Review: A Mystery with Small-town Charm
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 09 1, 2013
Edward Coburn's second Adam and Bagel mystery, THE DOG WHO ATE THE BURGLAR,is a good wholesome tale. Who can resist a story with a loveable beagle who, though he likes to eat everything in sight, also is psychic? His ESP abilities complement those of his friend and keeper, Adam, who is a psychic investigator and small-town newspaper reporter.The story starts with Adam and his girlfriend, Marti, traveling to Maine to visit Adam's sister and her kids. They return to Canary Corners, West Virginia, and Adam gets back to his newspaper work and does a lot of eating and chatting with the locals and more courting with Marti. With the slow paced, casual life in Canary Corners, Coburn's mystery is a change from the exploding-bullet speed of most current detective stories.The small-town characters and the history of Canary Corners play a big part in the book, as Adam researches his feature stories for the "Tweet," the town's newspaper. He is busy trying the find a suitable mate for Bagel the beagle when he, Adam, is hurt in a car crash.  Next, a series of burglaries astonishes the sheriff and his deputies. Adam, still in excruciating pain from his injuries, is called to help with the investigation.This is a "cozy" mystery. If you're looking for violence and mayhem, forget it. If you like charming, likeable characters, a little innocent romance, dogs, small-town life and its quirky stories, some humor, and a little bit of psychic phenomena, THE DOG WHO ATE THE BURGLAR is for you.