A Brace of Bloodhounds

Reading Lanier's books is like being hugged by friendly strangers at someone else's family reunion. It's fun, it's folksy, but you might wonder why you're there. Jo Beth Siddens, bloodhound breeder and trainer extraordinaire, is bossy, lovable and capable. With kennels near Georgia's Okefenokee Swamp, she and her dogs aid police in search-and-rescue operations, drug and arson searches and body recovery. In this third outing (The House on Bloodhound Lane, 1996), she and her exemplary hounds find a kidnapped youngster, capture two bank robbers, sniff out a firebomb, help a young woman gain her rightful inheritance, discover proof of a murder and locate a methamphetamine factory employing illegal aliens. Jo Beth also rescues her assistant and the sheriff (on separate occasions) and shoots an alligator that threatens her puppies. Meanwhile, she conducts a tracking seminar for bloodhound handlers and straightens out her love life, which involves a weekend affair with the police chief of a town 300 miles distant. And Bubba, ex-husband and ex-con, is after her--and he's got nothing amorous on his mind. Lanier crams her books with plots and subplots, characters and dogs and encyclopedic bloodhound lore. It's fun, even though it's hard to keep it all straight, or even catch your breath. (July)