Big Little Spies (A Paws & Claws Mystery)

Product Description
A pet detective on the hunt for a prominent pooch is found dead, and inn owner Holly Miller has to sort through her guest list for suspects in this all new Paws & Claws mystery in the New York Times bestselling series.

The ladies of the Wagtail Animal Guardians, WAG for short, are in town for a pet adoption charity ball, and Holly is making sure to roll out the red carpet for her special guests. She and her furry best friend Trixie are busy keeping the WAG ladies happy and preparing for the ball when they learn that a retired judge has lost his prized pup. 

The venerable citizen has hired a pet detective who has some personal ties to Holly’s new guests. His presence ruffles some feathers, and when the PI is found DOA not long before the ball, Holly wonders if one of the WAG ladies had a motive for murder. To make matters worse, some pet-loving guests of the ball nearly suffer the same deadly fate. Holly and Trixie will have to sniff out the clues and leash a callous killer before they strike again….
About the Author
Krista Davis is the 
New York Times bestselling author of the Paws & Claws Mysteries and the Domestic Diva Mysteries. Several of her books have been nominated for the Agatha Award. She lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia with a brood of cats and dogs, including a snoopy Jack Russell terrier and a nosy calico cat. Her friends and family complain about being guinea pigs for her recipes, but she notices that they keep coming back for more.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
One

The trouble with whispering is that it draws the attention of everyone within earshot. I was enjoying the summer sunshine, a tall frosty glass of iced tea, and a shrimp salad when I heard Oriana Renouf whisper to Brenda McDade, “You don’t think she would actually hurt him?”

There was no one else on the terrace except for three dogs. My Jack Russell terrier, Trixie, sat with Brenda’s Scottish terrier, Fagan, and Oriana’s saluki, Garbo, at the top of the stairs that led to the lawn. They had undoubtedly heard the unusual question, but gave no sign of it.

Brenda and Oriana were part of a group of five friends that included Louisa Twomey, Joanne Williams, and Addi Lieras. Around the town of Wagtail, the women had been dubbed the WAG Ladies, after WAG, Wagtail Animal Guardians, the rescue where they volunteered their time.

They didn’t reside in Wagtail, but they had taken the town by storm. Theona Barlow, a longtime resident, had set up a satellite branch of Wagtail Animal Guardians in Raleigh, North Carolina, about a five-hour drive from Wagtail, on the theory that more animals would be adopted there by the city’s burgeoning population. Not everyone had the time to travel to Wagtail, she’d reasoned. She had been right. And it was there, at the Raleigh branch of WAG, that the five very well-heeled city-slicker WAG Ladies donated their time.

They had recently arrived with ferocious intensity, turning our peaceful town on its ear. Wagtail, the place where people came to vacation with their beloved pets, was hosting the biggest, fanciest ball in its history. The gala’s name, ‘There’s No Place Like Home,’ evoked nostalgia and pulled at rescuers’ heartstrings. People interested in adopting animals had sent in applications in advance, and we hoped to clear the Wagtail adoption center. The WAG Ladies had coaxed amazing donations out of people to benefit WAG rescue and adoption centers, and their affluent friends had been arriving for the ball, filling every hotel room and leasing most of the rental houses.

Oriana and Joanne had left their husbands at home while they undertook arrangements the week of the ball, but the gentlemen were expected to join them for the weekend and the big event.

I was surprised that they were friends at all, but the five women in their thirties and forties ran in the same social circles in Raleigh, North Carolina. Brenda looked the oldest