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Under the Dog Star: A Rachel Goddard Mystery Audiobook
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(3.09) - 75 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
Something terrifying is happening to the dogs in the mountain community of Mason County, Virginia. Pets are vanishing mysteriously and “missing dog” posters cover the waiting room walls at Dr. Rachel Goddard’s veterinary clinic. A pack of feral canines roams at night, attacking livestock in a desperate search for food. Now a prominent physician, Gordon Hall, has been found dead in his yard, his throat torn open. Sheriff’s Department investigator Tom Bridger believes the killing was premeditated murder, with a trained attack dog as the weapon.
Are these seemingly unconnected events somehow related? Tom thinks they are, and he suspects they’re connected to the resurgence of an old problem: illegal dogfighting.
Dr. Hall’s son insists that the feral dogs killed his father, and he organizes a group of men to find and shoot the animals. Rachel and her friend Holly Turner make enemies by trying to rescue the dogs and move them to the sanctuary that Holly has created. Tom, in love with Rachel and worried about her safety, must divide his time between the feral dog problem, the search for the dogfighting operation, and the hunt for Gordon Hall’s killer.
Could it be that one of Hall’s five children—three adopted, all emotionally starved by their parents—holds the key to his murder? Why is the youngest Hall child so frightened that she begs Rachel, a stranger, for help? Tom and Rachel face two killers, one human and one canine, and discover a more complex web of lies and brutality than they ever imagined.
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"Super suspenseful, and had me hooked right from the start. Rachel Goddard was such a great character and I can't wait to learn more about her past when I read the other 3 books in the series."
— Caitlin (5 out of 5 stars)
Quotes
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“In this tense and compelling entry in one of my favorite series, Virginia veterinarian Dr. Rachel Goddard and her fiancé, Deputy Sheriff Tom Bridger, deal with a vicious murder and the devastating consequences of illegal dog-fighting. Believable, sympathetic protagonists; a beautifully evoked setting; a haunting crime—Under the Dog Star is one of the un-put-down-able reads of the year.”
— Deborah Crombie, New York Times bestselling author -
“Agatha-winner Parshall’s well-paced if unsettling fourth mystery featuring Virginia veterinarian Rachel Goddard…Dog lovers may be disturbed by the depiction of animal cruelty and the all-too-real world of illegal dog fighting.”
— Publishers Weekly -
“Well recommended, as it’s the fourth in an Agatha Award-winning series starring veterinarian Rachel Goddard.”
— Library Journal -
“Parshall’s latest is more than equal to earlier series entries, with spine-chilling tension from cover to cover.”
— Kirkus Reviews
Under the Dog Star Listener Reviews
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" Fun mystery. I will have to go back and read the previous books by this author. "
— Letitia, 8/15/2013 -
" I like this better than the last one, (broken places). I like the relationship too.A bit of tangled story line. Makes it pretty good read. "
— Malia, 3/25/2013 -
" I still like this author after 4 novels in this series. She knows her subject and portrays all her characters with authenticity. "
— MaryAnn, 11/2/2012 -
" Actually a solid mystery but I found it too predictable. "
— Judy, 5/18/2012 -
" This is the first book by Sandra Parshall I read. I really liked it, very intense. I'm definitely going to go back and read the first three! :) "
— Jackie, 4/27/2012 -
" What is my problem? I read writers, like this one, that other readers give a four star. And I wanted to love this book since the author is also on Dorothy-L and Deborah Crombie blurbed it. I love Deborah Crombie. That is why I chose this book. I didn't love it. I did finish it. "
— Phyllis, 1/7/2012 -
" like the setting and characters. Protag is a vet, lots of dog stuff including fights but not too upsetting. "
— Leslie, 11/26/2011
About Sandra Parshall
Sandra Parshall, a native southerner, is the author of the Rachel Goddard mysteries, the first of which, The Heat of the Moon, won the 2006 Agatha Award for Best First Novel. A former newspaper reporter in South Carolina, West Virginia, and Baltimore, she now lives in northern Virginia with her husband, a longtime Washington journalist.
About Tavia Gilbert
Tavia Gilbert is an acclaimed narrator of more than four hundred full-cast and multivoice audiobooks for virtually every publisher in the industry. Named the 2018 Voice of Choice by Booklist magazine, she is also winner of the prestigious Audie Award for best narration. She has earned numerous Earphones Awards, a Voice Arts Award, and a Listen-Up Award. Audible.com has named her a Genre-Defining Narrator: Master of Memoir. In addition to voice acting, she is an accomplished producer, singer, and theater actor. She is also a producer, singer, photographer, and a writer, as well as the cofounder of a feminist publishing company, Animal Mineral.