Customer Reviews

Lady Vanishes (Rachel Alexander & Dash Mysteries)

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In Manhattan's Greenwich Village, Venus White manages Harbor View, a treatment center where individuals who need around the clock caretaking reside. Venus desperately needs two different types of assistance. She needs the services of a private investigator to keep her safe from an unknown assailant and to find her missing therapy dog. She also needs the help of a new therapy dog because her "children" provide her with occasional "miracles" with the help of special canines. Venus asks private investigator Rachel Alexander and her therapy dog Dash to help her.

As Rachel and Dash make the rounds, the canine quickly becomes a patient favorite and those little miracles occur. However, Venus struggles with telling Rachel why she feels her life is in danger. Turning it into a miniseries over a few days, Venus relates why she believes someone plans to kill her as they did Harry Dietrich, an owner of the treatment center. Even as Rachel and Dash work with the patients, they begin to make inquires into Harry's death. She wants to protect Venus, but also worries that the assailant might think one of the patients witnessed the incident.

The Rachel and Dash mysteries are some of the more interesting novels on the market. The latest tale, LADY VANISHES, is a unique story that will touch readers' hearts. The audience will gain an understanding of the need for small miracles when dealing with mental health problems. The investigation is entertaining, but clearly a subplot of the canine therapy that Dash provides to the residents of the center. Carol Lea Benjamin brings much insight and passion to a terrific tale that redefines the boundaries of the mystery genre.

Harriet Klausner

When Rachel Alexander and her sidekick Dash find out about a missing therapy dog, better known as Lady, they are immediatley on the case. Soon Rachel and Dash are uncovering secrets and trying to help innocent victims before it's too late.

I found this to be another excellent book by Carol Lea Benjamin, and recommend it to all fans of the Rachel Alexander and Dash book series.

Carol Lea Benjamin is an expert dog trainer, and has written several books on the subject. She has taught dog training seminars in the U.S. and Canada. She wrote her first Rachel and Dash novel, This Dog For Hire, in 1996, followed by The Dog Who Knew Too Much and A Hell Of A Dog. Her first Rachel and Dash novel won the Shamus Award from Private Eye Writers of America. Ms. Benjamin is a resident of Greenwich Village, New York.

In her fourth Dash and Rachel mystery, Rachel Alexander and her pit bull Dash enter the world of autistic, or "throwaway" people. Lady, the resident therapy dog at Harbor View has disappeared, and the owner and main benefactor, Harry Dietrich, has been killed in a bizarre hit-and-run bike accident. Venus, the current administrator of Harbor View, contacts Rachel for her skills as a dog therapist. But it quickly becomes evident that Venus needs Rachel's expertise as a detective, but she is reticent about explaining the reasons why she is so frightened:

"If Venus had been so lonely, where had it come from--the married man she met online? And why was I hearing about him anyway? What did he have to do with a missing dog, a dead old guy, a bunch of witnesses who don't speak and couldn't tell you the time of day if they did, and this gorgeous, mysterious black woman who hires me because she thinks her life's in danger, then won't tell me why?"

Ms. Benjamin manages to grab the reader with this low-key tale about dog wisdom, autism, and murder. From page one there is a wistful tone of whodunit, mixed with the obvious love the author holds for dogs, training, and dog-to-human therapy. We are quickly ensconced into Rachel and Dash's world, and their own particular talents. The mystery is almost a background issue, but nonetheless it is a real corker.

Ms. Benjamin uses wit, rigorous observational skills, and just plain old common sense to endear the reader to her characters. She spares no detail about autism, so that the reader comes away from this intensely entertaining tale both satisfied and a little wise. Rachel is a down-to-earth character who has the uncanny ability to bring out the innermost secrets in virtually everyone she meets. She is a real find as a crime solver, and is a true humanitarian to boot.

Shelley Glodowski, Reviewer

Here is a great team for mysterylovers thai I had overlooked. Rachel Alexander and her pit bullterrier named Dash have a workingrelationship with Rachel a detective and Dash a therapy dog.They are hired by Venus White whomanages Harbor View for two reasons. First find Lady, theresident dog therapist at HV andfind out who murdered Harry, theowner of HV. And as long as you're at it, protect Venus whomay be the next victim. With witand humor Rachel solves the mysteries without much help from Venus. There is a plot afoot totake over Harbor View for financial gain but who are the perpetrators? Among the autisticand throw-away people living at HVwe find the underlying personalities of people who cannotspeak for themselves and how atrained therapy dog can help them.The author has pit bull terriers as pets and therapy dogs and trains other dogs for this valuable treatment becoming morepopular in the medical field as the use expands daily. Needless tosay mission accomplished as thebook comes to a close. A verygood read that causes tears andlaughs. This is one author I amgoing to read her earlier books. She also helps the reader think that maybe all pit bull terriersare not to be feared if given loveand good training instead of being trained to be a fighter. Also reccommend "The Other Side ofMe" for a good gentle read on adifferent subject.

The wonderful dog human relationship continues to be a strong part of Ms. Benjamin's writing but this book, like her other mysteries, is complex and cleverly worked out. An excellent read.

I read all of the Rachael Alexander and Dash books, and they were all good. What happened with this one?

The others were funny, witty, and thoughtful. The main chracter, Rachael is very sarcastic and has a wide vocabulary, which usually makes for the funny parts. Dash isn't portraited as some wonder dog, doing all these super things, which adds a touch of reality.

Rachael is also usually in the midst of some romance, which is also usually failing, which lends the books romance, and additional witty dialogue.

What I want to know, is WHAT HAPPENED! The author of these books, that range in quality from very good to brilliant, suddenly turned out an awful one. It is neither funny nor romantic, and the witty, somewhat sarcastic dialogue that is not to be missed in the other three, was missing entirely.

Bottom line: You churned out some really good books. Don't listen to people who say that the plotlines to the others were bad. The plot line, and the writing, in this was really bad. Kepp up the work on the other ones.