Under the Dog Star

By Sandra Parshall

Crazy happenings in Mason County, Virginia yet again.  Pet dogs disappearing, rumors of a dog fighting operation, and wild, abandoned dogs roaming the country side in search of livestock.  It all comes to a head when Dr Gordon Hall is killed outside of his home, his throat torn out.  Sheriff's Department investigator Tom Bridger believes that someone was waiting for Hall, and used an attack dog to murder him. Veterinarian Rachel Goddard, meanwhile, is desperately trying to capture and rehabilitate the wild dogs before the locals shoot them.

I like these stories as long as I try to imagine them separately.  Otherwise, it's a crippling blow to rural Virginia tourism, since every story makes you wonder how anyone is still alive.  Thank goodness I like the characters, and I love animals.