Unleashed
by Eileen Brady
on Tour September 2015
Synopsis:
Dr. Kate Turner is happy with her new life in Oak Falls, upstate New York. Working as a relief veterinarian at a small house-call practice, she truly enjoys helping her patients.
All that changes when client Claire Birnham is found dead, an apparent suicide. A talented artist, Claire had everything to live for: new job, Manhattan apartment, her Cairn terrier Toto. As feisty as the Wizard of Oz Toto, he and Claire were devoted. Kate can’t imagine Claire simply abandoning her pet. Was her death murder?
Questions end in the police arresting young kennel helper Eugene. The fragile friendship between Kate and police officer Luke Gianetti frays as she ignores his advice and keeps asking questions. House calls provide gossip and clues, some helpful, some not so much, as she treats her animal patients. Did Claire’s recent insurance windfall prove too tempting for her hard working and hard drinking mother? What does trouble in the art gallery where Claire worked signal? How huge a grudge did heavy metal rocker A.J. hold against high-school sweetheart Claire after she dumped him? Was Claire a threat to AJ’s rich new girl?
Dr. Kate mixes real medicine with murder as she risks her life over Claire’s death, aided by insights from a former fire investigator, aka her Gramps. Unleashed is as irresistible as Muzzled.
Book Details:
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Published by: Poisoned Pen Press
Publication Date: August 4th 2015
Number of Pages: 272
Series: Kate Turner, DVM #2
ISBN: 9781464203947
Purchase Links:
Read an excerpt:
CHAPTER 1
After kicking my cheating boyfriend to the curb I needed to find a job far far away from him.
Quickly. With $150,000 worth of student loans left to pay for my veterinary education, I couldn't afford to be without an income. That's how I ended up in the tiny town of Oak Falls, about two hours from New York City if you put the pedal to the metal, but light years away from the crowds. Hired as a relief vet while the practice owner, Doc Anderson, took an around-the-world cruise, I lived in an apartment attached to the office. At least it was a short commute.
Now, seven months of house calls later, I thought I had seen just about everything.
I was wrong.
Friday morning, my veterinary technician, Mari, and I piled into the office F-150 truck and drove to our first appointment of the day. Seventy-two Chestnut Lane turned out to be an older farmhouse-style home on an acre of land that bordered the state park. Mature elms created a canopy over the front walkway, lined by low-lying junipers and daylilies. A pretty setting, but we were there to take care of a sick pug whose owner had called for an early morning appointment.
An attractive young woman in her twenties with light brown hair and a gentle face opened the door. "Are you the vet?"
Nodding, I introduced myself. "Yes, I'm Dr. Kate Turner and this is my assistant, Mari."
"Nancy Wagner. Come in." She stepped aside. "Don't let anyone out."
Both Mari and I are masters at not letting dogs, cats, or any other type of pet escape through exits of any kind. Watching carefully, we snuck through the door, using our legs like goalies at a soccer game to block anyone trying to flee.
Nancy watched us close the door. Satisfied none of her pets had gotten out, she led us down a fairly narrow hallway.
Unfortunately our progress abruptly stopped when a large gray and white pot-bellied pig with a pink nose turned the corner, effectively throwing a block.
Oops.
Could the sick pug we were supposed to be seeing actually be a sick pig? Had our receptionist Cindy made an interesting typing mistake?
"Is this the patient?" I asked.
"Yes. This is my Angel. He's almost a year old and he's got a terrible rash on his belly."
Just because veterinarians treat all kinds of animals doesn't mean we have every species' medical problems right at our fingertips. Luckily, I knew quite a bit about pot-bellied pigs. During vet school several had come into the university's small animal clinic with various problems. I'd also gone on farm calls to a pot-bellied pig breeder, and babysat one named Daisy for a friend for a month. Most of the pigs I'd handled were gentle and surprisingly smart.
"All right. Where can I examine him?"
"I guess we could use the living room." Nancy made a kissing sound and the pig turned and trotted off behind her. My guess was he had the run of this part of the house.
Without much trouble Angel rolled over on his back and presented us his belly to scratch. A diffuse red rash spread across the pale, almost hairless skin on his abdomen and halfway up both sides. The lack of any raised diamond shaped lesions or pustules quickly ruled out some of the bad pig diseases — which left anything from fungal to contact dermatitis to a million other things. To be certain I took several skin scrapings which Angel seemed to enjoy.
"Is he healthy otherwise? How is his appetite?"
"Perfectly normal."
Maybe this was a husbandry problem, having to do with diet or his environment.
Mari, Nancy, and I sat on the wooden floor. Angel loved having his belly rubbed and grunted with pleasure. I listened to his heart and lungs and continued my exam. "What are you feeding him?"
Nancy pointed over to the kitchen counter. "He gets his pig chow plus vegetables and fruits, and some of what I eat every day. Then I let him root around in the yard outside."
Since pigs are omnivores, which means they eat everything, it sounded like a fairly balanced diet. Except for the rash he looked like a healthy piggy. Digging a little deeper I questioned her further. "Did you spread any chemicals or fertilizers outside recently, or add any new plants or trees?"
"Absolutely not. I'm very careful because of all my pets." Nancy sounded indignant.
"What about his sleeping pen?" Since our animal patients can't talk to us, I found taking a detailed history is of huge importance. "Do you change the hay frequently? Is there any evidence of mouse or rat infiltration in his stall?" Skin lesions could be a result of moldy hay or damp unsanitary conditions.
After kicking my cheating boyfriend to the curb I needed to find a job far far away from him.
Quickly. With $150,000 worth of student loans left to pay for my veterinary education, I couldn't afford to be without an income. That's how I ended up in the tiny town of Oak Falls, about two hours from New York City if you put the pedal to the metal, but light years away from the crowds. Hired as a relief vet while the practice owner, Doc Anderson, took an around-the-world cruise, I lived in an apartment attached to the office. At least it was a short commute.
Now, seven months of house calls later, I thought I had seen just about everything.
I was wrong.
Friday morning, my veterinary technician, Mari, and I piled into the office F-150 truck and drove to our first appointment of the day. Seventy-two Chestnut Lane turned out to be an older farmhouse-style home on an acre of land that bordered the state park. Mature elms created a canopy over the front walkway, lined by low-lying junipers and daylilies. A pretty setting, but we were there to take care of a sick pug whose owner had called for an early morning appointment.
An attractive young woman in her twenties with light brown hair and a gentle face opened the door. "Are you the vet?"
Nodding, I introduced myself. "Yes, I'm Dr. Kate Turner and this is my assistant, Mari."
"Nancy Wagner. Come in." She stepped aside. "Don't let anyone out."
Both Mari and I are masters at not letting dogs, cats, or any other type of pet escape through exits of any kind. Watching carefully, we snuck through the door, using our legs like goalies at a soccer game to block anyone trying to flee.
Nancy watched us close the door. Satisfied none of her pets had gotten out, she led us down a fairly narrow hallway.
Unfortunately our progress abruptly stopped when a large gray and white pot-bellied pig with a pink nose turned the corner, effectively throwing a block.
Oops.
Could the sick pug we were supposed to be seeing actually be a sick pig? Had our receptionist Cindy made an interesting typing mistake?
"Is this the patient?" I asked.
"Yes. This is my Angel. He's almost a year old and he's got a terrible rash on his belly."
Just because veterinarians treat all kinds of animals doesn't mean we have every species' medical problems right at our fingertips. Luckily, I knew quite a bit about pot-bellied pigs. During vet school several had come into the university's small animal clinic with various problems. I'd also gone on farm calls to a pot-bellied pig breeder, and babysat one named Daisy for a friend for a month. Most of the pigs I'd handled were gentle and surprisingly smart.
"All right. Where can I examine him?"
"I guess we could use the living room." Nancy made a kissing sound and the pig turned and trotted off behind her. My guess was he had the run of this part of the house.
Without much trouble Angel rolled over on his back and presented us his belly to scratch. A diffuse red rash spread across the pale, almost hairless skin on his abdomen and halfway up both sides. The lack of any raised diamond shaped lesions or pustules quickly ruled out some of the bad pig diseases — which left anything from fungal to contact dermatitis to a million other things. To be certain I took several skin scrapings which Angel seemed to enjoy.
"Is he healthy otherwise? How is his appetite?"
"Perfectly normal."
Maybe this was a husbandry problem, having to do with diet or his environment.
Mari, Nancy, and I sat on the wooden floor. Angel loved having his belly rubbed and grunted with pleasure. I listened to his heart and lungs and continued my exam. "What are you feeding him?"
Nancy pointed over to the kitchen counter. "He gets his pig chow plus vegetables and fruits, and some of what I eat every day. Then I let him root around in the yard outside."
Since pigs are omnivores, which means they eat everything, it sounded like a fairly balanced diet. Except for the rash he looked like a healthy piggy. Digging a little deeper I questioned her further. "Did you spread any chemicals or fertilizers outside recently, or add any new plants or trees?"
"Absolutely not. I'm very careful because of all my pets." Nancy sounded indignant.
"What about his sleeping pen?" Since our animal patients can't talk to us, I found taking a detailed history is of huge importance. "Do you change the hay frequently? Is there any evidence of mouse or rat infiltration in his stall?" Skin lesions could be a result of moldy hay or damp unsanitary conditions.
Author Bio:
Eileen Brady is a veterinarian living in Scottsdale, Arizona. She is a wife and mother of two daughters and often has to chase her six cats and two dogs away from her laptop keyboard. The Kate Turner, DVM Mysteries is her first series.
Catch Up:
Guest Post:
1. From
the time I was very young I read everything I could get my hands on. When my
children were toddlers I started writing little stories about them and their
toys or pets to amuse them.
2. Writing
a book is like running a marathon. It can take me between 6 months to a year to
finish a book.
3. I
try to write every day, even if only for an hour or two. Usually I start in the
morning by reviewing and editing what I wrote the previous day.
4. You
may think this sounds silly, but I can’t write if my pants are too tight. My
husband kids me when he sees me slipping into my baggy writing pants with the
super loose elastic waistband. Believe me, they are super ugly!
5. In
this day and age there are so many ways. For me, my professional writing career
began when I won the 2013 Discover Mystery Contest held by the Poisoned Pen
Press. The prize included a publishing contract.
6. My
ideas come from everywhere. Sometimes an article in the newspaper catches my
eye or a phrase sounds intriguing. Often stories pop into my head when I’m doing
the dishes.
7. I
wrote my first book when I was 35 and still practicing veterinary medicine
full-time. Before that I occasionally wrote poems and a few short stories.
After reading a book I didn’t particularly like that much I thought – I bet I
can do better than that. So, I took a novel writing class at the community
college and that jump started me into my new career.
8. One
of my passions now is to travel and catch up on all the places I haven’t seen.
So far my favorite was visiting Peru and Machu Picchu. It was magical. Some
advise though – make sure you go before your knees give out!
9. They
were amazed and very proud of me. My husband, who is also a veterinarian, has
my books displayed in his waiting room.
10. The
most surprising thing was how much you can fix during rewrites.
11. I’ve
written 4 books that are still sitting on my office shelf plus MUZZLED and
UNLEASHED in the Kate Turner, D.V.M. mystery series. My favorite has to be
MUZZLED, because it introduced Kate to the world.
12. My
suggestion would be to keep writing and make sure you actually finish your
book. Don’t worry too much, you can fix anything during rewrites. I also found
that joining a critique group was one of the best moves I ever made.
13. Yes,
I’ve been getting quite a bit of fan mail. The nicest thing my readers have
said is that my books made them laugh out loud and swept them away to another
world for a while.
14. Yes,
but I plan on writing and illustrating a picture book series for very young
readers. My children got a big kick out of reading picture books and so did I.
15. Something
unexpected.
16. I
confess, at one time I wanted to be an actress and singer. Later I switched
gears and went with my love for animals and became a veterinarian. I’ve never
regretted it.
17. If
your readers love animals they will enjoy UNLEASHED. I hope they drop me a line
at my website, www.eileenbradymysteries
or comment on my Facebook page and let me know what they think! Both books are
available in bookstores and on Amazon.
My Review:
This book has a lot of suspense and drama. There is so much going on that I could not figure the mystery out. That is a good thing. I liked that Kate made house calls and was able to gain information on her suspects. Claire had a lot going on. It seemed that every one had a reason to kill her. There was money at stake, and that makes people do crazy things. Add in Toto, expensive art, and Gramps and the web of suspects gets intertwined nicely. I liked the ending and I can not wait to read more from this author! I am giving this book a 4/5. I was given a copy to review, however all opinions are my own.
Thanks so much for introducing us to this author and sharing your thoughts on her most recent series mystery. Sounds like a fun, exciting read!
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