Overlooked Cozies: Otterly Ridiculous

By William I. Lengeman III

June 27, 2011

The mystery tree is a big ’un and one that’s laden down with many branches. In recent years, some of the more popular offshoots have been cozy mysteries that focus on a particular niche topic. Thus, we now have mystery novels about such diverse and highly specific topics as flower shops, donut shops, librarian/cat lovers, cheese shops, tea shops, bee keeping, knitting and…White House Gardeners, to name a few. This week, as a public service, we’re happy to highlight some of those extra-specialty mysteries that you may have missed. You’re welcome, and don’t let it happen again.

Otterly Ridiculous (An Otter Whisperer Mystery) by Avis Hent

From September, 1956 cover of A Man’s Life: Otter Whispering, the worst-case scenarios. Hardly ever happens. Really.
Life’s not easy for a hearing-impaired otter whisperer who’s plagued by violent sneezing fits, but Clint Bint longs for the day when he can leave his day job as a wild goose-chaser for the Department of the Interior and strike out on his own. Things take a dramatic turn when Clint, an otter named Looty, and a goose walk into a bar one day and find the bartender partially encased in a beaver dam and totally deceased, courtesy of a gnawed beech limb that’s been driven deeply into his skull. Clint and Looty never intended to get into the crime-solving business, but it soon becomes apparent that they might be dammed if they don’t.

William I. Lengeman III is a freelance journalist with a fondness for gourmet tea and traditional mysteries. He writes about the former at Tea Guy Speaks and the latter at Traditional Mysteries.

Comments

  1. Terrie Farley Moran
    June 28, 2011 at 2:42 pm

    Very entertaining! And I don’t have to admit that I tried to find the book on the web, do I?? 😉

  2. Leigh Lundin
    June 29, 2011 at 7:56 am

    Does this mean we’ll not only be seeing cat stories, but polecat stories? Was Clint Bint’s partner Don Marten or The Wolverine? Or Miss Ermine dressed in sable and mink?

    What is it with [url=http://criminalbrief.com/?p=17315#otter]Otter columns[/url] this week?Ferreting and fishering through CE, these otter stories weaseled in, skunking other articles and leaving the reader badgered.

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