Review: Kitty Muse Book Reviews
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 02 26, 2013
A man and his dog....what relationship could possibly be better?Car rides in the country, with Fido's head out the window, tongue flapping in the breeze.  A day of fetch in the park.  Long walks in the afternoon, followed by a rousing game of Boggle in the evening...Wait...what??OK, let me back up.  This man-dog relationship might be a little different.  Adam Martin Swope and his dog, Bagel, are psychic.  Adam has the ability to locate traces of events in the past, hone in on them, and discover clues the police would never have picked up on their own.  Bagel can correctly identify his toys by their color, and can spell out clues with the Boggle dice.What's that again?OK, backing up even further.  Bagel is descended from a long line of special canines--dogs that are able to divine answers to questions that baffle his human counterpart.  Even with Adam's ability, he still needs help.  Bagel was bequeathed to him by his dying mother, herself a psychic, and thus begins a relationship that finds Adam starting a new life in a small West Virginia town, Bagel at his side, er, feet.Adam was well-known in the Chicago area, where he had spent a lot of his life--especially after winning a couple of large lotteries.  For that reason, and because he never wanted to help find dead bodies or live missing children ever again (too hard on him), he flees the city streets for the nowhereville town of Canary Corners.  No sooner does he get there than he gets plunged into solving a mystery:  why a remote-control plane that Bagel knocks out of the air just happens to have a cargo of explosives.  A seeming prank becomes the precursor to a murder, and once again Adam is on board to help the local constabulary solve the crime; this time, with Bagel and a new love-interest aiding him in his investigations.This was a thoroughly delightful read.  Mr. Coburn has some very likeable characters.  Canary Corners is a place I would love to explore; it sounds like a wonderful little town.  The protagonist, Adam (who changes his name to Ram, by the way), is a warm, wonderful, giving man.  It was a pleasure to meet everyone, especially Adam's elderly, quirky neighbor, Livinia.  There is a backstory of their apartment house being haunted--I am looking forward to seeing how that turns out.Mr. Coburn's books are warm, cozy reads, suitable for anyone who wants a nice book to curl up with. This is the first in a series of books by Mr. Coburn; I will have the priviledge of reviewing the next one in the near future.  I highly recommend his "Adam and Bagel" series.