Cheap Lady Vanishes: A Rachel Alexander and Dash Mystery (Rachel Alexander & Dash Mysteries (Hardcover)) (Book) (Carol Lea Benjamin) Price

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Customer Reviews of Lady Vanishes: A Rachel Alexander and Dash Mystery (Rachel Alexander & Dash Mysteries (Hardcover))

LADY IS A PULI, A THERAPY DOG
Here is a great team for mysterylovers thai I had overlooked. Rachel Alexander and her pit bullterrier named Dash have a workingrelationship with Rachel a detective and Dash a therapy dog.They are hired by Venus White whomanages Harbor View for two reasons. First find Lady, theresident dog therapist at HV andfind out who murdered Harry, theowner of HV. And as long as you're at it, protect Venus whomay be the next victim. With witand humor Rachel solves the mysteries without much help from Venus. There is a plot afoot totake over Harbor View for financial gain but who are the perpetrators? Among the autisticand throw-away people living at HVwe find the underlying personalities of people who cannotspeak for themselves and how atrained therapy dog can help them.The author has pit bull terriers as pets and therapy dogs and trains other dogs for this valuable treatment becoming morepopular in the medical field as the use expands daily. Needless tosay mission accomplished as thebook comes to a close. A verygood read that causes tears andlaughs. This is one author I amgoing to read her earlier books. She also helps the reader think that maybe all pit bull terriersare not to be feared if given loveand good training instead of being trained to be a fighter. Also reccommend "The Other Side ofMe" for a good gentle read on adifferent subject.

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Entertaining
When Rachel Alexander and her sidekick Dash find out about a missing therapy dog, better known as Lady, they are immediatley on the case. Soon Rachel and Dash are uncovering secrets and trying to help innocent victims before it's too late.

I found this to be another excellent book by Carol Lea Benjamin, and recommend it to all fans of the Rachel Alexander and Dash book series.

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An intensely entertaining tale
Carol Lea Benjamin is an expert dog trainer, and has written several books on the subject. She has taught dog training seminars in the U.S. and Canada. She wrote her first Rachel and Dash novel, This Dog For Hire, in 1996, followed by The Dog Who Knew Too Much and A Hell Of A Dog. Her first Rachel and Dash novel won the Shamus Award from Private Eye Writers of America. Ms. Benjamin is a resident of Greenwich Village, New York.

In her fourth Dash and Rachel mystery, Rachel Alexander and her pit bull Dash enter the world of autistic, or "throwaway" people. Lady, the resident therapy dog at Harbor View has disappeared, and the owner and main benefactor, Harry Dietrich, has been killed in a bizarre hit-and-run bike accident. Venus, the current administrator of Harbor View, contacts Rachel for her skills as a dog therapist. But it quickly becomes evident that Venus needs Rachel's expertise as a detective, but she is reticent about explaining the reasons why she is so frightened:

"If Venus had been so lonely, where had it come from--the married man she met online? And why was I hearing about him anyway? What did he have to do with a missing dog, a dead old guy, a bunch of witnesses who don't speak and couldn't tell you the time of day if they did, and this gorgeous, mysterious black woman who hires me because she thinks her life's in danger, then won't tell me why?"

Ms. Benjamin manages to grab the reader with this low-key tale about dog wisdom, autism, and murder. From page one there is a wistful tone of whodunit, mixed with the obvious love the author holds for dogs, training, and dog-to-human therapy. We are quickly ensconced into Rachel and Dash's world, and their own particular talents. The mystery is almost a background issue, but nonetheless it is a real corker.

Ms. Benjamin uses wit, rigorous observational skills, and just plain old common sense to endear the reader to her characters. She spares no detail about autism, so that the reader comes away from this intensely entertaining tale both satisfied and a little wise. Rachel is a down-to-earth character who has the uncanny ability to bring out the innermost secrets in virtually everyone she meets. She is a real find as a crime solver, and is a true humanitarian to boot.

Shelley Glodowski, Reviewer