Rachel Alexander and Dash
Created by Carol Lea Benjamin

Private snooper RACHEL ALEXANDER is hopefully also a public scooper as she teams up with her precious pitbull pooch Dashiell to solve mysteries in the Big Apple. Lots of digressions about the dog, unfair portrayal of pit bulls in the media, blah, blah, blah....whaddya expect from a former dog trainer? Rachel even uses Dash as a therapy dog in 1999's Lady Vanishes, something Dash is evidently trained to be. At least it's not cats, I guess....

And in fact, this series -- despite the trappings -- has more going for it than a few cute trappings. Author Benjamin even nabbed a Shamus for Best First P.I. Novel in 1997. Not so much a private eye novel, to tell you the truth, as a cozy (or maybe a warm'n'cuddly?) with a private eye lead character, but surprisingly enjoyable for fans of the genre, nonetheless.

NOVELS

• This Dog For Hire (1996)
• The Dog Who Knew Too Much (1997)
• A Hell of a Dog (1998)
• Lady Vanishes (1999). Buy this book
• The Wrong Dog (2000) . Buy this book
• The Long Good Boy (2001) .Buy this book
• Fall Guy (2004). Buy this book
• Without a Word (2005).. Buy this book