Check It Out:

We are in the midst of the “dog days of summer” when the days are hot and muggy.

Fortunately, Mother Nature has been fairly kind this summer.

The majority of the days have not been sweltering and stuffy, so if you are looking for some entertaining reads to wrap up these dog days, check out these tales about man’s, and in some cases woman’s, best friend.

Dig up the clues with Dixie and her pack in Blaize Clement’s second Dixie Hemingway Mystery, “Duplicity Dogged the Dachshund.”

Dixie Hemingway, a former Sarasota Sheriff, has turned in her badge and replaced it with a leash. She now makes her living as a pet sitter, a seemingly non-perilous profession.

When her latest four-legged client, an elderly miniature dachshund named Mame, escapes from Dixie and heads straight for the woods, Mame unearths more than Dixie bargained for. The dachshund discovers the dead body of Conrad Ferrelli, whose Doberman was once a client of Dixie’s.

Dixie finds herself in familiar territory as she joins Lt. Guidry in the investigation.

Helen Hawthorne, like Dixie, also resides in the Sunshine State. She’s landed a stint at a Barker Brothers Pampered Pet Boutique in Elaine Viet’s mystery “Murder Unleashed.”

Pampered Pet caters to Ft. Lauderdale’s most elite and fanatical dog owners. Helen finds herself in a predicament when she drops off a client’s Yorkshire terrier at home and discovers the pampered pooch’s owner out by her pool, dead. Helen panics and flees the residence in the boutique’s pink Cadillac without reporting the crime.

That’s not the end of it for Helen. Her day continues its downward spiral when a labradoodle puppy is dognapped from the boutique. These two events put Helen on the sleuthing trail. Uncover what happens in this exclusive pet world in Viet’s latest Dead-End Job caper.

For another light-on-its paws tale turn to “Walking in Circles before Lying Down” by Merrill Markoe.

Twice-divorced Dawn Tarnauer discovers her dog Chuck can suddenly communicate with her. Chuck offers his master sage advice and perceptive observations about potential suitors. Follow Dawn on her canine-led quest for love in Markoe’s story filled with drama, dark humor and a cast of dysfunctional characters.