The Rachel Alexander And Dash Mysteries

From former detective turned noted author and dog trainer, Carol Lea Benjamin, comes the fourth book in the critically-lauded Rachel Alexander mystery series, with a sharp new package--and for the first time in mass market! Dash, Rachel Alexander's pit bull terrier, has come to be known as half a sleuthing team. But when not called upon to solve crimes he has another very important job: that of a therapy dog, working with people who are developmentally challenged. Lady, a mop-coated puli, was the therapy dog at Harbor View, a Greenwich Village home for "throw away" people. But now lady has vanished...and the owner of the home has been killed in a bizarre and mysterious hit-and-run accident. Rachel and Dash are the perfect duo to tackle this mystery: she can find the answers and Dash can bring a sense of calm and order to the residents. As the pieces start coming together, Rachel and Dash not only expose an ugly plot, but also help some innocent victims find justice in a world that too often ignores them.

A Greenwich Village PI and her pit bull hunt down killers in these three smart, witty mysteries from a Shamus Award winner. In This Dog for Hire, the debut of New York private detective Rachel Alexander and her pit bull, Dash—short for Dashiell—a hit-and-run leaves a local painter dead and his show dog, a basenji, temporarily missing. After cracking that case, Rachel and Dash return in The Dog Who Knew Too Much to investigate a t’ai chi teacher’s fatal leap from a window. Rachel suspects there’s more involved, as the woman would never have left her beloved Akita behind. Rounding out the collection is A Hell of a Dog, in which Rachel, a former dog trainer herself, must find out who’s killing off trainers at a professional gathering at a posh New York City hotel. With comparisons to the mysteries of Laurien Berenson and Susan Conant, these novels—with “excellent” writing and a “nice touch of humor”—are an involving, atmospheric read for fans of strong female PIs, especially those with furry sidekicks (Library Journal).

Someone is killing off the great dog trainers of the world—and it’s up to PI Rachel Alexander and her pit bull, Dash, to collar the murderer Rachel has just been hired as undercover security at a dog-training symposium at a posh Manhattan hotel. How can the Greenwich Village PI and her pit bull, Dashiell, turn down the hefty fee, plus free room and biscuits at the Ritz? All Rachel has to do is keep the peace among the competitive diva dog trainers who have come with their prize pooches from all corners of the globe. She and Dash have barely infiltrated the festivities when they find out that one of the trainers, the self-proclaimed guru of a controversial obedience technique, has been electrocuted in his bathtub. The cops are calling it an accident. Until another trainer dies . . . and then another. With suspects including a dog psychic and a behaviorist to the stars, Rachel discovers that it’s the humans who need to be housebroken as she and Dash bring a serial killer to heel. A Hell of a Dogis the 3rd book in the Rachel Alexander and Dash Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

Private investigator Rachel Alexander and her pit bull Dashiell return in this stylish, dark, emotionally complex seventh mystery from former detective and noted dog trainer Carol Lea Benjamin. When a distraught father approaches private investigator Rachel Alexander in a New York City park, asking her to help find his missing wife, Rachel accepts––reluctantly. After all, the chances of finding a woman who disappeared without a trace––and without a word––five years earlier are slim. But it's the missing woman's daughter who touches her most deeply––a troubled young girl whose mother's disappearance has rendered her mute. The child is also suspected of the murder of her doctor, a rich neurologist who was brutally stabbed one night while he was alone in his office. Rachel knows the disturbed girl can't be a murderer, but her investigation reveals that against all odds, it could be someone from her past. And against a backdrop of betrayal, neglect, and a city at times as lonely and frightening as a child's worst nightmares, Rachel's involvement in the case uncovers issues more complex, and more heartbreaking, than she's ever seen––problems that someone was willing to die, or even kill, for.

In New York City, PI Rachel Alexander of Greenwich Village investigates a hit-and-run, aided by Dash, her pit bull who can sense danger. The victim was a gay painter, and suspects range from people after his art to people after his prize dog. A debut in fiction.

A dog trainer-turned-PI and her pit bull go after a killer—with a little help from a courageous dachshund—in this mystery by a Shamus Award winner. Rachel and Dash have a new client. Well, three new clients. A trio of transvestite working girls want Rachel to investigate the death of one of their own. Rosalinda’s throat was slashed on Halloween right after the Greenwich Village parade. Finding her killer isn’t exactly the NYPD’s top priority—and LaDonna, Chi Chi, and Jasmine are terrified that they’ll be next. With her cash retainer in hand—and very few leads—Rachel starts digging. What is the connection between Rosalinda and a dead butcher? Soon, with the help of Chi Chi’s mini-dachshund, Clint, Rachel is breaking into a plant in the Meatpacking District. But her future is suddenly on the line when she sets herself up as bait to catch the killer. As Rachel follows a twisting trail with only Dash for protection, she discovers that her foray into “the life” could end with her own untimely death. The Long Good Boy is the 6th book in the Rachel Alexander and Dash Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

A lifelong New Yorker, Private Investigator Rachel Alexander has lived through some rough times—from 9/11, to a difficult divorce, to cases that have taken her to the depths of the city's dark underbelly. But when wealthy business owner Eleanor Redstone approaches Rachel to ask if she can investigate her father's murder—a brutal slaying that occurred when he was pushed onto the subway tracks—Rachel takes the case, plunging herself into parts of the city only its poorest residents have ever known. Because to solve Gardner Redstone's murder, Rachel must disguise herself as a homeless woman and live on the streets, searching for the dispossessed man witnesses say made the fatal push. In one of the coldest winters New York City has seen in years, Rachel is helped by a homeless Iraq War veteran, a man whose sad circumstances leave Rachel pondering her own fortunate life. From critically-acclaimed author Carol Lea Benjamin, a writer the Cleveland Plain-Dealer calls "first rate," this is another illuminating look into the heart of New York, a mystery with heartbreaking characters, and a story you'll never forget.

The path to enlightenment is fraught with danger when Greenwich Village PI Rachel Alexander and her pit bull, Dash, investigate the death of a tai chi practitioner Did she jump or was she pushed? Devastated by the loss of their only child, David and Marsha Jacobs hire Rachel to find out why Lisa leaped to her death from the fifth-floor window of her martial arts studio. The tai chi instructor, who was studying to be a Zen Buddhist priest, seemed to have it all: beauty, brains, a vocation she adored, a sexy lover--and her beautiful, sad-eyed Akita, who may have been the only witness to her death and is still grieving the loss of his mistress. Refusing to believe that Lisa would abandon her beloved pet--and with only a suspicious suicide note to go on--Rachel and her canine assistant, Dash, hit the streets of downtown New York, retracing the dead woman's steps to figure out whether she was yin to a killer's yang. The Dog Who Knew Too Muchis the 2nd book in the Rachel Alexander and Dash Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.