Virginia Lanier Books In Order

Jo Beth Sidden “Bloodhound” Mystery Books In Publication Order

  1. Death in Bloodhound Red (1995)
  2. The House on Bloodhound Lane (1996)
  3. A Brace of Bloodhounds (1997)
  4. Blind Bloodhound Justice (1998)
  5. Ten Little Bloodhounds (1999)
  6. A Bloodhound To Die For (2003)

Jo Beth Sidden “Bloodhound” Mystery Book Covers

Virginia Lanier Books Overview

Death in Bloodhound Red

Jo Beth Siddon is a bloodhound trainer with a special talent for harrowing search and rescue missions, and a bad habit for mouthing off to deputies who refuse to take orders from a woman. She has seen her share of trouble: moonshiners poking guns at her head, crooked cops, and an abusive ex husband with a terrible temper. Then she’s suspected of murder and finds herself treading a quagmire as thick and treacherous as the Okefenokee Swamp. If she can’t prove her innocence, she might lose not only the thriving business she loves, but the freedom and independence she’s fought for all her life.

The House on Bloodhound Lane

Lanier does for bloodhounds what Dick Francis does for racehorses in her atmospheric, and critically applauded, novels set in rural Georgia. Jo Beth Sidden is a fiercely independent woman who raises and trains bloodhounds for search and rescue missions and to track down escaped prisoners in South Georgia’s Okefenokee Swamp. Jo Beth’s got her hands full when the local police chief hires her to sniff out a local mari*juana grower and a friend asks her to locate a kidnapped man even though the FBI is on the case. And when her sociopath of an ex husband Bubba gets out of prison and begins stalking her, Jo Beth will need to use all her skills and her bloodhounds to outwit Bubba, to help the police and to best the FBI. ‘Lanier’s writing blends white hot intensity with a lyrical sense of place that can render even a sticky humid Okefenokee Swamp as a setting I can’t wait to visit again.’ Margaret Maron, bestselling author and winner of the Edgar, Agatha and Anthony Awards

A Brace of Bloodhounds

The Sins Of The Past Must Be Paid For Again And Again And Again When Gilly Ainsley shows up on Jo Beth sidden’s doorstep, the smart and feisty bloodhound trainer and tracker is stunned by the woman’s bizarre tale of deception and manslaughter. Gilly’s mother wrote a letter before she died, a letter claiming that she would be murdered by the man for whom she kept house a superior court judge and Gilly want Jo Beth to bring the murderer to justice, at last. Gilly’s mother saw something she shouldn’t have in the woods near the Okefenokee Swamp. Gilly and Jo Beth are in danger, too, and Jo Beth knows that the swamp guards its secrets well. To topple this fat cat judge will take someone who can see inside the criminal mind, train a pack of dogs to hunt out evil, and pursue an enemy until there is nothing left but the sweat on his palms.

Blind Bloodhound Justice

Legion of fans will cheer the return of wisecracking sleuth Jo Beth Sidden and her remarkable canine pals in Blind Bloodhound Justice, the fourth installment in Virginia Lanier’s award winning mystery series. In Blind Bloodhound Justice, Lanier gives readers what they have come to expect a masterful combination of personal experience, authentic southern charm, unforgettable characters along with a healthy dose of adventure. What do you do when you’re trying to forget about the fact that it’s been three months, six days, and five hours since you quit smoking, that there’s no significant man in your life except your homicidal ex husband Bubba, and that it’s 35 degrees, a temperature most Georgians never have to contend with? Well, if you’re anything like Jo Beth Sidden, the toughest breed of Georgia Peach, you get yourself mixed up in some crazy adventure, hop in your van with your trusty bloodhound sidekick and start nosing around. Jo Beth’s latest pursuit takes her back 30 years when she’s asked by the sheriff to ‘quietly’ look into one of the town’s most crimes ghost stories the kidnapping and murder of a nanny and child. It seems that the man convicted of the murders has been bounced out of the big house for health reasons, and now rumors are flying about who is moving back to the town to live in the house where it all took place. Of course, it wouldn’t seem right for the sheriff to be seen poking into a crime from 1965, so as usual, it’s up to gutsy Jo Beth and her fearless bloodhounds to track down the truth and expose the real killer. Meanwhile, a search and rescue call plunges Jo Beth, along with her partner and friend Jasmine and two of her best bloodhounds, into the Okefenokee Swamp to track the mysterious disappearance of a mother and child. As night draws nearer, the search draws the rescue party deeper into dangerous and unforgiving territory, closer to a chilling discovery and face to face with death. And as if she didn’t have enough to do, Jo Beth continues to conduct her now famous tracking seminar for bloodhound handlers, mends a friendship that has been put to the test, and narrowly escapes an encounter with Bubba, a man bent on nothing short of murder. Virginia Lanier has done it again in the midst of all the tantalizing plot twists and quirky characters, Jo Beth stands out. Her wit, her southern feminism, her compassion and her humanity all make her character and this series the best of its kind. Even the most seasoned mystery lover will be left panting.

Ten Little Bloodhounds

Ten Little Bloodhounds are just the tip of the trouble in this fifth outing in Virginia Lanier’s award winning mystery series featuring Jo Beth Sidden and the smartest, sweetest team of search and rescue dogs in the South. Jo Beth runs her own business training and selling bloodhounds. With her best dogs she also braves the dangers in and around the Okefenokee Swamp to find lost children, escaped convicts, and illegal stashes. On occasion, she’s been known to investigate a crime or two. In her latest case, Jo Beth is hired by a reclusive, wealthy island matriarch to find her lost cat. Shortly thereafter, her client is murdered, and the lawyers hire Jo Beth to find the culprit. There is a slew of suspects, all potential heirs to the matriarch’s fortune. Only one is a killer. Meanwhile, a full litter of ten baby hounds is expected back at the kennel. This rare, difficult birth isn’t just a matter close to Jo Beth’s heart. It will also be a much needed boon for her business. The quicker Jo Beth can solve this case, the sooner she can get home to her dogs and get her life in order. But she’s in for a surprise, and a fight she’ll never forget. Ten Little Bloodhounds is a beat the clock mystery with a masterful mix of deception, danger, and down home sleuthing.

A Bloodhound To Die For

In the sixth novel in this popular, award winning mystery series, Georgia peach Jo Beth Sidden returns with her delightfully fast on their feet bloodhounds. Dog trainer and amateur sleuth extraordinaire, Jo Beth is in a heap of trouble. For openers, she has to dig herself out of a personal crisis. Confronted by her violent ex husband, Bubba, Jo Beth ended the relationship for good with a bang. Now she has to rebuild her life and, in between, give a little help to her friends who are in dire need of a good detective. She’s on the trail of a prison escapee, a good ol’ boy so wily that even Jo Beth’s best hounds can’t sniff him out. Meanwhile, she’s busy tracking an elderly woman who has wandered off in the Okefenokee Swamp, and at the same time searching for the source of a rumor that resulted in three deaths.

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