Best Doggone Mysteries and Thrillers
Posted on July 15, 2025
by Amy H
Something about pooches and sleuthing just goes together. Take a look at these wonderful mysteries (either first in a series or stand alones) featuring clever pups on the trail to justice.
dog on it by Spencer Quinn
Chet is the most earnestly loveable doggo who would do anything for his beloved down-on-his-luck detective friend Bernie. The duo take a case involving a frantic mother searching for her teenage daughter who may or may not have been kidnapped, but has definitely gotten mixed up with some very unsavory characters. With Chet’s highly trained nose leading the way, their hunt for clues takes them to exotic locales and the resourceful duo soon lands in the paws of peril. Spencer Quinn’s irresistible mystery kicks off a delightful series that will have readers panting for more.
deception cove by Owen Laukkanen
Former US Marine Jess Winslow has little more to her name than a medical discharge for PTSD and a loyal dog named Lucy, who helps Jess cope with devastating memories of her time in Afghanistan. After a stint in prison, Mason Burke seeks a fresh start by visiting Lucy, the service dog he trained while behind bars. Mason finds Lucy and Jess in trouble from when Jess's late husband stole a valuable package from a drug dealer. Now the package is gone, and the sheriff's department has seized Jess's dearest possession: her dog. Unless Jess turns over the missing goods, Lucy will be destroyed. The last thing Mason wants is to be dragged back into the criminal world. The last thing Jess wants is to trust a stranger. But neither of them can leave Lucy in danger so they'll have to forge an uneasy alliance, find the package and fight back.
the scent of murder by Kylie Logan
Jazz, high school teacher and a volunteer cadaver dog trainer, is training a dog in an abandoned building in downtown Cleveland, when a real body turns up on the scene. Jazz is stunned by the discovery of this young woman, and even more shocked when she recognizes the cadaver's face as that of a former student. Who killed her―and why? In an instant, the case has become personal. . .and even more so when the detective leading the investigation turns out to be a man Jazz used to love. What will it take for Jazz to solve this mystery while keeping her heart intact . . . before the killer strikes again?
lone wolf by Sara Driscoll
This first book in Driscoll’s FBI K-9 series introduces Special Agent Meg Jennings and Hawk, her search-and-rescue Labrador. The team must race against time to track down a bomber who is one of the deadliest killers in the country.
breaking creed by Alex Kava
Two investigators, FBI agent Maggie O’Dell and Ryder Creed, an ex-marine turned K-9 rescue dog trainer, discover a secret contraband compartment on a commercial fishing vessel off the Florida coast. But the Colombian cartel’s latest shipment isn’t drugs…it’s human. Agent O’Dell also uncovers a hit list with Creed’s name on it-but by the time she finds it, it might be too late.
suspect by Robert Crais
This thrilling mystery features traumatized LAPD officer, Scott James, who is recovering from an assault in which he was badly wounded and his partner was killed. James is barely fit to return to duty until he’s paired with his new partner Maggie, a bomb-sniffing German shepherd that lost her handler in Afghanistan. Their partnership offers healing for both, but when they set out to investigate Scott’s assault and his previous partner’s death, they might uncover information that could break them both.
the pomeranian always barks twice by Alex Erickson
Helping animals is a family business for the Dentons. They are called to help Timothy Fuller who is unable to continue caring for his beloved elderly Pomeranian, Stewie. But a rival rescue group is already there when they show up at the Fuller house-along with a nurse and Mr. Fuller's sour-faced son. After an unpleasant argument, the Dentons reschedule the pickup for later. But by the time they return, Stewie is an orphan. Mr. Fuller has been found with a knife in his back. And it's the Denton's son Ben, who'd stopped off to visit one of Mr. Fuller's neighbors, has been collared. Now solving the mystery is the Denton's only hope for rescuing their son . . .
open and shut by David Rosenfelt
Defense attorney Andy Carpenter prefers the company of his best friend, Tara, a golden retriever, who is clearly smarter than half the lawyers who clog the courts of Passaic County. After his dad, New Jersey's legendary ex-D.A., drops dead in front of him, Andy discovers two unexpected legacies: a fortune of $22 million that he never knew existed and a murder case with enough racial tinder to burn down City Hall. Struggling to serve justice and honor his father, Andy must dig up some explosive political skeletons-- and an astonishing family secret that can close his case (and his mouth) for good. First in a series.
a borrowing of bones by Paula Munier
Ex-soldier Mercy Carr and retired military K-9 Elvis were both traumatized when Mercy’s fiancé-also Elvis’s handler-was killed on their last deployment. When Elvis alerts to explosives and the pair find an abandoned baby near a shallow grave filled with what appear to be human bones, they join forces with a game warden and his search-and-rescue Newfoundland to try to track down the baby’s mother, solve a cold-case murder, and keep the citizens of Northshire, Vermont safe from potentially the most incendiary Independence Day since the American Revolution.
the kill switch by James Rollins
First in a series, this spin-off from Rollins’s Sigma Force series introduces former US Army Ranger, Tucker Wayne, and his exceptionally skilled military K-9 partner Kane. For those who love military thrillers and stories about working dogs, this is a team you won’t want to miss.
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