BOOK REVIEW FROM THE AKC LABRADOR RETRIEVER CLUB

I am thrilled and honored that Marcia Lucas of the prestigious AKC Parent Club of the Labrador Retriever wrote a wonderful review of my first novel, Secrets at Spawning Run, which appears in the 2013 summer issue of The Labrador Retriever Club Quarterly News! Thank you so much, Marcia. Marcia's review is below. 

Book Reviews

Secrets at Spawning Run, Sally Roseveare, Infinity Publishing (2004), ISBN-13: 978-0741423085

Review written by Marcia Lucas (Los Alamos, NM)

If you love Labradors, you will love Secrets at Spawning Run. It is a mystery novel, set in the very real world of Smith Mountain Lake near Roanoke, Virginia. It is a fun, easy read, full of suspense. The ending will surprise you.

The heroine is Aurora Harris, a wife and freelance videographer, with a handsome (black) Labrador retriever named King. Married to Sam, and living in Augusta, Georgia, Aurora returns to Smith Mountain Lake after the death of her mother, to plan and prepare for the funeral. Her father died just a few months earlier and when Aurora returns for her other parent’s service, she finds strange circumstances in the house. Her mother’s death was not unexpected, and some described it as a blessing. Her father’s suicide was totally unexpected and dealing with both was taking its toll.

A series of coincidental encounters with other characters provides Aurora with bits and pieces that lead her to suspect something truly evil and malicious is happening in her beloved hometown. With the help of her husband Sam, Robert Reeves, a neighbor at the lake, Carole, her childhood friend, and Luke Stancill, a local guide, Aurora makes discoveries about her childhood home that will chill your spine. It begins to look like evil and foul play lurk everywhere. Who is killing people at Smith Mountain Lake? Who can be trusted and who is a threat? It is not as clear as the reader may think!

Sally Roseveare loves Labrador retrievers and loves to include them in her novels. Secrets at Spawning Run is the first of a series. She is working on novel number three now. She is a wife, mother and grandmother who lives in Virginia near Smith Mountain Lake. Her books are available at online bookstores, in both print and e-reader versions. I plan to read all three books and can’t wait to get started on novel #2, Secrets at Sweetwater Cove.

* * *

If you are a Labrador owner/lover/want-to-be-owner and wish to know more about Labs, check this website where you can learn everything you ever wanted to know about this smart, loving, faithful, gorgeous dog. Can you tell that the Labrador retriever is my favorite breed?

Unfortunately, I don't have a good picture of King, my family's first Lab, the Lab who saved my life when I was a teenager. After King died, the family bought Baron, a huge black Lab. At that time I was married and not living at home, but Baron was still very special to me and I loved him a lot.

Kushi, my female black Lab, died in my arms in the back seat of the car as my husband rushed us to the emergency vet. I thought my heart would break. Kushi could read my thoughts, adored our grandchildren and our cats, learned to climb out of Smith Mountain Lake onto our floating dock via an eight-rung ladder.

Yellow Dog, who died in December 2012, was part Lab. I think Yellow was the most gentle dog I've ever known. He loved me, but he worshipped my husband. We still haven't gotten over losing him.

So if you're looking for a dog and don't know what breed to buy, I highly recommend  Labrador retrievers.