi Evans was a professional researcher who had told Anna she was working on a book about a famous Welsh poet, and who offered to help Anna trace Bonnie''s original owner.First in the brand-new Anna Hopkins dogwalking mystery series: an intriguing new departure for award-winning YA writer Annie Dalton. Anna Hopkins'' daily walk through Oxford''s picturesque Port Meadow is rudely interrupted one autumn morning when her white German Shepherd, Bonnie, unearths a bloodsoaked body in the undergrowth. For Anna it''s a double shock: she''d met the victim previously. Naomi Evans was a professional researcher who had told Anna she was working on a book about a famous Welsh poet, and who offered to help Anna trace Bonnie''s original owner.From her conversations with Naomi, Anna is convinced that she was not the random victim of a psychopathic serial killer, as the police believe. She was targeted because of what she knew. With the official investigation heading in the wrong direction entirely, Anna teams up with fellow dogwalkers Isadora Salzman and Tansy Lavelle to discover the truth."}}" data-sheets-userformat="{{"2":14401,"3":{{"1":0,"3":1}},"9":0,"14":{{"1":2,"2":0}},"15":"Calibri","16":11}}" style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, Arial;"First in the brand-new Anna Hopkins dogwalking mystery series: an intriguing new departure for award-winning YA writer Annie Dalton. Anna Hopkins'' daily walk through Oxford''s picturesque Port Meadow is rudely interrupted one autumn morning when her white German Shepherd, Bonnie, unearths a bloodsoaked body in the undergrowth. For Anna it''s a double shock: she''d met the victim previously. Naomi Evans was a professional researcher who had told Anna she was working on a book about a famous Welsh poet, and who offered to help Anna trace Bonnie''s original owner.From her conversations with Naomi, Anna is convinced that she was not the random victim of a psychopathic serial killer, as the police believe. She was targeted because of what she knew. With the official investigation heading in the wrong direction entirely, Anna teams up with fellow dogwalkers Isadora Salzman and Tansy Lavelle to discover the truth."}}" data-sheets-userformat="{{"2":14401,"3":{{"1":0,"3":1}},"9":0,"14":{{"1":2,"2":0}},"15":"Calibri","16":11}}" style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, Arial;"> From her conversations with Naomi, Anna is convinced that she was not the random victim of a psychopathic serial killer, as the police believe. She was targeted because of what she knew. With the official investigation heading in the wrong direction entirely, Anna teams up with fellow dog walkers Isadora Salzman and Tansy Lavelle to discover the truth.
Author Notes
Annie Dalton is the author of more than thirty novels for children and young adults, including the Agent Angel series. She has twice been shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal. She lives in Norfolk in a cottage with a ruined castle at the bottom of her garden, with her three cats and a dog called Riley.
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Children's and YA author Dalton (Nightmaze) makes her intriguing, though somewhat contrived, adult debut with the first in a canine mystery series set in Oxford, England. On a walk in the park, Anna Hopkins, an Oxford University administrator, and her white shepherd, Bonnie, come across the bloody corpse of an acquaintance, Naomi Evans, who agreed to help Anna trace Bonnie's history before the dog was left in an animal shelter. Anna, who has avoided other people ever since returning home one night 16 years earlier to find her family slaughtered by a still-unidentified killer, soon opens up to the two fellow dog walkers who rush to the crime scene after hearing her screams: Tansy Lavelle, who works in a vegan café, and Isadora Salzman, who says she's half-Russian and hence "genetically wired to babble." The plot, which involves a hunt for a serial killer and includes a love interest for Anna, follows predictable lines, but dog lovers should be satisfied. (Oct.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
Best known for her YA novels, Dalton now offers her first adult thriller. Sixteen years ago, teenager Anna Hopkins found her entire family brutally slaughtered. The killer was never found. Suffering from survivor's guilt, she has struggled to get her life back on track but seems now to have turned the corner. Then the nightmare begins anew when Anna stumbles upon the battered body of her friend, Naomi. Two women, Tansy and Isadora, appear on the scene just after Anna's grisly discovery, and the women team up to support each other during the investigation. The police conclude that Naomi was a victim of the Oxford Ripper, but Anna and her friends aren't so sure. While Anna is reluctant to re-experience the horror she felt when her family was murdered, she finds herself drawn into the case. As the story weaves its way toward a shocking conclusion, readers will find themselves rooting hard for Anna to somehow find the normal life she has so far been denied. An inventive plot, charismatic characters, and even some black humor combine to make this a good choice for suspense junkies.--Melton, Emily Copyright 2015 Booklist
Library Journal Review
Anna Hopkins is walking Bonnie, her white German Shepherd, through Oxford's picturesque Port Meadow when they come across the corpse of a woman she had just recently met. Why would someone murder researcher Naomi Evans? As Anna investigates with fellow dog walkers Isadora Salzman and Tansy Lavelle, she discovers Naomi may have known too much about certain people who had a lot to lose if their secrets surfaced. Anna is also trying to cope with a childhood trauma that scarred her life. Then there is Jake -McCaffrey, Bonnie's former owner, who is very interested in reconnecting with -the animal, especially if it includes a relationship with Anna. VERDICT YA author Dalton makes her adult mystery debut with this classic British whodunit; its canine element will delight Susan Conant and Laurien Berenson fans. © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.