Retro Reading: Begging for Trouble by Judi McCoy
A Valentine's Day Murder and a Witness Who Won't Talk
In the fourth installment of Judi McCoy's Dog Walker Mystery series, Begging for Trouble, it's Valentine's Day and Ellie Engleman has received four passes to Club Guess Who compliments of her client, Rob Chesney.
Things aren't what they appear to be at the trendy Manhattan nightclub where the performers are all female impersonators, but one thing that's real is the murder of Carmella Sunday.
Once Carmella's body is discovered backstage, Rob soon becomes the main suspect since he's holding the scissors that killed the performer. Rivals yes, but could Rob really be capable of murder?
That's what Ellie's boyfriend Det. Sam Ryder seems to think. Of course Sam didn't want to go to the club in the first place but felt he was obligated to go with Ellie. Uncomfortable, he's not sure how his co-workers will react to him being there when they arrive on the scene.
While Ellie's been harangued in the past about being in the wrong place at the wrong time this time there's a witness to the murder. It's Rob's Poodle/Chihuahua mix Bitsy and it's going to take her a long time before she talks. No matter what Ellie does she can't get the little dog to tell her what she saw and even her dog Rudy can't get her to talk.
For those who have read the previous installments, McCoy not only has the knack for telling a great story but in this installment she has Ellie pulling a "Lucy Ricardo" by hiding under a makeup table and trying to think how Bitsy would as well as seeing life from this vantage point.
Throughout this series the question has always been poised as to what if you could talk to your pet and what would you talk about? I've always wondered what my pets would say, but I think I already know the answer to that question.
Ellie and Rudy have one of the most touching relationships in fiction today and they make also make a great crime solving pair.
