THE LONG PAW OF THE LAW – Diane Kelly
Paw Enforcement Series , Book 7
St. Martin's Paperbacks
ISBN: 978-1-250-19735-1
November 2018
Contemporary Fiction

Fort Worth, Texas

Texas police officer Megan Luz disrespected her human partner enough that her boss reassigned her with a K-9 partner, a large, well trained female shepherd named Brigit. The two get along famously. Luz is happy, too, with her boyfriend Seth, who works for the Fort Worth fire department. One night he calls Megan to come to the station. An unknown man has dropped off a just born baby girl. Safe drops are legal in Texas, better than babies and children being dropped just anywhere. Megan takes the baby to heart, especially after she discovers the word HELP sewn on the baby's quilted blanket. She's determined to locate her mother. Brigit gets a good whiff of the man's scent on the baby and blanket. They follow his trail until they lose it in a parking lot. Child Protective Services are called; they pick up the baby to place it with someone who can care for her until she's adopted.
 
Meanwhile, the mother lives in a compound run by a puritanical religious cult, The People of Peace. The cult's leader (not practicing what he preaches) calls himself The Father. He ordered his men to get rid of the baby; the mother is told the child died in the hospital, then he had her locked her up in an old silo. Unaware of any of this, Megan and Brigit set out to find the mother and/or father of the baby.

THE LONG PAW OF THE LAW is a fast and unusual read. It's divided into short chapters seen and told from different points of view. This makes readers aware of who is who and where they are in the story. It also helps a new reader jump in mid series as I did. (I assume the relationship between Seth and Megan began in an earlier work.) While it is best to start a series at the beginning, I don't hesitate to recommend this book if you come upon a copy. THE LONG PAW OF THE LAW is fun.

More information about this and other series can be found at the author's website:  https://www.dianekelly.com/category/books/ .

Jane Bowers