A Beanie and Cruiser Mystery series is a great cozy series, especially for basset hound lovers. Sue Owens Wright has a lot to handle in this book. Beanie MacBean fosters basset hounds. This time she fosters Calamity, a rambunctious and ever curious hound who is always hungry. Beanie’ daughter, Nona comes to visit her and has some bad news to deal with. There is also a murder at Lakeside Animal Shelter. The victim is actually found in the gas chamber for dogs. The shelter was so hated for its short kill date that it was called the Auschwitz of shelters. Also the animals were underfed and the holding pens were filthy. The manager is the one murdered, she was constantly losing her temper and it is almost a contest as to who wished her dead the most.

This reviled shelter has so many enemies including the Tahoe Animal Impoundment Liberation. There are several very strong candidates for the killer and yet I could not guess who it was until late in the book. The author also took the opportunity to educate the reading public on the ways of the Washoe Indians. Beanie is a tribe member of this group that is in both Nevada and California. This is a bonus to the great mystery cozy.

The more serious parts of this book are balanced by the antics of Calamity and the funny contests of the annual Waddle rally and parade. For me, this is a perfect cozy and I highly recommend it to all cozy readers. ( )