Allie Babcock Novels By Leslie O'kane

Anytime I can find books that include the dogs and dog issues in the story lines, I'm sold.

Pros: enjoyable reading

Cons: none

I came across the Allie Babcock stories while collecting mystery novels set in Colorado. A therapist for pets? Who lives in Boulder? Count me in!

It's been said that fictional murder per capita is higher in Boulder than in any other real city. (Cabot Cove, Maine, would take the honors by far if fictional towns were included!)

Well, there's fictional murder in Boulder and there's fictional murder in Boulder. When you've read these three books you can't just switch to Stephen White's latest novel without a major change of gears.

These are fun stories, and I almost forgive the author for abandoning the series. Now she's writing about other characters, but at least they're still in Colorado.

(Watch for a change of the author's name, though. Her first series and this one are by Leslie O'Kane; the recent series is by Leslie Caine.)

The adventures of Allie Babcock and the neurotic pets and people who come into her life are in:

Play Dead (1998)
Ruff Way to Go (2000)
Give the Dog a Bone (2002)

Pros: Boulder (CO), dogs, pet psychology, mystery novels

Cons: Series is much, much too short