Mona had finally gone off the deep end. “The pet psychic?”
“That’s right.” Tricia’s voice took on a defensive edge.
“Are you kidding me? She left me hanging for an emergency pet reading? Shouldn’t she have at least taken her dog?”
Josephine “Jo” O’Malley, was the local pet psychic. Her business card read “Animal Communicator.” To hear her tell it, she was the animal confidant. Our pets told her what they were afraid to tell us.
She didn’t exactly fit the stereotypical idea of what a pet psychic was supposed to look like. You know, they were either all business or bohemian gypsy.
Jo was total motorcycle chick.
She was nuttier than a fruitcake.
Once, she told me Missy chewed a pair of strappy Marc Jacobs heels because she didn’t feel pretty. First of all, Missy won the ugliest bulldog contest two years ago. She’s well aware she’s “unattractive.” Let’s not even bring up her hideous under bite.
Missy had chewed my heels because I’d left them on the bedroom floor and she was bored.
Jo had also told a mutual client his Lab liked chicken jerky because it reminded him of living on the farm in his other life. I’m pretty sure he liked chicken jerky because dogs like chicken. A no-brainer.
I was hard pressed to believe anyone took Jo seriously. Especially Mona. They didn’t exactly navigate the same social circles.
I continued to white knuckle the drive to the gated community where Tricia and Mona both lived. No longer worried about losing my life at the hands of an armature road racer, I was honked off that Mona had walked out of our business meeting for something completely inconsequential.
My emotions were suddenly in charge again.
I could feel a southern drawl coming on.
Caro’s PAWS Good Dog Treats
Preheat your oven to 350° F.
In a big bowl, combine all the ingredients with just enough water to make it the consistency of cookie dough.
You’ll need:
1/2 cup of creamy unsalted peanut butter
1 cup oat flour
1 cup brown rice flour (Caro uses organic)
1 egg
1 tablespoon of honey
1/2 cup finely grated carrot (Dogbert loves carrots and so does Abbey)
Optional: You can also add cooked bacon, a bit of grated cheese, or other ingredients for flavor, but don’t add too much or it will mess with the consistency of the dough, and cause your treats to fall apart.
Once you’ve got your treat dough all stirred up, put it between pieces of parchment paper and roll it out to about ¼ inch thickness. Then cut the dough with a cookie cutter. You can use whatever shape strikes your fancy. Caro often uses dog bone shapes of different sizes. Next, put them on a regular cookie sheet and bake them between fifteen and twenty minutes or until they’re Golden Retriever brown.
Let them cool and then put them in an airtight container. You can store your PAWS Good Dog treats for about a week (or you can freeze them for later use) but keep an eye on them. There are no preservatives, so watch out for spoilage.
This makes a couple of dozen treats so there’s plenty to go around. Please share them with your dog.
Acknowledgements
We’d like to acknowledge our husbands and our families. Thank you for your stalwart support, your incredible sacrifices through the years, and most of all your unwavering belief in our dreams.
Also, huge thanks to our critique group. Your input, your suggestions, your encouragement is always above and beyond. Cindy, Christine, Laura, and Tami, we could not have done it without you.
And to Alex and the crew at Starbucks Fleur (who know us as the Skinny Hazelnut and the Chai Tea Latte) thanks for always being ready with a table, a hot beverage and a friendly face. And thanks for being so polite when you have to let us know we’ve stayed past closing - again.
We are also grateful to the wonderful people in Laguna Beach, CA who spent time answering our multitude of questions. Any errors are ours alone and we apologize for the creative license we’ve taken with your community, such as (among other things) creating a homicide division where none exists.
Finally, to the amazing publishing team at Bell Bridge Books who believed in Team Pets and the Pampered Pets mystery series, you rock! We are so blessed to be part of you endeavors. DebS and DebD we are grateful for your guidance, your advice, and your amazing industry knowledge. Lynn, our editor extraordinaire, you made this a much better book. The whole team at BBB is an absolute class act and we appreciate all of the energy that has gone into this project every step of the way. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
Sparkle Abbey
aka ML and Anita
About Sparkle Abbey
www.sparkleabbey.com
The authors love to hear from readers.
[email protected]
Gretchen Scott Photography
Sparkle Abbey is the pseudonym of two mystery authors (Mary Lee Woods and Anita Carter). They are friends and neighbors as well as co-writers of the Pampered Pets Mystery Series. The pen name was created by combining the names of their rescue pets - Sparkle (Mary Lee’s cat) and Abbey (Anita’s dog). They reside in central Iowa, but if they could write anywhere, you would find them on the beach with their laptops and depending on the time of day either an iced tea or a margarita.)
Mary Lee
Mary Lee Salsbury Woods is the “Sparkle” half of Sparkle Abbey. She is president of Sisters in Crime – Iowa and a member of Mystery Writers of America, Romance Writers of America, Kiss of Death the RWA Mystery Suspense chapter, Sisters in Crime, and the SinC internet group Guppies.
Prior to publishing the Pampered Pet Mystery series with Bell Bridge Books, Mary Lee won first place in the Daphne du Maurier contest, sponsored by the Kiss of Death chapter of RWA, and was a finalist in Murder in the Grove’s mystery contest, as well as Killer Nashville’s Claymore Dagger contest.
Mary Lee is an avid reader and supporter of public libraries. She lives in Des Moines, Iowa with her husband, Tim, and Sparkle the rescue cat namesake of Sparkle Abbey. In her day job she is the non-techie in the City of Des Moines IT Department. Any spare time she spends reading and enjoying her two sons and daughter-in-laws, and four grandchildren.
Anita
Anita Carter is the “Abbey” half of Sparkle Abbey. She is Vice-President of Sister’s In Crime – Iowa and is also a member of Mystery Writers of America and Kiss of Death the RWA Mystery Suspense chapter.
She grew up reading Trixie Belden, Nancy Drew and the Margo Mystery series by Jerry B Jenkins (years before his popular Left Behind Series.) Her family is glad all the years of “fending for yourself” dinners of spaghetti and frozen pizza have finally paid off even though they haven’t stopped.
In Anita’s day job, she works for Manpower Inc., of Des Moines in sales and marketing. She lives in Des Moines Iowa with her husband and four children, son-in-law, grandchild and two rescue dogs, Abby and Chewy.
Table of Contents
Crime in Laguna Beach Has Just Gone To The Dogs . . .
Desperate Housedogs
Copyrights
The Pampered Pets Mystery Series
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Fi
ve
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Coming Next from Sparkle Abbey
Chapter One
Caro’s PAWS Good Dog Treats
Acknowledgements
About Sparkle Abbey
Desperate Housedogs Page 22
