Recommended Reads: Vivid passionate writing in murder mystery ‘Run Dog Run’

Kate Carraway is devastated when a poacher shooting incident causes her eviction from Africa and her beloved elephant research project. She ends up traveling to a friend’s ranch in Texas. Kate and her husband look forward to a restful visit with their friends to revitalize and make future plans. But planning is put on hold when a mystery surfaces surrounding a prominent neighbor rancher. Kate is drawn into investigating possible racing greyhound abuse, and finds murder added to the stakes after she finds a body. Danger pushes the animals to Run Dog Run by Kathleen Kaska, while the sleuth Kate Caraway also races to find the killer, before she becomes the next victim.

Vivid, passionate writing draws you into this action-packed puzzler. The plot immediately tugs at the heart when Kate’s goddaughter asks for her help solving a mystery about possible racing greyhound dog abuse. It’s the determination to protect these beautiful animals that cannot defend themselves against this killer that drives the suspense.Unfortunately for these characters “good judgment was often lost in a moment of passion.” It’s these moments that can result in either tragic mistake or heartfelt sacrifice. And after scratching the surface of this case, Kate finds there’s even bigger issues buried below.

This killer is ruthless, but is pitted against a skilled sleuth. Character Kate Carraway best describes the key to the chase. “She was used to seeing the kill in a killer’s eyes as with the predators on the African plains. It was impossible to hide. Her binoculars would be focused on the eyes of the big cats — lions and cheetahs motionless in the grass, leopards crouched in trees. Their prey would see it too — an instinctual fear would shoot through the air like a bolt of electricity. It was survival in its most raw form. Prey who misread the signals did not survive . . . . A killer could lie, deceive, and even charm victims, but could never hide that look in the eyes.”

Best known for her Kate Caraway Animal-Rights Mystery Series, Kathleen Kaska is also author of the Sydney Lockhart series, which are wonderful, historical mysteries; each of these is set in a different, incredible, grand hotel. Kathleen Kaska has also published trivia books on today’s favorite mystery writers, teaches workshops, and is a contributing writer to multiple magazines.

Her Alfred Hitchcock and Sherlock Holmes trivia books were finalists for the 2013 EPIC award in nonfiction. She’s also marketing director for Cave Art Press. Her 5-Minute Writings Tips blog posts are published in book form – Do You Have a Catharsis Handy: Five-Minute Writing Tips? When not writing, Kathleen spends much of her time traveling the country’s back roads and byways; bird-watching; and looking for new locales for her mysteries.

And if you want to hear more from the author, listen on YouTube to – Kendall & Cooper Talk Mysteries with Kathleen Kaska.

— By Wendy Kendall

Wendy Kendall is a writer, project manager and volunteer at the Edmonds Library. Follow her via her blog here or on Twitter @wendywrites1.

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