Dead Canaries Don't Sing

by Cynthia Baxter

Book Overview

As a veterinarian, she's more experienced with paw prints than fingerprints. But thanks to her dogged persistence and her knack for landing on her feet, Jessie's got murder on a very short leash. The... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0553586416
• ISBN13: 9780553586411
• Release Date: February 2004
• Publisher: Bantam
• Length: 371 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 4.2" x 7.0"

Customer Reviews

Awful Book

Read this book and be disappointed. It was poorly written and the main character, a veterinarian, speaks like a high schooler. If I hadn't purchased it, I wouldn't have finished it.

Great Veterinarian Amateur Sleuth

Veterinarian, Dr. Jessica Popper heads off to a house call to a local horse farm. She ends up going a back way to the farm and has trouble with her van on the dirt road. Her two dogs take off into the woods and are soon barking. When she goes to investigate, she finds they have discovered a half buried corpse. Max, her Westie, digs up a dead canary which had been planted near the body. Jessica feels compelled to discover who killed Tommee Frack, a PR mogul. She enlists the aid of her on-again off-again boyfriend Nick Burby, P.I. At Tommee Frack's funeral, she ends up befriending his ex-wife. This opens the door for her to talk about Tommee. Jessica being a veterinarian opens the door with many other people in Tommee's life. She is able to find out quite a bit about his personal and business life by talking to these people. To complicate Jessica's personal life, she begins dating a policeman. Where does her heart lie? She is very confused and this complicates her investigation as well. Jessica's neighbor and good friend Betty is threatened. Jessica is concerned she is being followed, but can never get any information on the vehicle to have it traced. She doesn't let any of this stop her in her quest for the truth. Will she be able to discover that truth without anyone else being hurt or killed, herself included? I really enjoyed this book. Jessica is a terrific character and so likeable. I like the premise of her being a traveling veterinarian. The author did a great job of weaving this into the story and making her connections with people be more believable. I would love to have Jessica treat our dog! I hope there will be many books in this series. I highly recommend it!

Loved it!

I loved this book. The author really knows how to tell a good story and has a love of animals. It really is a good read. I could identify with the lead character except for the medical details. I look forward to reading other books in this series. There are not many books that address both animals and detective work. I would highly recommend it. Also, the language is really clear, as if she were talking directly to you.

Intrepid New Pop Fiction Mystery Series

As Veterinarian, Dr. Jessica Popper, sets out on an early house call to a horse farm, her nosy dogs, the one-eyed Dalmation, Lou, and the tailless Westie, Max, stumble upon an unexpected surprise, the corpse of a dead man, half buried in a secluded part of the woods. The two dogs bound around the body, and little Max digs up a dead canary, located right next to the mysterious body. Jessie quickly realizes that this particular corpse was about to spread his wings and sing, but about what, she's not sure of. Now, with the help of her on-again, off-again boyfriend, PI Nick Burby, Jessie begins investigating the crime, which just happens to be dotted with a menagerie of suspects. But her investigation has touched a tender spot, for now, someone wants Jessie off the case bad enough to strike again. In this wonderful new mystery by newcomer Cynthia Baxter, we are introduced to exciting Dr. Jessica Popper, DVM. Jessica and her menagerie of pets are fun new characters, who have a nose for truth, and the curiosity to go along with it. With bits of pop culture dabbed throughout almost every page of DEAD CANARIES DON'T SING, readers will be able to relate easily with situations and characters, and feel as if they are in the story themselves. Filled with various characters who could very likely be the murderer, readers will enjoy the chance to try pinpointing who he (or she) could possibly be. Overall, this was an exciting, intrepid new mystery to hit the market, and I look forward to reading PUTTING ON THE DOG, when it is released. Erika Sorocco Book Review Columnist for The Community Bugle Newspaper

Fun to read and not so easy to solve

Cynthia Baxter weaves together the disparate worlds of veterinary science, public relations, and Long Island history in a fast-paced, enjoyable mystery that I did not solve until the last chapter. The characters build a constellation of interesting suspects, all of whom look fascinatingly and particularly unattractive as their stories come to light for the amateur sleuth and us.There's a multitude of minor characters, which might put one off except that nearly every one advances the plot by inches or yards and each, the reader feels, could well become the subject of another investigation. The protagonist's sharp and witty observations, whether attending a funeral or taking a furtive peek at a shrine to an ex-husband, make the many settings memorably distinct. Her descriptions of interacting with her clients (the real clients, not the ones who simply pay the bill) and her own household menagerie caused this decidedly animal-phobic reader to laugh out loud and reconsider her prejudices. Humor, suspense of several kinds, and information on arcane topics engage readers on almost every page. This is less a mystery to solve than a book simply to enjoy. Unusually, I plan to re-read it before passing it along.

A crowd pleaser

Veterinarian Jessica Popper has a very unique practice called Reigning Cats and Dogs. She has a clinic on wheels and travels allover Long Island meeting her clients in their homes. She just broke off with her boyfriend, a private investigator who she still loves, because he wants to marry her and she wants no part of the institution after seeing all the fights that happened between her parents.One day while driving along the back road of the Atherton Farm to treat a sick horse, her two dogs find a dead body. When Jessica looks at the murdered victim she sees a canary with his neck broken lying next to the human victim. Jessica wholeheartedly throws herself into the investigation determined to unmask the killer. Although she has never done such a thing before, she gets very close to getting some answers but also almost gets herself killed in the process.This amateur sleuth novel has plenty of action and enough romance to appeal to readers of both genres. The heroine has two rescued dogs, an arthritic cat and a parrot that repeats back anything he hears. Jessica is a smart, independent and clever woman who works the case as well as a private investigator and readers will find her actions very believable once the audience overcomes the initial doubt that is part of any first time amateur sleuth voluntary involvement in an investigation. Cynthia Baxter's DEAD CANARIES DON'T SING is a mystery lover's delight.Harriet Klausner