The author of the Mrs. Murphy feline mystery series has gone to the dogs. This series opener features Mags, who flees financial disaster in New York with wire-haired dachshund Baxter for her aunt's Nevada ranch. There, she battles corporate sneaks hoping to divert the water supply to Reno. Then someone ends up dead, and Baxter joins with her aunt's German Shepherd mix to help investigate. Fun for most mystery readers. In the early 1900s, Midwest-erner Will Kiehn travels to northern China, surprises himself by wedding a fellow missionary, and watches the country collapse into civil war. Following up The Distant Land of My Father, a best seller and Los Angeles Times Best Book of 2001, Caldwell uses her grandparents' memoirs to tell the story and struggle of missionaries. Looks promising; note the national tour and reading group guide.
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