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SHEPHERD'S CROOK by Sheila Webster Boneham

SHEPHERD'S CROOK

by Sheila Webster Boneham

Pub Date: Oct. 8th, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7387-4487-2
Publisher: Midnight Ink/Llewellyn

A herd of missing sheep is only the beginning of a series of seemingly interconnected mysteries.

Even though her focus is meant to be on her Australian shepherd, Jay, at his sheep-herding test, Janet MacPhail can’t resist getting a little overly involved when two dozen sheep go missing during the exam. Maybe that’s why she and her boyfriend/partner/long-term whatever Tom Saunders are such a good fit: she’s the busybody and he’s the laid-back voice of reason. Take their living situation. As Tom plans to finally move in with Janet, she fears the loss of her independence, while he’s steadfast in his belief that things will work out. Janet’s job as a professional animal photographer affords her the independence she seeks, but because she can’t back down from the mystery of the sheep, she finds herself reviewing photographs of the event for potential evidence. She may be meddlesome, but her heart is in the right place, because she wants to help the sheep’s owners, Evan and Summer Winslow, who could be ruined by the loss. The investigation, however, reveals an even greater loss when the trouble with missing sheep turns into a murder case. Janet has a natural companion in fellow busybody Giselle, whose recent personal connection to the local Indiana PD could help the two crack the case.

Boneham (Catwalk, 2014, etc.), who’s at her best when she’s able to incorporate funny bits into her storyline, struggles once more with the generic baddies and political higher-ups who are cut to the same measure every time.