When Gilly Ainsley shows up on Jo Beth sidden's doorstep, the smart and feisty bloodhound trainer and tracker is stunned by the woman's bizarre tale of deception and manslaughter. Gilly's mother wrote a letter before she died, a letter claiming that she would be murdered by the man for whom she kept house -- a superior court judge -- and Gilly want Jo Beth to bring the murderer to justice, at last.

Gilly's mother saw something she shouldn't have in the woods near the Okefenokee Swamp. Gilly and Jo Beth are in danger, too, and Jo Beth knows that the swamp guards its secrets well. To topple this fat cat judge will take someone who can see inside the criminal mind, train a pack of dogs to hunt out evil, and pursue an enemy until there is nothing left but the sweat on his palms.

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