A Brace of Bloodhounds (Mass Market Paperback)

by Virginia Lanier (Author) "Jonathan Webber and I were still lazily ensconced in the kitchen..." (more)
Key Phrases: rescue suit, grooming room, six trainers, Donnie Ray, Bobby Lee, Mark Anthony (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Set in a locale and a culture as rich and satisfying as good Southern cooking, Virginia Lanier's A Brace of Bloodhounds continues the adventures of JoBeth Sidden. JoBeth's a feisty Southern gal with an attitude, whose devotion to her highly trained and trusted bloodhounds involves her in kidnapping, corruption, drug smuggling, and every ornery law-enforcement puzzle that comes to light in her South Georgia town on the edge of the Okeefenokee Swamp. Lanier's adrenalin-pumping narratives, which began with The House on Bloodhound Lane and continued in Death in Bloodhound Red and Blind Bloodhound Justice, are told by JoBeth, who is alternately pulled and pushed by her loves: her extended family of friends and trainers, and her wonderful and appealing bloodhounds. In this volume, JoBeth seeks answers to a petition from beyond the grave, unearths a child molester, and faces a renegade alligator who threatens her pups. Along the way, we learn the rich details of mantrailing, Southern hospitality, modern moonshining, and--of course--romance. Those who have already made the acquaintance of Lanier's appealing family of characters will enjoy this installment. Newcomers will be thrilled that there are other books in the series. Pour a glass of fresh-made iced tea, kick back, and travel into the heart of this colorful and intriguing world. --Barbara Schlieper

From School Library Journal
YA. Jo Beth Siddon owns and operates a kennel, raising and training bloodhounds and also using them to find lost persons, criminals, and, sometimes, victims. Calling on her knowledge of the Okefenokee Swamp and its surroundings, the woman and her dogs find an abducted child and the abductor, solve a murder, sniff out a fire bomb, lead a successful drug raid, and kill an alligator attacking puppies. Jo Beth's superhuman accomplishments are balanced with human error, bad habits, and her own unhappy love life. Lanier quickly establishes the characters in spite of the sometimes frenetic pace of the story. Dialogue may take some getting used to by those unfamiliar with Southern culture, but it does not detract from the pleasure of the story. Descriptions of the area's heat and humidity and its beautiful flora and fauna conjure up evocative images. Tying subplots together, Lanier keeps readers' interest from the first words to the last with nonstop action. Her strong female protagonist sets out to make life work and succeeds despite frequent setbacks and hostility from several of the "good ole boys." Teens who enjoy this, the third book in the series, will want to try Lanier's other novels as well as stories by Margaret Maron (her mentor), Sharyn McCrumb, and Carolyn G. Hart, who also specialize in strong female protagonists.?Pam Johnson, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: HarperTorch (June 3, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061010871
• ISBN-13: 978-0061010873
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #234,772 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Virginia Lanier, Jo Beth and Bobby Lee do it again!, February 23, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: A Brace of Bloodhounds (Bloodhound) (Hardcover)

Virginia Lanier has brought Jo Beth Siddon back again with her beloved Bobby Lee taking the spotlight. Jo Beth and her "family", both human and bloodhound, have become great friends to her faithful readers.

Lanier knows the swamp. It is her next door neighbor and she makes you feel the heat and humidity, the terror of the unseen source of a dry rattle somewhere nearby, the agony of no-seeums, as well as the beauty of the swamp. If you have never had a chance to visit the Okefenokee Swamp, you will want to do so after reading Lanier's books and going into it with Jo Beth and her trusty hounds on quests for lost children, murderers, escaped convicts, and green outdoorsmen who go into the swamp thinking they know it all.

Lanier also captures the real people from the good ole' boys to genteel southern ladies even those like Jo Beth who tend to be a bit liberated. She gives short courses in southern country manners and hospitality through her characters as well as tossing in the odd mysteries that let Jo Beth and her bloodhounds shine.

A couple of tips. If you have never read any of the "bloodhound" books, go first to Bloodhound Red and get to know Jo Beth and the gang and read them in the order written. The second tip, allow plenty of time for reading because once you start, you won't want to put any one of them down.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another exciting bloodhound thriller, September 10, 2000

By	Sheila L. Beaumont (South Pasadena, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The intrepid Jo Beth Sidden and her lovable, talented bloodhounds continue their daring exploits in this third suspenseful mystery of the series. This time our heroes deal with the kidnapping of a child, a murderous judge who's carrying on nefarious deeds in the woods, a bank robbery perpetrated by two drunken locals, and a rampaging alligator. And, yes, psycho ex-husband Bubba is still around. Add dangerous treks through the Okefenokee Swamp and stakeouts in the forest, and you've got an absorbing, unputdownable thriller. Unconventional characters, exciting subplots, vivid descriptions, humor, Southern atmosphere and, above all, those irresistible canines make for a most enjoyable read.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars As we say down here in the South,, DANG GOOD'EN, May 22, 2000

By	"mcmarcy" (GA, USA) - See all my reviews

From the Opening chapter, Miz JoBeth Siddon, drags us along herlife and adventure. Wonderful cultural "Points of the South"along the way. Great new charcters, plenty of old ones to fill out a Dang Good mystery. Funny, sad, scary and full of heart felt quips, fast moving and never boring. Me I'm in love with the dogs, Hound Dogs.