Oberon’s Meaty Mysteries: The Purloined Poodle

What do you do if you’re a dog who’s watched enough Sherlock Holmes mysteries on TV to want to solve one? For Oberon, the giant wolfhound, you do what comes naturally: you take on a case the first chance you get, with the help of your faithful druid. In Hearne’s humorous fantasy-mystery novelette, Oberon is lead detect-dog on the hunt for a missing champion poodle named Jack who was abducted from his home in Eugene, Ore. Atticus the druid (familiar from the Iron Druid Chronicles) helps with the legwork, computer searching, transportation, and all that, but interviewing all the canines and sniffing out important clues is Oberon’s forte. Between them, Oberon and Atticus must determine the motives behind a rash of champion dog abductions in order to find the cunning pooch-snatcher. Hearne skillfully balances silly doggy humor, a solidly constructed Sherlockian mystery, and easygoing druidic fantasy in this quick read. Agent: Evan Goldfried, Jill Grinberg Literary. (Oct.)