Silent Night (A Raine Stockton Dog Mystery)

Silent Night (A Raine Stockton Dog Mystery)
Donna Ball, 2011

Christmas crossposting!

(Note: Many of the Christmas books I am reading this year have one notable thing in common -- they were all cheap or free on Kindle some time in the last few years. No other qualifications.)

Premise: Raine Stockton runs an obedience school, or she would if the contractors would finish upgrading her facility. She trains dogs, keeps dogs, and sometimes that means she follows their noses right into trouble.

This is another cozy mystery that’s more what I would call romantic slice-of-life with a pinch of mystery. Raine’s friends, job, and trouble with men are, if not interchangeable with others I’ve read, certainly of a type.

The mystery isn’t much of the story - someone is stealing nativity Jesuses and some puppies are abandoned. Also a teenager’s abusive father turns up mysteriously dead, but Raine and company only briefly feel like they are in any danger, and she only gets involved because her trained search dog is helpful for the small-town police.

A lot more of the book concerns Raine and her well-off boyfriend moving to the next level, including Raine befriending his daughter (after several false starts).

Most of the Christmas connections here concern giving presents, and a real baby abandoned in a nativity scene. It was a fine popcorn read, but I’m not going to be hunting down more by this author in a hurry.

2 Stars - An Okay Book