Flash by Donna Ball

 
I just finished a book by Donna Ball.  I have never read her before.  She writes in many genres and with a few different names.  But I haven't read any of those, either.  I will now.

Flash is the first book in a new series, the Dogleg Mysteries.  Dogleg is an island off the coast of Florida. Two years previously there was a murder and one of the responding police officers was shot in the head, but survived.

Most of the book takes place after that event with a few flash backs as the police office who was shot starts to recover her memory in fits and starts.  The upcoming court case for the shooter seems to trigger these flashbacks.

When the police officers responded to the ringing alarm, they discovered two bodies, a man with bloody hands holding a gun and a small and distraught Border Collie puppy.    As his owners are either dead or in jail for murder, the police officer who was shot adopts him and he becomes a de facto police dog.  The puppy has what looks like a streak of lightning on his head and is named Flash.

In the Spencer Quinn dog mysteries, Chet, the dog, is an active partner in the crime fighting duo.  The books are told from his view point.  In this book Flash is very useful in scenting things and bringing them to the attention of Aggie Malone, who, since the shooting, has become the Police Chief of Dogleg Island. 

But the story is not Flash's to tell.  In fact it is not until the end of the book that he realizes that there is a reason to apprehend the real shooter in the story.  He knows, but that is in the past and dogs live in the here and now.

I like a murder mystery without too much blood, a bit of a romance and add in a smart and helpful dog and this book was a winner. I will look for future books in the series.  I will also check out some of her other series.