Blind Bloodhound Justice - Hardcover

Lanier, Virginia

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0060175478 ISBN 13: 9780060175474

Publisher: HarperCollins, 1998

Synopsis

Asked to look into the decades-old murder of a nanny and child when their convicted killer, who has steadfastly proclaimed his innocence, is released from prison, Jo Beth and her beloved canines are soon hot on the trail of the truth. Tour.

About this title

About the Author

Virginia Lanier lives with her husband on the edge of the Okefenokee Swamp, in Echols County, Georgia. She is the award-winning author of The House on Bloodhound Lane, Death in Bloodhound Red, and A Brace of Bloodhounds. She is a member of the American Bloodhound Club and Sisters in Crime.

Reviews

YA-Jo Beth Sidden gathers her well-trained employees, her knowledge of the natural environments of Georgia, and, of course, her bloodhounds as she searches for the children of two different kidnapping events. Although both crimes happened locally and involved murder, they occurred 30 years apart. Jo Beth ultimately finds the answers, but not without several adrenaline-pumping moments. Lanier weaves the dual plots together, switching attention from one incident to the other and then back again, all the while layering these events with what is currently happening in Jo Beth's life as well as slipping in some clues about what will become the second surprise ending. The author conjures up both the beauty and dangers of the land. Completing the small-town setting, she includes gossipy details as well as family relationships that act as the community's dependable code for social, financial, and status levels. A colorful procession of secondary characters includes feisty older female do-gooders, the town drunk, an ex-con, some rednecks, Jo Beth's deadly ex-husband, and a resident lunatic. Lanier makes them all memorable in their human mix of good and evil. Exciting and often surprising, this deftly crafted installment in the Jo Beth mysteries leaves readers hoping for more.
Pam Johnson, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Lanier's fourth spine-tingling foray into Georgia's Okefenokee Swamp with dog trainer Jo Beth Sidden and her crew lives up to the promise of her debut, Death in Bloodhound Red (1995). As part of his medical parole, convicted slayer Samuel Debbs has to report to Sheriff Hank Cribbs. Debbs says he didn't commit the crime for which he received a life sentenceAa double murder during a kidnapping 30 years ago. Not willing to reopen the case but curious about the crime, Hank taps Jo Beth's avid curiosity, tempting her to look into the case. As she balances her job as a trainer and tracker (with one particularly harrowing search in the swamp for a mother and baby), Jo Beth reads the files on the case. She learns that two baby girls were snatched from a nursemaid, and that one of babies and the nanny were killed. Debbs was arrested and convicted; later, when the wealthy father of the surviving girl died, she became ward of the slain child's dad. He and the now grown woman are returning to Georgia. Jo Beth visits Debbs, who shakes her conviction in his guilt. Like the bloodhounds she trains, Jo Beth tracks down everyone involved in the case and finally locates the truth. Lanier shows an increasing mastery of plot and pacing to complement the established sass-appeal of the endearingly ornery Jo Beth.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Finally, an authentic mystery for Jo Beth Siddenthough one as remote as ever from her bloodhound-raising skills (A Brace of Bloodhounds, 1997, etc.). This time, shes to check out the claims to innocence of Samuel Debbs, who was convicted 30 years ago for kidnapping two babies and murdering one of them (and their nursemaid to boot) but whos now been freed on a medical parole so he can die at home. Most of the witnesses to the crime are long dead, of course, and Jo Beth's in no hurry to get around to the others, especially when there's her ex-husband Bubba, still as homicidally frisky as ever, to worry about, and a brand-new kidnaping that'll take her and one of her beloved hounds into Okefenokee Swamp for a heartstopping chase. The new kidnaping doesn't have anything to do with the rest of the story, but it utterly outclasses the lackadaisical Q&A it interrupts, especially since the solution to the ancient mystery is cribbed from an even more ancient American classic. Readers who aren't partial to dogs will appreciate the way Lanier's canines, the real detectives here, actually earn the regard that lesser authors' dogs are paid; others may wish that Lanier could either integrate her gripping tracking sequences into a more suspenseful plot or dispense with detection altogether and commit herself to a full-dress chase novel. Other bonuses for readers who stay the course: Jo Beth's unsentimental toughness and her endless network of down-home Georgians. Not everybody will consider this last plus a plus. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Series sleuth Jo Beth Sidden (The House on Bloodhound Lane, HarperCollins, 1996) uses her trained bloodhounds for help in solving a 40-year-old double murder. A rural Georgia atmosphere and down-to-earth prose make for good reading.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0060175478
• ISBN 13: 9780060175474
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288