Excerpt from Karma’s a Killer by Tracy Weber

Author's note: I’ve been entranced by the friendship my dog has with several local crows for years, so it seemed natural to include them in my newest mystery.  The excerpt below features Blackie, a rehabilitated crow who will play an interesting role in the mystery. ~ 

Tracy    

Excerpt from Karma's a Killer

Judith yelled, “Hey, stop! What are you doing?” Even Tiffany ran over to check out the commotion.

Blackie’s cage lay open on the ground. He stood next to it, looking confused. A teenage girl waved her arms and stomped her feet, trying to scare him away. “Go on, fly! Be free! Animals should never be prisoners!”

I’d never met the young woman who was yelling, but I recognized her outfit: black jeans, black boots, long-sleeved black T-shirt decorated with an orange flame emblem. The jagged ends of her purple-black hair brushed against multiple silver ear-piercings.

Black lipstick and eyeliner highlighted the matching jewelry in her left eyebrow and lower lip. The Goth Girl kept yelling, sounding frustrated. “Go on, you stupid bird, fly! You’re free!”

Blackie cocked his head right, then left, then right again, as if paradoxically confused, entranced, and annoyed by the oddly adorned female. He tried to approach her; he tried to make friends; I’m pretty sure he asked for a peanut. Each time he hopped closer, she shooed him away, calling him names and ordering him to take flight.He finally took her advice. He flapped his wings and soared—away from his supposed freedom and straight to Judith’s shoulder.The whole episode was laughable, at least at first. Blackie clicked, preened, and nuzzled Judith’s ear, looking happy and completely at home. Goth Girl yelled, waved her arms, and tried to scare him away from afar. “Get out of here before that evil animal terrorist traps you again!”Judith turned toward Goth Girl and shouted, “Shut your trap, you little punk! You’ll scare him.”Blackie ignored them both. He let out a loud caw and flew from Judith’s shoulder to my table, where he landed next to Maggie’s clipboard. He cocked his head forward and stared, transfixed by her shiny keys.“Blackie, no!” Judith yelled.
Her words had no effect. Three quick hops later, Blackie leaned down and picked up the key ring. Judith snatched Bella’s bag of dog cookies, grabbed a large handful, and threw. Miniature goats rained to the ground in a five-foot radius.“Look, Blackie! Treats!”It almost worked.Blackie paused, distracted by the yummy-looking morsels littering the grass. For a split second, he dropped the keys.
Judith lunged, faster than I would have thought possible for a seventy-five-year-old woman with obvious arthritis. But before she could reach him, Blackie picked up the key ring again, looped it securely around the bottom half of his beak, and took flight, carrying his treasure off into the distance.Crows cawed from every direction, as if celebrating his victory. A half-dozen dropped down to clean up the plunder. By the time I looked back at Blackie’s cage, Goth Girl had disappeared.

About Karma’s a Killer:

Yoga instructor Kate Davidson is about to discover that when it comes to murder, there’s no place like om. When she agrees to teach doga—yoga for dogs—at a fundraiser for Dogma, a local animal rescue, Kate believes the only real damage will be to her reputation. But when an animal rights protest at the event leads to a suspicious fire and a drowning, a few downward-facing dogs will be the least of Kate’s problems…

The police arrest Dharma, a woman claiming to be Kate’s estranged mother, and charge her with murder. To prove Dharma’s innocence, Kate, her boyfriend Michael, and her German shepherd sidekick Bella dive deeply into the worlds of animal activism, organizational politics, and the dangerous obsessions that drive them.

And if solving a murder weren't complicated enough, Kate will also have to decide whether or not to reconcile with the estranged mother who abandoned her over thirty years ago. Not to mention having to contend with an almost-bankrupt animal rescue, a cantankerous crow, an unwanted pigeon houseguest, and a rabbit in a doga class. What could possibly go wrong?

A taut tale with more twists and turns than a vinyasa yoga class, Karma’s a Killer brims with suspense, wit and whimsy. With a to-die-for plot, sensational storyline, and charming characters—of both the two- and four-legged varieties—Karma’s a Killer is a clever, colorful, and utterly captivating cozy mystery.

Karma’s a Killer is Available at Booksellers everywhere!

Tracy Weber is the author of the award-winning Downward Dog Mysteries series.  The first book in the series, Murder Strikes a Pose, won the Maxwell Award for Fiction and was nominated for the Agatha award for Best First Novel.

A certified yoga therapist, Tracy is the owner of Whole Life Yoga, a Seattle yoga studio, as well as the creator and director of Whole Life Yoga’s teacher training program. She loves sharing her passion for yoga and animals in any way possible.

Tracy and her husband Marc live in Seattle with their challenging yet amazing German Shepherd, Tasha. When she’s not writing, Tracy spends her time teaching yoga, walking Tasha, and sipping Blackthorn cider at her favorite ale house. 

Karma’s a Killer is her third novel. For more information on Tracy and the Downward Dog Mysteries, visit her author website: http://TracyWeberAuthor.com/

Throwback Thursday a Day Early! Solving the Mystery of EPI with Tracy Weber

"Including a dog with EPI in my series was no accident. Like most fiction authors, my primary goal is to entertain. To immerse my readers in a world they would otherwise never experience. But that’s not my only goal. My secondary, not-so-secret goal is to spread awareness of EPI and provide hope to owners of animals impacted by the condition."

Tracy Weber will share an excerpt from her brand new Downward Dog Mystery, Karma’s a Killer, on Sunday. In the meantime, we're flashing back to her post "Fact in Fiction: Solving the Mystery of EPI," which ran April 19, 2015.

Fact in Fiction: Solving the Mystery of EPI

Bella, the German Shepherd hero in my Downward Dog Mystery series, is very special dog. Like most heroes, Bella is brave, loyal, and willing to make great sacrifices to protect those she loves. But her heroism isn’t the only thing that makes Bella special. Like my own German shepherd Tasha, she lives with an autoimmune disease called Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency (EPI).

One of the many unwritten rules I follow when writing a cozy mystery is that no animals shall ever be harmed. Bella will be no exception. But “not harmed” doesn’t mean “not challenged.” In Bella’s case, her challenge is a significant, lifelong, yet manageable health condition.

Keiara in agility. When
she was diagnosed, she
had lost so much muscle
she couldn't walk

Including a dog with EPI in my series was no accident. Like most fiction authors, my primary goal is to entertain. To immerse my readers in a world they would otherwise never experience. But that’s not my only goal. My secondary, not-so-secret goal is to spread awareness of EPI and provide hope to owners of animals impacted by the condition.

EPI is an autoimmune disease that destroys the exocrine cells of the pancreas—the cells that produce digestive enzymes. Without digestive enzymes, EPI-dogs can no longer digest food, no matter how high the quality. Symptoms begin manifesting when the pancreas is 90% destroyed, at which time the dog starts losing significant weight.

Izzy, 6 years after EPI diagnosis
and doing great

The disease is primarily diagnosed in adolescent German Shepherds, but it can occur in any breed, even in cats and sometimes in humans. With lifelong treatment, an animal with EPI can live a basically normal life. EPI dogs go on to be search and rescue dogs, agility champions, therapy dogs, and cherished companions. Without treatment, those same dogs would literally starve to death.

The true tragedy of EPI lies not in the illness itself, at least not in most cases. It lies in the lost lives of dogs that were needlessly euthanized, either because EPI was never diagnosed or because owners falsely believed that they couldn’t afford the animal’s lifelong treatment. While this may have been true in the past, today treatment is much more affordable. Enzyme co-ops can furnish the needed medicine at one-third retail cost, and multiple online support groups have formed that coach owners through the frustrating trial-and-error beginning stages of treatment.

Tasha, still thriving at 10 years old

My own girl Tasha was diagnosed at age two, after losing twenty-five pounds in a month. As I watched her waste away in the weeks before diagnosis, I was convinced that I would soon lose her. Six months after we started treatment, she reached her goal weight of one hundred pounds, which she has maintained for the past eight years. No one who sees her now would guess that she has a wasting disease. Her vet has even nicknamed her “Fatty.”

Strangers used to chastise me because they wrongly assumed I was starving my dog.  Now they stop to tell me how gorgeous she is, even at age ten.  The same can be true for the vast majority of dogs with this condition.

A simple blood test can determine whether or not an animal has EPI. If you or someone you know owns a dog with the following symptoms, ask your vet if a Serum Trypsin-Like Immunoreactivity (TLI) test might be appropriate.

If your dog is a German shepherd, insist on it. 

Symptoms of EPI Include:

Caesar, 3-year-old Spanish Mastiff

• Rapid weight loss in spite of a voracious appetite
•  Frequent elimination of greasy, malformed, often yellow-colored stools
• Rumbling sounds in the abdomen
• Pica (eating of inappropriate substances)

If you have questions about EPI, please feel free to contact me at Tracy@WholeLifeYoga.com. Be sure to check out the website EPI4dogs. The before and after pictures will astound you.

Sometimes all it takes is information—and hope—to save a life.

If you don’t believe me, take a look at all of these gorgeous animals, each thriving with EPI.

~~~

Tracy Weber is the author of the award-winning Downward Dog Mysteries series featuring yoga teacher Kate and her feisty German shepherd, Bella. Tracy loves sharing her passion for yoga and animals in any form possible. The second book in her series, A Killer Retreat, was released January, 2015 by Midnight Ink.

Tracy and her husband live in Seattle with their challenging yet amazing German shepherd Tasha. When she’s not writing, Tracy spends her time teaching yoga, walking Tasha, and sipping Blackthorn cider at her favorite ale house. 

Visit her at TracyWeberAuthor.com, friend her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/tracywe, or e-mail her at Tracy@WholeLifeYoga.com

Fact in Fiction: Solving the Mystery of EPI

by Tracy Weber

Bella, the German Shepherd hero in my Downward Dog Mystery series, is very special dog. Like most heroes, Bella is brave, loyal, and willing to make great sacrifices to protect those she loves. But her heroism isn’t the only thing that makes Bella special. Like my own German shepherd Tasha, she lives with an autoimmune disease called Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency (EPI).

One of the many unwritten rules I follow when writing a cozy mystery is that no animals shall ever be harmed. Bella will be no exception. But “not harmed” doesn’t mean “not challenged.” In Bella’s case, her challenge is a significant, lifelong, yet manageable health condition.

Keiara in agility. When
she was diagnosed, she
had lost so much muscle
she couldn't walk

Including a dog with EPI in my series was no accident. Like most fiction authors, my primary goal is to entertain. To immerse my readers in a world they would otherwise never experience. But that’s not my only goal. My secondary, not-so-secret goal is to spread awareness of EPI and provide hope to owners of animals impacted by the condition.

EPI is an autoimmune disease that destroys the exocrine cells of the pancreas—the cells that produce digestive enzymes. Without digestive enzymes, EPI-dogs can no longer digest food, no matter how high the quality. Symptoms begin manifesting when the pancreas is 90% destroyed, at which time the dog starts losing significant weight.

Izzy, 6 years after EPI diagnosis
and doing great

The disease is primarily diagnosed in adolescent German Shepherds, but it can occur in any breed, even in cats and sometimes in humans. With lifelong treatment, an animal with EPI can live a basically normal life. EPI dogs go on to be search and rescue dogs, agility champions, therapy dogs, and cherished companions. Without treatment, those same dogs would literally starve to death.

The true tragedy of EPI lies not in the illness itself, at least not in most cases. It lies in the lost lives of dogs that were needlessly euthanized, either because EPI was never diagnosed or because owners falsely believed that they couldn’t afford the animal’s lifelong treatment. While this may have been true in the past, today treatment is much more affordable. Enzyme co-ops can furnish the needed medicine at one-third retail cost, and multiple online support groups have formed that coach owners through the frustrating trial-and-error beginning stages of treatment.

Tasha, still thriving at 10 years old

My own girl Tasha was diagnosed at age two, after losing twenty-five pounds in a month. As I watched her waste away in the weeks before diagnosis, I was convinced that I would soon lose her. Six months after we started treatment, she reached her goal weight of one hundred pounds, which she has maintained for the past eight years. No one who sees her now would guess that she has a wasting disease. Her vet has even nicknamed her “Fatty.”

Strangers used to chastise me because they wrongly assumed I was starving my dog.  Now they stop to tell me how gorgeous she is, even at age ten.  The same can be true for the vast majority of dogs with this condition.

A simple blood test can determine whether or not an animal has EPI. If you or someone you know owns a dog with the following symptoms, ask your vet if a Serum Trypsin-Like Immunoreactivity (TLI) test might be appropriate.

If your dog is a German shepherd, insist on it. 

Symptoms of EPI Include:

Caesar, 3-year-old Spanish Mastiff

• Rapid weight loss in spite of a voracious appetite
•  Frequent elimination of greasy, malformed, often yellow-colored stools
• Rumbling sounds in the abdomen
• Pica (eating of inappropriate substances)

If you have questions about EPI, please feel free to contact me at Tracy@WholeLifeYoga.com. Be sure to check out the website EPI4dogs. The before and after pictures will astound you.

Sometimes all it takes is information—and hope—to save a life.

If you don’t believe me, take a look at all of these gorgeous animals, each thriving with EPI.

~~~

Tracy Weber is the author of the award-winning Downward Dog Mysteries series featuring yoga teacher Kate and her feisty German shepherd, Bella. Tracy loves sharing her passion for yoga and animals in any form possible. The second book in her series, A Killer Retreat, was released January, 2015 by Midnight Ink.

Tracy and her husband live in Seattle with their challenging yet amazing German shepherd Tasha. When she’s not writing, Tracy spends her time teaching yoga, walking Tasha, and sipping Blackthorn cider at her favorite ale house. 

Visit her at TracyWeberAuthor.com, friend her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/tracywe, or e-mail her at Tracy@WholeLifeYoga.com

Author Interview - Tracy Weber

Thank you so much for having me today on Writers and Other Animals. It’s always a pleasure!

Tell us about your pets, or other animals that inspire you.

My true love is a dog named Tasha, and she’s been the subject of many blog articles.  She is a ten-year-old, 100-pound German shepherd who is much like Bella, the German shepherd in my series.  I have also been owned by many cats throughout my life, but I have been catless since my kitty Maggie passed on recently.

I have to say, however, that my writing is inspired by many animals.  Bandit the Jack Russell Terrier in A Killer Retreat is loosely modeled after a cutie-pie Jack Russell terrier owned by one of my yoga students.  My next book, Karma’s a Killer, includes a pigeon named Mister Feathers, a crow named Blackie, and a barred owl named Spook, all of which were modeled after birds I’ve “met” in real life.  Animals inspire me every day!

Do you try to keep your characters relatively unchanged throughout your mystery seris, or do you try to develop them over time? 

People in real life change as a result of what happens to them. Why would characters in a mystery series be any different?  I can’t imagine an amateur sleuth that could be touched by murder yet not impacted by it. I don’t have an agenda for my characters, but they do transform and learn over time.  Kate, in particular, has a character arc that will span at least six books, maybe more.  

In my first book, Murder Strikes a Pose, Kate struggles to make peace with her father’s death and to forgive herself for her actions in his last days.  As a result, she shuts herself off from the world and refuses to give herself the compassion she gives to others.  She is brash and sometimes lashes out at those she loves most, at least in part because she unconsciously wants to keep people at a distance.  

By book 2, A Killer Retreat, she has begun to allow people into her life, but she still has significant attachment issues and she often stumbles over her own weaknesses.  By the end of A Killer Retreat she’s at the precipice of major change. In book 3, Karma’s a Killer, she confronts her darker self and starts to take steps to overcome it. 

Kate would love to right all the wrongs of the world, but ultimately she realizes the only person she can change is herself. 

How do you construct your plots? Do you outline or do you write “by the seat of your pants”?

My characters show me their stories. I literally see scenes as if I were viewing them through Kate’s eyes. When the scenes get clear enough, the story writes itself. Characters don’t always reveal themselves fully to me when I start writing, but by the end of the first draft, they are usually pretty solid.  Likewise, the plots form in my heart long before I write them down.  I simply transcribe what’s already in my head and call it a first draft. 

After that draft is complete, I outline what I have already written and use that outline to identify plot holes, time line issues, and inconsistencies.  I “fix” the first draft based on that outline, and then refine the story from there.  

Clues appear after the first draft, timelines get solidified, and details change.  But the characters—their likes and dislikes, their personalities and quirks—reveal themselves to me in the first draft and rarely change significantly. 

Tell us a bit about your latest book

A Killer Retreat is a lot of fun. Yoga teacher Kate Davidson has been given the opportunity to stay at Elysian Springs, a vegan resort on picturesque Orcas Island, Washington. All she has to do is teach yoga to the wedding guests of the center’s two caretakers. The trip seems like a perfect, much-needed vacation until Kate’s boyfriend Michael starts hinting that he’s ready to pop the question and her best friend shows up unannounced and hiding a secret.

Then there’s the loud, public—and somewhat embarrassing—argument Kate has with Monica, the bride-to-be’s stepmother. When Monica’s body is found floating face-down in the resort’s hot tub, Kate becomes the investigators’ number one suspect. Kate will have to solve Monica’s murder quickly, or her next teaching gig may last a lifetime—behind bars.

What are you working on now and what are your future writing plans?

I recently turned my third book, Karma’s a Killer, in to my editor at Midnight Ink. In Karma’s a Killer, Kate agrees to teach Doga (yoga for dogs) at a fundraiser for a local animal rescue. While there, she witnesses a violent argument between two strangers. One of the strangers turns out to be a person from Kate’s past who has been missing for over three decades. The second stranger is murdered.

Kate, Michael, Rene, and Bella each have a role in solving the murder, but that’s not the only mystery in the story.  The biggest enigma Kate struggles to understand is herself. I don’t want to give anything away, so you’ll have to read the story to find out the specifics.  Suffice it to say, at least two of Kate’s neuroses will make a lot more sense by the end of this book.

As always, animals play major roles. Not only Bella, but her nemesis Bandit, the birds I mentioned earlier, goats, and even cats. Researching this story was a lot of fun, and I can’t wait to share it with my readers.

Unfortunately, the publishing industry moves slowly, so Karma’s a Killer won’t be released until January, 2016. In the meantime, I plan to start book number four, tentatively titled A Twisted Death.

Where can we learn more about you and your books?

So many places!  Getting discovered by readers is extremely difficult, so I try to have a presence in as many venues as possible.  My top two recommendations are my author website http://tracyweberauthor.com/ and my Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/tracywe.  You can learn about my books and my writing on the author page, but you get to know me, my dog, my hubby, and all of our eccentricities on Facebook.  Any way I can connect with readers is awesome!

 

Tracy Weber is the author of the award-winning Downward Dog Mysteries series featuring yoga teacher Kate and her feisty German shepherd, Bella. Tracy loves sharing her passion for yoga and animals in any form possible. The second book in her series, A Killer Retreat, was released January, 2015 by Midnight Ink.

Tracy and her husband live in Seattle with their challenging yet amazing German shepherd Tasha. When she’s not writing, Tracy spends her time teaching yoga, walking Tasha, and sipping Blackthorn cider at her favorite ale house. 

Visit her at TracyWeberAuthor.com, friend her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/tracywe, or e-mail her at Tracy@WholeLifeYoga.com

Excerpt from A Killer Retreat by Tracy Weber

In this excerpt from A Killer Retreat, Kate, Michael, and German shepherd Bella explore the grounds of Elysian Springs Resort and stumble across an area that will later prove to be more important than they could ever imagine….

When I caught up with them, I grabbed Bella’s leash in one hand and held Michael’s fingers in the other. The three of us crunched along the center’s network of interconnecting trails as we explored our new territory in the daylight. Bella weaved happily back and forth at the end of her leash, sniffing for hidden treasures, while I took deep breaths of pine-scented air, which was still redolent with ozone from the prior night’s storm. Golden oak leaves waved from the branches above and peppered the permanent carpet of pine needles covering the ground.

Last night the grounds seemed desolate; this morning, they bustled. Fellow vacationers sipped mugs of coffee and smiled friendly hellos. Maintenance staff scurried by on electric golf carts. Gardeners harvested, fertilized, and planted cover crops in a huge, fenced-in garden. A sign at the gate read, “Welcome to the Garden of Eden. Visitors are welcome, but please keep pets outside.” I smiled at the word play. Eden was the name of Elysian Springs’ organic vegan restaurant. The garden must supply at least some of the restaurant’s produce.

We wandered along the fence past beds of dark green kale, deep purple cabbage, and beige, peanut-shaped butternut squash. A few feet from the end of the garden, we discovered the free range enclosures of several of the center’s happy-looking animal residents. A dozen clucking hens seemed to smile as they pecked at the earth around their whitewashed henhouse. Next door, several ducks splashed happily in a bright blue wading pool, near a pair of fluffy white rabbits who sunned themselves in the corner of a huge fenced-in hutch. We even found a half-dozen floppy eared goats eating their way through a wall of blackberry bushes in an otherwise vacant field.

We hiked on the center’s property for over forty-five minutes, discovering quaint wooden cabins, hidden camp sites, even an old, rusted-out boat that had been abandoned on one of the property’s two private beaches. At the end of the beach, we turned left and continued walking—uphill now—away from the water. The trail ended at the edge of a cliff and a campsite labeled “Suicide Bluff.” Obviously someone’s idea of a joke. A squirrel chirped angrily from above, as if warning us away from his favorite hiding place.

I stood near the bluff’s jagged rock outcroppings, entranced by the view. Greenish-blue water extended for miles and birthed powerful waves that crashed over fifty feet below. The smooth, crescendoing sound was both calming and awe-inspiring at the same time. I moved closer to the edge, as if hypnotized.

“Kate, what are you doing? Get away from there.” Michael pointed to a sign several feet behind me.

“Danger. Cliffs are unstable. Walking prohibited less than three feet from edge.”

As if on cue, a rock broke free and clattered over the edge. I took several large steps back. “Suicide Bluff” suddenly felt more like a warning than a quip. The steep, dark cliffs dared me to come closer. Goaded me. Urged me to jump. An inexplicable chill burned the back of my neck. I couldn’t explain it, but the cliffs felt malevolent—evil somehow. Like they hungered for human sacrifice.

I looped Bella’s leash handle around my wrist and pulled her in closer. Gorgeous view or not, I wouldn’t come back here again. I didn’t trust this place.

“Michael, let’s go.”

The wary look on his face mirrored my own. He laced his fingers through mine and we hurried away, back toward our cozy little cabin, where the three of us would presumably be safe.

***

Tracy Weber is the author of the award-winning Downward Dog Mysteries series featuring yoga teacher Kate and her feisty German shepherd, Bella. Tracy loves sharing her passion for yoga and animals in any form possible. The second book in her series, A Killer Retreat, will be published January 8, 2015, by Midnight Ink.

Tracy and her husband live in Seattle with their challenging yet amazing German shepherd Tasha. When she’s not writing, Tracy spends her time teaching yoga, walking Tasha, and sipping Blackthorn cider at her favorite ale house. 

Visit her at TracyWeberAuthor.com

Excerpt from Murder Strikes a Pose by Tracy Weber

In this excerpt, Kate is at home late at night after finding her homeless friend George’s body. She has taken Bella, the victim’s dog, home to stay with her until the police locate his family. Kate feels guilty over a fight she had with George earlier that day.  

I looked at the clock and almost cried. It was one-thirty, and my early morning class started at six. I’d never felt so bone-weary in my life. My head still throbbed, and my stomach ached from hunger. But all I could think about was sleep—deep, dreamless sleep. “Come on, Bella. It’s bedtime.” I showed her the bedroom. She hopped on the bed and flopped down, lying squarely on my pillow.

“Sorry, pooch. This is where I draw the line. I sleep on the bed. You sleep on the floor.”

I grabbed a blanket from the closet, laid it on the floor and pointed to it. “For you.” It took some convincing, but Bella finally relented. I collapsed on the bed and closed my eyes.

Huge mistake.

Images of George’s body, sounds of sirens, the smell of blood, and the full knowledge of the evening’s horror invaded every crevice of my being.

Bella paced the room, panting and whining. I tried to coax myself to sleep with “Kate’s Sleeping Pill,” my favorite breath practice for insomnia. No good. The horrible memories refused to leave. But at least now the room was quiet. At least that infernal whining had stopped.

My mind froze. My eyes flew open. Why had the whining stopped?

I rolled over and locked eyes with Bella. Her accusing glare scolded me. We stared each other down for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, I realized what was bothering her. Bella was used to sleeping on the ground, but not alone. She and George had lain next to each other every night for as long as she could remember. Changing that now seemed cruel.

“OK, you win. Come on up, but only for tonight.” I slapped the bed beside me.

Bella hopped up, turned a quick circle, and sank down next to me with a heavy sigh. Her brow furrowed, her ears drooped, and her head hung low. I could tell she knew something had changed. She didn’t know what or why, but she knew it was bad. Frighteningly bad. Life-changingly bad.

I suspected Bella couldn’t understand me, but she deserved an explanation nonetheless. So I told her that George was gone, but that he had loved her more than anything. I also promised her that, although I couldn’t keep her, I would make sure she was safe until I found someone who could.

I owed that to George.

You see, I firmly believed that George’s death was at least partially my fault. That if I had listened more and judged less, I might have prevented this awful night. I deeply regretted my stubbornness in not apologizing. I regretted suggesting he euthanize Bella. I even regretted not buying that damned paper. No one else would have blamed me for what happened, but I definitely blamed myself.

As I finished the story, Bella rested her chin on my belly, closed her eyes, and fell asleep. The warmth of her body on mine felt oddly comforting, and I finally relaxed enough to do what I’d needed to do for hours. I broke down sobbing as I held Bella and allowed her rhythmic breathing to rock us both to sleep.

~~~

Murder Strikes a Pose introduces Kate Davidson, a feisty Seattle yoga instructor who’s more interested in savasana than solving crimes, until she stumbles over a body in the studio’s parking lot. The police dismiss the murder as drug-related street crime, but Kate knows that George—a homeless alcoholic she had befriended—was no drug dealer.

Kate stretches herself and takes on two new challenges. First, solve George’s murder. Second, find someone—anyone—willing to adopt his intimidating, horse-sized German shepherd, Bella, before Animal Control sends her to the big dog park in the sky. But with Bella’s time almost up and the murderer hot on her trail, Kate will have to work fast, or the next time she practices corpse pose, it may be for real

MURDER STRIKES A POSE is available now on Amazon, http://www.amazon.com/Murder-Strikes-Pose-Downward-Mystery/dp/0738739685/ and wherever books are sold.

Tracy Weber is a certified yoga teacher and the founder of Whole Life Yoga, an award-winning yoga studio in Seattle, where she currently lives with her husband and German shepherd. Weber is a member of the Pacific Northwest Writers Association, Dog Writers Association of America, and Sisters in Crime. She loves sharing her passion for yoga and animals in any form possible. Murder Strikes a Pose is Weber’s debut. For more information, visit her online at http://TracyWeberAuthor.com  or friend her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/tracywe

Excerpt from Murder Strikes a Pose by Tracy Weber

Excerpt from

Murder Strikes a Pose

by Tracy Weber

Midnight Ink, 2014

Author's note: In this excerpt, Kate is at home late at night after finding her homeless friend George’s body. She has taken Bella, the victim’s dog, home to stay with her until the police locate his family. Kate feels guilty over a fight she had with George earlier that day.  

I looked at the clock and almost cried. It was one-thirty, and my early morning class started at six. I’d never felt so bone-weary in my life. My head still throbbed, and my stomach ached from hunger. But all I could think about was sleep—deep, dreamless sleep. “Come on, Bella. It’s bedtime.” I showed her the bedroom. She hopped on the bed and flopped down, lying squarely on my pillow.

“Sorry, pooch. This is where I draw the line. I sleep on the bed. You sleep on the floor.”

I grabbed a blanket from the closet, laid it on the floor and pointed to it. “For you.” It took some convincing, but Bella finally relented. I collapsed on the bed and closed my eyes.

Huge mistake.

Images of George’s body, sounds of sirens, the smell of blood, and the full knowledge of the evening’s horror invaded every crevice of my being.

Bella paced the room, panting and whining. I tried to coax myself to sleep with “Kate’s Sleeping Pill,” my favorite breath practice for insomnia. No good. The horrible memories refused to leave. But at least now the room was quiet. At least that infernal whining had stopped.

My mind froze. My eyes flew open. Why had the whining stopped?

I rolled over and locked eyes with Bella. Her accusing glare scolded me. We stared each other down for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, I realized what was bothering her. Bella was used to sleeping on the ground, but not alone. She and George had lain next to each other every night for as long as she could remember. Changing that now seemed cruel.

“OK, you win. Come on up, but only for tonight.” I slapped the bed beside me.

Bella hopped up, turned a quick circle, and sank down next to me with a heavy sigh. Her brow furrowed, her ears drooped, and her head hung low. I could tell she knew something had changed. She didn’t know what or why, but she knew it was bad. Frighteningly bad. Life-changingly bad.

I suspected Bella couldn’t understand me, but she deserved an explanation nonetheless. So I told her that George was gone, but that he had loved her more than anything. I also promised her that, although I couldn’t keep her, I would make sure she was safe until I found someone who could.

I owed that to George.

You see, I firmly believed that George’s death was at least partially my fault. That if I had listened more and judged less, I might have prevented this awful night. I deeply regretted my stubbornness in not apologizing. I regretted suggesting he euthanize Bella. I even regretted not buying that damned paper. No one else would have blamed me for what happened, but I definitely blamed myself.

As I finished the story, Bella rested her chin on my belly, closed her eyes, and fell asleep. The warmth of her body on mine felt oddly comforting, and I finally relaxed enough to do what I’d needed to do for hours. I broke down sobbing as I held Bella and allowed her rhythmic breathing to rock us both to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Murder Strikes a Pose introduces Kate Davidson, a feisty Seattle yoga instructor who’s more interested in savasana than solving crimes, until she stumbles over a body in the studio’s parking lot. The police dismiss the murder as drug-related street crime, but Kate knows that George—a homeless alcoholic she had befriended—was no drug dealer.
 Kate stretches herself and takes on two new challenges. First, solve George’s murder. Second, find someone—anyone—willing to adopt his intimidating, horse-sized German shepherd, Bella, before Animal Control sends her to the big dog park in the sky. But with Bella’s time almost up and the murderer hot on her trail, Kate will have to work fast, or the next time she practices corpse pose, it may be for real MURDER STRIKES A POSE is available now on Amazon, http://www.amazon.com/Murder-Strikes-Pose-Downward-Mystery/dp/0738739685/ and wherever books are sold.
 

Tracy Weber is a certified yoga teacher and the founder of Whole Life Yoga, an award-winning yoga studio in Seattle, where she currently lives with her husband and German shepherd. Weber is a member of the Pacific Northwest Writers Association, Dog Writers Association of America, and Sisters in Crime. She loves sharing her passion for yoga and animals in any form possible. Murder Strikes a Pose is Weber’s debut. For more information, visit her online at http://TracyWeberAuthor.com  or friend her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/tracywe

Inspiration—German Shepherd Style!

by Tracy Weber

I’m delighted to join all of you here on Writers & Other Animals! As a certified animal nut, I can’t imagine a place I’d rather be. Since my mystery series revolves around a feisty German shepherd named Bella, I decided to share a little about the two German shepherds that have most inspired my writing.

I barely remember the far-from-perfect German shepherd my parents owned when I was a preschooler out on the farm. She barked, chased cows, and had a passion for hunting skunks, porcupines, and most any other critter that would fit in her mouth. In my mind, Duchess was a veritable Lassie. Unfortunately, my parents didn’t agree. After an ill-fated altercation with a neighbor’s cat, Duchess was sent to a new home. I never quite got over the loss, and I vowed that I would someday own a German shepherd of my own.

Tasha and Tracy

Fast forward about thirty-five years to the day I picked up my eight-week-old bundle of fur. I vowed to not repeat the mistakes of my parents. I was determined to do everything “right.” I studied books about German shepherds and enrolled in multiple dog training classes. I told everyone my dog would be the paragon of proper doggy behavior. I even believed it.

I should have known I was in for trouble the day Tasha chewed up all of my dog training books.

Cursed with a variety of illnesses and a fearful temperament, Tasha will never be the poster child for German shepherd temperament and behavior, but every day I get to spend with her is a gift. Tasha has taught me patience and creativity, and she’s forced me to learn how to give up control. Most of all, she’s shown me that I can give love unconditionally, even when the recipient is far from perfect. Tasha has made me a better human being.

My first mystery, Murder Strikes a Pose, involves a yoga teacher, Kate Davidson, and her German shepherd sidekick, Bella. Like Tasha—and Duchess before her—Bella is huge, often unruly, and smarter than most human beings. She sometimes gets Kate into trouble, sometimes saves her from it. Above all else, she’s the love of Kate’s life.

I can’t wait to see how their path unfolds in the rest of the Downward Dog Mysteries. Writing about yoga, dogs, and murder. What could be more fun?

Murder Strikes a Pose introduces Kate Davidson, a feisty Seattle yoga instructor who’s more interested in savasana than solving crimes, until she stumbles over a body in the studio’s parking lot. The police dismiss the murder as drug-related street crime, but Kate knows that George—a homeless alcoholic she had befriended—was no drug dealer.

Kate stretches herself and takes on two new challenges. First, solve George’s murder. Second, find someone—anyone—willing to adopt his intimidating, horse-sized German shepherd, Bella, before Animal Control sends her to the big dog park in the sky. But with Bella’s time almost up and the murderer hot on her trail, Kate will have to work fast, or the next time she practices corpse pose, it may be for real

Praise for Murder Strikes a Pose:

“Kate Davidson’s pluck, humor, and determination make her a welcome addition to the ranks of amateur sleuths. Reading MURDER STRIKES A POSE made me want to study yoga.”

—LAURIEN BERENSON, author of THE BESTSELLING MELANIE TRAVIS MYSTERY SERIES

“A delightful debut novel. Namaste to Weber and her fresh, new heroine!”

—PENNY WARNER, award-winning author of the PARTY PLANNING MYSTERY SERIES

“Great characters, keep-you-guessing plot, plenty of laughs, and dogs—what more could we want?”

—SHEILA WEBSTER BONEHAM, author of the ANIMALS IN FOCUS MYSTERY SERIES

Tracy Weber is a certified yoga teacher and the founder of Whole Life Yoga, an award-winning yoga studio in Seattle, where she currently lives with her husband and German shepherd. Weber is a member of the Pacific Northwest Writers Association, Dog Writers Association of America, and Sisters in Crime. She loves sharing her passion for yoga and animals in any form possible. Murder Strikes a Pose is Weber’s debut. For more information, visit her online at TracyWeberAuthor.com and WholeLifeYoga.com.