The Anteater of Death

Title: The Anteater of Death

Author: Betty Webb

Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press

Copyright Date: 2008

Print Date: December 2008

ISBN: 9781590585603

Pages: 261

Series: 1st in the Gunn Zoo Mystery series

Book Description (from dust jacket):

The Anteater was framed! But if Lucy, the pregnant Giant Anteater from Belize, didn't kill the man found dead in her enclosure, who did? California zookeeper Teddy Bentley must find the real murderer before her furry friend is shipped off to another zoo in disgrace.

Then another human bites the dust, the monkeys riot, and wolves go nuts. Things get worse when the snooty folks at Gunn Landing Harbor attempt to evict Teddy from the Merilee, her beloved houseboat.

That's just the beginning. Her father, on the lam from the Feds for embezzling millions, gets targeted by a local gangster; and Caro, Teddy's socialite and former beauty queen mother who loathes Teddy's dangerous job, starts introducing her to eligible bachelors. But Teddy has already given her heart to Sheriff Joe Rejas, a migrant worker's son. Caro is not pleased.

Zoo life, animal lore, and the leaky ups and downs of Central Coast California houseboat living create a thrilling backdrop for murder.

Comments:

I saw the second book in this series, The Koala of Death, among the "Always Something New" section at the library where I work. Since I prefer reading a series in order, I searched out this one first. It took me awhile to finish reading it, but I enjoyed it. I liked Teddy, the zoo setting, and the intro from the anteater Lucy's perspective. And I learned more about, and gained an appreciation for, an animal I hadn't ever thought much about before. I look forward to reading the next Gunn Zoo Mystery.