Book Review Who Killed the Dog Lady

Now that so many of us are under stay-at-home orders during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, I'm making time to read even more than normal. To help you make reading selections, here is our book review Who Killed the Dog Lady -- a murder mystery from author Kathy Cohen.

Book Review - Who Killed the Dog Lady?

I had one issue with the book that we'll discuss below, but that aside ... 

I really did enjoy this novel:

• It's a good read.
• The book includes some humor and some television reporter insights.
• It features quirky characters and even a little budding love interest, maybe. 
• Some sections feel so suspenseful that my heart raced a little. 
• The story offers up enough possible suspects to keep things interesting. 

Fair warning that the book includes some graphic crime scene details as well as descriptions of conditions at a puppy mill and some drug-use / addiction content that may be triggering. Those scenes are relatively brief and important to the arc of the story. 

You can follow author Kathy Cohen on Facebook, and you can see all of her books on Amazon -- including another mystery with the same main character called Murder on the Night Shift. I've not read that one. It's alluded to, though, in Who Killed the Dog Lady. Maybe read that one first. 

Our Book Review Rules

In our upfront book review rules, I say the following: 

Champion of My Heart promotes positive reinforcement, pain-free, intimidation-free dog training. I do NOT condone the dangerous, debunked, and scientifically inaccurate dominance theory in dog training, including the people who promote it. Simply, I don't subscribe to the whole "pack leader" thing. I loathe the term "alpha," and we abhor shock collars, choke collars, pinch/prong collars, and any other dog training tool that hurts or scares dogs.

If I come across alpha dog or dog dominance in a book or mention of people (famous or otherwise) who use such methods, and it isn't done to argue against it, then I will stop reading immediately and NOT review the book. Period.

I'm simply exhausted with people who should know better using the term alpha / pack leader. I wholeheartedly support this anti-alpha article by Pat Miller, which reads in part ... "Why every mention of 'alpha dogs' or 'dominant' dogs is dangerous to all dogs."

Except ...

I really was enjoying Who Killed the Dog Lady? when I came to the first alpha reference.

The dogs are never harmed or punished. They are just dogs living together and learning to get along. However, I still instantly bristle when any interactions get described on dominance / alpha terms.

For a long time I always asked about any alpha stuff before agreeing to review a book, but it hasn't come up in so long that I forgot to ask this time.  

I contacted Kathy to let her know that I would NOT be reviewing the book for that reason, and the conversation resulted in me having the opportunity to suggest other ways to describe interactions between the dogs in the book. 

Kathy offered to revise the 4-5 spots in the book that use dominance  /  alpha language. However, with the pandemic, there are major delays (like weeks and weeks) in getting updated versions of the book's e-book / kindle files and the files from which printed copies get made. 

She is currently getting steady income from people who read Who Killed the Dog Lady? through Kindle Unlimited, YAY! She is also worried about messing that up by submitting updated book files. Totally understandable, especially now with so many people seeing their work / income vanish during the pandemic. 

So ... I'm breaking my own rules to review Who Killed the Dog Lady? and help a fellow author out. 

If you're looking for something to read, please consider our book review Kathy's latest dog-centric mystery novel!

And, if you're looking for other dog-centric books to read, use the SEARCH box in the page footer below to search for book reviews to find others we've reviewed in the past. 

Hope you are staying home and safe and healthy!