Police officer Megan Luz and her German Shepherd K-9 partner, Brigit, return for a fifth installment in the Paw Enforcement mystery series. In Diane Kelly's (Against the Paw) other entries, the two have pursued bombers, gang members, thieves and convicts on the lam. In Above the Paw, the lauded Fort Worth, Tex., duo are on patrol at a Fourth of July celebration, where Brigit sniffs out the street/club drug known as Molly (aka ecstasy) among the crowd. Several students at a nearby college have fallen seriously ill after taking the drug, and matters grow even worse after another student collapses at the event. Is it a coincidence that all who succumbed to the drug live in the same college dorm? Twenty-five-year-old Megan volunteers herself and Brigit to go "back to school," where the two work undercover--Megan as a college student and Brigit as her devoted health-service dog--in order to flush out the drug-dealing connection.
The story is told from the points of view of Megan, Brigit and the mysterious perpetrator, which heightens the danger, drama and suspense. Kelly has a keen grasp of college life, student quirks and foibles, as well as politics--on campus and off. Add a dash of comedy and recurring characters like Megan's ex-partner and rival on the police force, along with her sexy bomb squad beau, and Above the Paw delivers another entertaining whodunit in the continuation of this fast-paced series. --Kathleen Gerard, blogger at Reading Between the Lines