Play Dead - Softcover

O’Kane, Leslie

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1495368106 ISBN 13: 9781495368103

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2014

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Meet Allie Babcock – The Audacious Dog Therapist with a Flair for Sleuthing At her brand new shop in Boulder, Allie’s very first client is a dejected collie whose previous owner allegedly took her own life. But with a natural nose for crime, Allie soon suspects murder—leaving her dejected canine client as possibly the sole witness to the crime. With the scent fresh, Allie is quickly on the case – but a second murder curtails her investigation. Before taking another step, Allie needs to count her enemies: several suspicious dog owners, a boyfriend with a temper (and a demand for vengeance!), and a mysterious door-to-door salesman with a curious tale to tell... Bizarre salesman, vicious boyfriend and suspect dog owners – one thing is for sure – Allie’s life may never be safe until one of these characters lands in the pen...

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From the Author

I got the idea for this book from an article
Hi, fellow book/dog lovers! I got the idea for this book when reading an article a couple of years ago about a woman here in Boulder who took her dog to doggie day care, but that the dog had to get an antidepressant every day because he had separation anxiety. I remember thinking, "Only in Boulder," and then thinking...wait a minute! What a great idea for a sleuth--a dog behaviorist whose client is depressed after witnessing the murder of his owner!

Though that was the seed for the mystery, taking it from there to a novel meant first and foremost developing the character of Allie Babcock. I based her on my daughter, who is 12 and wants to be a veterinarian someday. That meant projecting myself into my daughter's head twenty years in the future. It's worked well, in that readers of this series plus my other series, THE COLD HARD FAX being my latest, have universally remarked upon how the voices of both main characters were very different, and yet both were very appealling. Interestingly, though, this exercise of projecting myself as my daughter aged another 20 years also meant that I would do the same for myself. Allie's mother is a continuing character in the series. The readers of the first draft of PLAY DEAD said, "Love Allie Babcock. Her mother sure is a (female dog), though." Apparently my husband will have a challenge living with me in a couple of decades.

I truly had a great time writing this book, and I hope you have a great time reading it. My favorite aspect of the book is the insights that Allie gives into dog behavior. One quick tip here before I close: dogs do not have the same cause-effect understanding as people. Disciplining a dog for bad behavior even as little as three seconds after the fact is largely ineffective. You truly need to "catch them in the act," or better yet, anticipate. Happy reading!

About the Author

Leslie O'Kane is the author of 19 mysteries. She began writing when her son was one year old and she realized if she didn't shut down her technical writing business, she would never realize her dream of writing fiction for a living. She gave herself six years to accomplish the feat and got her first contract two months shy of her deadline. She considers the time she was taken hostage in a robbery to be the beginning of her life in crime. Leslie is author of three mystery series: the Molly Masters Mysteries, featuring Leslie's alter ego: a mother of two cartoonist who creates eCards; the Allie Babcock Mysteries about a dog therapist; and the Domestic Bliss Mysteries, featuring interior designers Erin Gilbert and Steve Sullivan. She is currently working on the second book in a new thriller trilogy for young adults. THE SOUL SHIFTERS is about a pair of teens who die and discover that they've unwillingly awakened in the bodies of hospitalized coma patients.

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