Review

Grace Wilde is an animal behaviorist who has a special way with animals. Only a couple of people know the secret to her success; Grace is able to communicate telepathically with animals of all breeds and sizes. Most clients just see the spectacular results she gets with cats clawing up the furniture or a depressed doggie that won’t eat, but don’t know how she gets through to their pets. Some cases are easier than others, but Grace’s latest client is more than a handful. When a tiger at a rescue facility chases a vet up a tree, Grace is called in to find out what caused this drastic behavior change in the tiger. Grace learns from “Boris” that Brooke, a troubled teenager who volunteers at the center, is missing. Boris “tells” Grace that Brooke was taken, but since Brooke is a former runaway, nobody takes Grace’s claims the girl is in danger seriously and she obviously can’t name Boris as her source for information. Grace can’t let it go and take on the search for Brooke even when the teen’s own family doesn’t seem concerned.

A Tiger’s Tale is the second book in the Call of the Wilde series. In each book, Grace’s ability to communicate with animals without speaking is written in such a way that it’s surprisingly believable. I enjoy Grace’s “conversations” with animals, whether they are her clients or witnesses. Grace’s scenes with cats, dogs, rabbits, tigers, and even bats are the best parts of the book and are what makes this series stand out. Grace’s ability puts a new twist on the amateur sleuth investigating a crime, since Grace has a larger pool of witnesses from which to pull than most people. Some of Grace’s most important clues come from animals, which of course she can’t reveal to anyone except her closest friends and family members.

As much as I love reading about Grace interacting with animals, the author tries too hard to make the statement, “Grace relates to animals better than she does people.” That’s fine, but making Grace completely socially awkward, especially when she’s around her boyfriend Kai Duncan, seems silly and grows tiresome. Luckily, Grace doesn’t have the same awkwardness around her sister Emma, and I enjoy their banter as well as the way they support each other no matter what the circumstances are.

The investigation into Brooke’s disappearance takes several turns and remains interesting throughout the book. Although the mystery is solved by the end of the book, I don’t like that the last few paragraphs set up what sounds like a creepy cliffhanger for the next book. I hope the storyline of the next book will be better than it sounds, because so far this has been a delightful series.

Readers who enjoyed the first book in the series or new readers who are fans of Ann Littlewood’s Zoo mysteries or Judi McCoy’s dog walker series, will enjoy the latest by Laura Morrigan.

Reviewed by Christine