Bloodhound- Tamora Pierce

     Bloodhound, Tamora Pierce's second novel to cover the adventures of Bekkah Cooper, is a beast of a book. Weighing in at over 500 pages, it is a bit daunting to start off. However, Pierce's writing, as always, sucks me into the world of the underbelly of the city of Corus. This time around, Bekkah is a first year dog, having trouble keeping a partner since her "terrier" reputation precedes her. After her current partner ditches her, she is placed back with her old partners Tunstall and Goodwin for another go round. All is not well in Tortall as someone is flooding the economy with counterfeit money, known as "coles." As Bekkah starts to get the scent of this new case, she acquires a happy hound named Achoo as her companion.

     Her mysterious cat Pounce begins to act even more mysteriously, telling Beckkah she must learn to look out for herself instead of relying on him before he leaves to convene with the other constellations in the sky. The magical elements in the book are written in such a way that it sounds normal for her cat to be communing with the stars. However, some of the abilities that Bekkah has seem a little at odds with the rest of human society, even the magical ones (she talks with ghosts who ride on pigeons and hears conversations from the city's whirlwinds). She isn't a mage, but she isn't quite normal either. 

     This otherness about her usually works to Bekkah's favor as she solves cases, but it seems a tad wrongly written that she (and her friends) boast so much of them. In the first book, her unique abilites were kept much more under wraps in case they were used against her. After all, it is to her favor that people don't know that she can spy on them or keep tabs on who was killed how. And indeed, her confidence in catching criminals is often her undoing in this book. However, her trusty companions make sure she doesn't get herself killed. Achoo is particularly helpful as a mix between a scent hound and a watchdog, helping her solve cases when magical abilities alone can't get the job done.

    Of course, I couldn't put the book down during the final showdown between the colemongers (aka counterfieiters) and Bekkah's team, reading until my eyes crossed. And that devotion to keep reading, above all else, is my best recommendation for this book.