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Till Death Do Us Bark (Dog Walker Mystery #5), by Judi McCoy
Till Death Do Us Bark is the fifth book in author Judi McCoy’s “Dog Walker Mystery” series. The series follows divorcee Ellie Engleman as she starts her own dog-walking business as a means to combine earning an income with doing something she enjoys, establishing her independence after years of marriage to a rich New York personality who kept her on a strict regimen of gyms and personal trainers. Along the way, Ellie picks up new clients (preferably small dogs), makes new friends and always manages to stumble upon -and solve- a murder.
What makes Ellie different than the clever and curious women of other dog/mystery series? The red-headed, caramel coffee swigging supersleuth has the ability to talk to -and hear- dogs, her own and her clients. Ellie is accompanied on her adventures by her friend and neighbor, Viv, Viv’s dog, Twink, and Ellie’s own best buddy, Rudy, who is actually the reincarnation of her former dog, the pair having been reunited after an unfortunate incident involving Ellie’s mother, the original Rudy and an open front door.
In Till Death Do Us Bark, Ellie leaves her usual New York city surroundings to vacation in the Hamptons, having sworn off the meddling and mystery-solving, much to the relief of her police detective boyfriend. As usual, murder seems to follow Ellie everywhere, and the vacation isn’t relaxing for long.
Part chick-lit, part mystery, part beach read, this series is quite entertaining and has something for everyone. The best part is, proceeds from the purchase of Judi McCoy’s Dog Walker Mysteries benefit Best Friend’s Animal Society. Often, the author offers readers a chance to submit their own dogs as characters for upcoming books. Readers interested in this feature are required to make a donation to Best Friend’s Animal Society, and then provide Judi McCoy with the receipt for the donation and the information about the pet they would like featured. In her most recent novel, a reader and all three of her dogs were written into the story thanks to the reader’s “sizable donation”. The character of Arlene Millman is the series first real life human to be written into a story.
Check out Judi McCoy’s Dog Walker Mysteries at a library near you- or purchase all five, it’s for a good cause! **Thanks to Jennifer Casula for our Dog Book Review of the month. 
