The Case for the Master Sleuths series, by Alex Wagner, is also one of those mysteries where the animals can talk. The twist here is that while they can all talk to each other (cats, dogs, birds, rodents, etc), humans cannot understand them. When they find clues, and/or solve the murder they then have to figure out how to tell those humans! There's a clue in the title of the second book in the series: Never Blame the Gardner. A professor has died, in a tragic accident. Or was it? There is a former employee that is much too interested in his estate, why?

It's summer, the busy season for Mackenzie (Mac) and her bike shop. She has an altercation with a local by the name of Jake. He later is found dead with a knife in his chest, one that looks a lot like one her brother owns. And said brother is now missing. The local police figure the case is closed but Mac knows better .. and she and the members of her book group, the Cozy Capers (they only read cozy mysteries) set out to prove the police are wrong. Murder on Cape Cod is the first in the Cozy Capers Book Group Mystery by Maddie Day. Fun characters, especially the grandmother.

Reading Hermit With Dog