Mystery Readers Group: Animal Sleuths

Menlo Park Library’s Mystery Readers Group is a different kind of book group: rather than all reading the same book, we share our reading of different books surrounding a particular theme. This month, let’s discover how animal intuition makes for good detection skills!

Many detectives have animal companions, but have you ever wished for more of their furry friends’ perspectives? In these books, animal protagonists take center stage.

We’ve sniffed out some leads:

Dog On It, by Spencer Quinn: Chet may have flunked out of K-9 police school, but he’s a detective through and through. He and his human P.I. partner Bernie investigate the repeat disappearance of a teenage girl in the first book of this long running series.

The No. 2 Feline Detective Agency, by Mandy Morton: Morton turns the British cozy on its head with a fully feline cast. Long-haired tabby Hettie Bagshot launches a detective agency and investigates nefarious goings on at the Furcross Home for Slightly Older Cats.

Three Bags Full, by Leonie Swann: A witty philosophical murder mystery with a charming twist: the crack detectives are sheep determined to discover who killed their beloved shepherd.

Shady Hollow, by Juneau Black: Welcome to Shady Hollow, a place where woodland creatures live together in harmony—until a curmudgeonly toad turns up dead. Local reporter Vera Vixen is a fox with a nose for news, and it will take all her cunning and quickness to crack the case.

Outfoxed, by Rita Mae Brown: In the pristine world of Virginia foxhunting, hunters, horses, hounds, and foxes form a lively community of conflicting loyalties, where the thrill of the chase and the intricacies of human-animal relationships are experienced firsthand—and murder exposes a proud Southern community's unsavory secrets.

So many possibilities—and that’s just a starting point! Read any mystery with an animal detective, with or without a human element. Join us to exchange book recommendations and discover new favorites with fellow mystery lovers.

Tuesday, September 15, 2026 | 06:00 PM - 07:15 PM
Zoom webinar (register for link)

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