Everyone in the charming Hudson Valley town of Oak Falls expected Flynn Keegan, their handsome blond “Golden Boy,” to make it big in Hollywood. So when veterinarian Kate Turner identifies a bone dug up by one of her dog patients as human, no one thinks back ten years to remember Flynn. Until DNA and a smashed skull prove he was murdered.

With few clues available to the forensic team, the grieving family begs Kate to investigate. His four closest friends plead ignorance. Neighbors and teachers remember the charismatic young man but offer no real help.

Meanwhile, Kate is juggling her eccentric house-call clients, a silly potbellied-pig wedding, and the sudden reappearance of an old college boyfriend. Anthropologist Jeremy Engels, who returns like Indiana Jones from an African dig, is eager to rekindle their romance and offer his help.

Together, they plan to crash Flynn’s high school reunion, a recreation of his senior prom, and interview his fellow students. Time isn’t of the essence with a ten-year-old cold case, right? Her Gramps is convinced that the killer is long gone, just like the illegally captured brown bear she helped save, now roaming free in the woods. But Kate soon discovers that chains of love can be as strong as those made of steel–and some deadly secrets have put her next on the kill list.

As the only veterinarian at Oak Falls Animal Hospital, Dr. Kate’s life is complicated. When winter storms hit the Hudson Valley, she’s swamped with hospital patients and house calls, and her long-distance relationship with law student Luke Gianetti is precarious. The discovery of the body of Sookie Overman, a professional organizer, gets the town buzzing, but Kate’s too busy to take the case. She has her animals to take care of after all. But after a disastrous fight with Luke on New Year’s Eve–he’s jealous of a handsome artist who’s taken with the young vet–and when the body of Sookie’s assistant falls with the confetti at midnight, Kate realizes the only way she can have a fresh start in the new year is if she finds some resolution to the problems in the old one…

Making rounds to homes one wet spring morning, veterinarian Dr. Kate Turner rescues a family’s hamster from a vacuum cleaner, then visits an estate whose owners breed champion Cavalier King Charles spaniels. Instead of sharing traditional tea with the couple, she confronts a bloody scene of bodies and twenty-seven blue-ribbon dogs running wild. Police initially suspect a murder-suicide, but when Dr. Kate proves the famous best-in-show champion is missing, a darker reality intrudes. She remembers her grandfather saying that there are two motives for murder: love and money.

While treating local pets, Dr. Kate discovers suspects and motives everywhere in this charming town filled with people who wanted the couple dead. Was the couple murdered for the money their champion could bring to another breeder? How is their daughter, anxious to rid herself of the pampered dogs, handling the wealth she inherits? Would the celebrity filmmaker living nearby kill to end a multimillion-dollar lawsuit? Did long-buried personal secrets cause the deaths? And what’s going on at the office behind her back? Is Dr. Kate in danger?

First-time mystery writer Eileen Brady’s characters, style, and storytelling bring authenticity and atmosphere to this new “pet noir” series.

It’s the Christmas season and veterinarian Kate Turner is not feeling very jolly. She’s overworked, unappreciated, and dealing with two dissatisfied clients. Throw in a very complicated personal life and Kate’s definitely got a case of the holiday blues. To make matters worse, Kate’s ex-boyfriend, Jeremy, is mugged and robbed after they have a heated argument in the hospital parking lot. Then, two of her dissatisfied clients turn up dead (which really gets Kate’s tinsel in a tangle). All of these events seem like coincidences, but they add up to something much more venomous. Saddled with Murder is a cozy holiday mystery from beloved author Eileen Brady that explores the fragility and resiliency of animals and humans whose trust has been broken, and will keep animal-loving audiences riveted until the last page.

Dr. Kate Turner is happy with her new life in Oak Falls in upstate New York. Working as a relief veterinarian at a small house-call practice, she truly enjoys helping her patients.

All that changes when client Claire Birnham is found dead, an apparent suicide. A talented artist, Claire had everything to live for: new job, Manhattan apartment, her cairn terrier, Toto. As feisty as the Wizard of Oz’s Toto, he and Claire were devoted to each other. Kate can’t imagine Claire simply abandoning her pet. Was her death murder?

Questions end when police arrest young kennel helper Eugene. The fragile friendship between Kate and police officer Luke Gianetti frays as she ignores his advice and keeps asking questions. House calls provide gossip and clues, some helpful, some not so much, as she treats her animal patients. Did Claire’s recent insurance windfall prove too tempting for her hard-working and hard-drinking mother? What does trouble in the art gallery where Claire worked signal? How huge a grudge did heavy metal rocker A. J. hold against high school sweetheart Claire after she dumped him? Was Claire a threat to A. J.’s rich new girl?

Dr. Kate mixes real medicine with murder as she risks her life over Claire’s death, aided by insights from a former fire investigator, a.k.a. her Gramps. Unleashed is just as irresistible as Dr. Kate’s first adventure, Muzzled.