Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Animals in Mysteries

I’ve been thinking about this in connection with the Fat Cat book I’m writing. There’s Quincy (the adorable, clever, and handsome, but pudgy cat), of course. But I’ve added a rascally parrot for variety. I wonder if I should include another kind of animal for the third Fat Cat book. I know, you haven’t read any of them because the first one, FAT CAT AT LARGE, comes out in September.




For the same reason, to have something out of the ordinary, I gave Nancy Drew Duckworthy a pet pig. A certain reader has been pressing me to add a goat to their menagerie, but I’m not quite convinced yet. I AM planning a pack of wild Chihuahuas. It’s too bad I haven’t written that book yet, because it turns out that Phoenix is having a problem with them, for real. I’m too late for that to be original!




Besides cats and dogs, what animals do you like to see in a mystery? Have you written about any unusual ones? I consider anything besides a cat and dog to be unusual.

All photos from morguefiles.com

8 comments:

  1. Someone could own a snake. A large snake, like a python. Some people have tarantulas for pets. And those cute green iguanas. Have you seen some of those videos on YouTube about cats and iguanas living in the same house, acting friendly toward each other? Maybe someone has to go out of town and leaves a pet iguana at the bakery???

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  2. Well, maybe those would do for some mysteries, but cold-blooded animals don't sound too awfully cozy to me. :) I have too much personal experience with iguanas to use one of those. They're not very nice! Maybe a bad guy could have a snake or lizard.

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  3. I am not a fan of cold-blooded critters! A snake or lizard would be perfect for the bad guy, IMHO. But I would have to work hard at it to get past my fears to like a protagonist who owns any reptilians. I live near New Orleans and one of their many "characters" was known as Ruthie the Duck Girl. She was much-beloved resident who had a pet duck following her everywhere she went. (http://eccentricneworleans.com/ruthie.htm). I know ducks aren't terribly original, but they are unusual enough to stand out. One of my country cousins had a couple of geese for pets, as well as bantam chickens from around the world (beautiful little things). A high-school friend of mine had a pet skunk - de-scented, of course - a very gentle. A goat could be fun, too. Lots of humorous situations come to mind featuring any of these animals.

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  4. You just reminded me of a friend who used to keep ducks in their front yard. I'd completely forgotten! She swore they were like puppy dogs and even served a good alarms when someone was coming.

    Some chickens (or hen or roosters, I guess) are very nice looking, that's true.

    Thanks for weighing in!

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  5. You want a guard pet, consider a goose. Those suckers are vicious and the owner is unlikely to be sued like with a pit bull (although the damage is likely to be less as well.)

    ~ Jim

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  6. No kidding! I was bitten by a goose I was trying to feed when I was little. I still think they're nasty things! The problem with keeping a goose in the yard, I think, would be the clean up. They would keep people away , for sure!

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  7. I had a rabbit I was very fond of. He was quite tame and would lay on his back in my lap to get his tummy rubbed. I would also take him for walks )hops?) on a leash. It raised eyebrows. Might work in a story.

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  8. That would be very cute! I just recently found out about rabbit agility contests. Crazy!

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