Blake Mara’s first Dog Park Detectives novel was a good laugh, with plenty of mad dog puns.
While I wasn’t expecting a great deal, I was excited for The Dog Park Detectives 2: Bone Of Contention. Set a few months after the first book, we catch up with Lousie, Irina and the Partridge Bark dog walking group.
Following the closure of the vets in their local area as the owner was found to be a criminal, a new fried chicken shop has opened up in its place, upsetting everyone and causing groups of kids to sit outside.
When a local busybody is found dead in the park by one of the dog walkers, she immediately calls in Louise, the defacto leader of the group who is clearly supposed to be the author’s fictional counterpart.
The savy American businesswoman with her sausage dog Klaus is now pally with the police, and manages to illicit the fact that the victim had a bone from a piece of chicken from the new shop thrust down his throat post-mortem.
Once the initial crime is committed, that’s it. The novel then becomes a mixture of comedy, romance and just a fun romp. There’s a few adventures, like a fire, a beating and a break in, but very little actual investigation.
It’s a good laugh, and not a bad read, but it’s very much not crime fiction. The characters occasionally mention the crime, but generally the plot moves forward focusing on their friendships, relationships, or lack thereof, and most importantly, their dogs.
The dog puns are thick and fast, and pretty much every character has a dog and revolves their lives around them. Like with the first book, I do take issue with the fact that most of the characters call their dogs ‘hounds’- real people don’t do that!
What I notice more in this book than in the first one is that all the characters, even the native Londoners, talk like Americans. There’s no attempt at proper London dialogue in this book.
Then, right at the end, Louise suddenly figures it all out. She hosts a summing up meeting at the local pub, where all the owners and dogs get together and there’s a subtle set-up for another book.
So, while The Dog Park Detectives 2 is a good, fun read, especially for dog lovers like me, it’s simply not crime fiction. It is easy to read and a good laugh at times, there’s no real investigation.
It’s a fast, simple read that will be ideal for keeping you occupied while at the beach or on a long journey, but it’s not one you’ll be reading again or that you’ll probably remember. It’s certainly not a real crime novel, not even a cosy one. But it is easy to read and I’ll definitely check out the next book in the series.
