Product Description

This isn't the first time that Jo Beth Sidden's life has gone to the dogs. But the bloodhound trainer-turned-sleuth's latest case has a trail so cold there isn't a scent for her trusty canines to trace. Thirty years ago, two baby girls were kidnapped and their nanny murdered. The estate owner's daughter turned up safe in a nearby church. The other, the gardener's child, was never found. The man convicted of the two crimes was a vagrant who insisted he was innocent throughout the three decades he served of a life sentence. Now, he's being paroled for health reasons and Sheriff Hank Cribbs is worried his return will stir up bad blood. Turning to his best friend, Jo Beth, Hank asks for help. With her beloved blind bloodhound, the two-year-old Bobby Lee, Jo Beth must sniff out the ghosts of the past and find the truth buried deep in a swamp of cunning deceit and murderous secrets.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #128803 in Books
• Published on: 1999-07-01
• Released on: 1999-06-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 352 pages

Amazon.com Review
Virginia Lanier gets the fourth adventure of her heroine, Jo Beth Sidden, off to a brisk start, and keeps up the pace with her canine trackers all the way to a thrilling conclusion in the murky interior of the Okefenokee Swamp. Jo Beth is a steel magnolia who talks as tough as she is, packs a gun, and saves her softest feelings for man's best friends. In Blind Bloodhound Justice she solves a 30-year-old crime in less time than it takes to train a posse of law enforcement officers in the fine points of handling search and rescue dogs. That process alone is worth the read, but Lanier's fans have a lot more in store for them: another confrontation with her crazed, abusive ex-husband Bubba, a continuation of her on-again off-again romance with handsome sheriff Hank Cribbs, and the miraculous recovery of a blind-from-birth bloodhound who has a special place in Jo Beth's heart. Lanier's first mystery, Death in Bloodhound Red, was published when she was 63 years old, and it won a passel of awards, including the Agatha, Macavity, and Anthony. A southern Georgia resident, she writes so knowledgeably about the Okefenokee that the reader can feel the pull of the quicksand and the sting of the chiggers, and while her heroine is a bit too sharp-tongued and belligerent to be particularly lovable, her canine characters are totally captivating. --Jane Adams

From Publishers Weekly
Lanier's fourth spine-tingling foray into Georgia's Okefenokee Swamp with dog trainer Jo Beth Sidden and her crew lives up to the promise of her debut, Death in Bloodhound Red (1995). As part of his medical parole, convicted slayer Samuel Debbs has to report to Sheriff Hank Cribbs. Debbs says he didn't commit the crime for which he received a life sentenceAa double murder during a kidnapping 30 years ago. Not willing to reopen the case but curious about the crime, Hank taps Jo Beth's avid curiosity, tempting her to look into the case. As she balances her job as a trainer and tracker (with one particularly harrowing search in the swamp for a mother and baby), Jo Beth reads the files on the case. She learns that two baby girls were snatched from a nursemaid, and that one of babies and the nanny were killed. Debbs was arrested and convicted; later, when the wealthy father of the surviving girl died, she became ward of the slain child's dad. He and the now grown woman are returning to Georgia. Jo Beth visits Debbs, who shakes her conviction in his guilt. Like the bloodhounds she trains, Jo Beth tracks down everyone involved in the case and finally locates the truth. Lanier shows an increasing mastery of plot and pacing to complement the established sass-appeal of the endearingly ornery Jo Beth.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
YA-Jo Beth Sidden gathers her well-trained employees, her knowledge of the natural environments of Georgia, and, of course, her bloodhounds as she searches for the children of two different kidnapping events. Although both crimes happened locally and involved murder, they occurred 30 years apart. Jo Beth ultimately finds the answers, but not without several adrenaline-pumping moments. Lanier weaves the dual plots together, switching attention from one incident to the other and then back again, all the while layering these events with what is currently happening in Jo Beth's life as well as slipping in some clues about what will become the second surprise ending. The author conjures up both the beauty and dangers of the land. Completing the small-town setting, she includes gossipy details as well as family relationships that act as the community's dependable code for social, financial, and status levels. A colorful procession of secondary characters includes feisty older female do-gooders, the town drunk, an ex-con, some rednecks, Jo Beth's deadly ex-husband, and a resident lunatic. Lanier makes them all memorable in their human mix of good and evil. Exciting and often surprising, this deftly crafted installment in the Jo Beth mysteries leaves readers hoping for more.
Pam Johnson, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Blood hounds are Best
I read the first book in this bloodhound series while travelling through the Okefenokee Swamp on vacation in 1996. I have eagerly anticipated each subsequent addition. Anyone with a love of animals, a love of mysteries, a love of gutsy women, or a love of southern colloquialisms will relish each book. I do encourage everyone to read them in order. In fact, due to an impending birth , I have been homebound, and just finished reading the first four books all over. I wait with bated breath for the fifth one to arrive. Jo Beth, Jasmine, Wayne, Hank, and all of the other fascinating cast of characters are captivating and unique. However, it's Bobby Lee, Melanie, Ashley, and all of the bloodhounds who make the books come to life.

A Very Satisfying Mystery
Another excellent tale by Virginia Lanier. A satisfying mystery and likeable characters make for a very enjoyable read. Ms. Lanier packs a lot of suspense in each of the rescue scenes and I can't seem to read fast enough through those parts. I can't understand why her books aren't at the top of the bestseller lists.

Can't wait for Lanier's next book. Wonderful Mystery Writer
I have read all of Virginia Laniers books and they are vivid and exciting. She brings the people into your life as if you are part of the story line. You ride in her truck and walk along side of Jo-Beth as she searches the swamps for victims and murderers. Her bloodhounds are real heart winners and Bobby Lee is wonderful to have living in the house with Jo-Beth along side of Rudy. Same charters from book to book so you never lose sight of the picture she is painting. Each book is another part of your life in Georgia in search and rescue along with solving mysteries of murder, kidnapping and theif. This book is an A+++ just like Laniers other books.