by Sandra Murphy

Details at the end of this post on how to enter to win a copy of the book, and a link to purchase it from Amazon and an indie bookstore.

Corey Douglas and his K-9 partner, German shepherd Simon Garfunkel, recently retired from the police force. Now with Laurie and Marcus, they are the K Team, private investigators. They work for Laurie’s husband, attorney Andy Carpenter, but take other jobs when work is slow. Considering Andy is a lawyer who hates to take cases and can afford not to, work is as slow as he can make it.

Police officers often have cases that stay in their minds long after the fact. Corey answered a domestic violence call but the woman, Lisa, insisted she’d fallen. The man in question, Gerald, was smug and obnoxious about it. Unable to do more without her cooperation, Corey left. Now Lisa has been killed in what was called a random drive by shooting. Corey is sure Gerald is behind it, despite an ironclad alibi. The K Team is on the case.

Corey isn’t shy about his opinion, venting to a police officer and to his team. After questioning Lisa’s sister, neighbors, and friends, and delving into Gerald’s finances and background, Corey decides an in-person visit to Gerald is the next step. Gerald claims Lisa broke up with him, so there was no need for him to want revenge. The relationship had run its course. Corey does not believe him.

Things move rapidly after that, each step supposed to bring the team closer to a solution, but in fact, resulting in a dead end or consequences they couldn’t have seen coming, and putting one team member in jeopardy.

This is the second book in the series, a spin off of the Andy Carpenter mysteries. Corey tries to maintain a solitary life but is surprised to find out he really cares for Dani. He puts up with Andy for Laurie’s sake, but this case may change his attitude about that. Sam is the computer whiz while Marcus provides the muscle. Simon, well, he was always the best cop on the force, so that hasn’t changed now that he’s gone private.

Be warned, if you love mysteries, sarcasm, and dogs, not necessarily in that order, you’ll love Rosenfelt’s books. There are twenty-two in the Carpenter series out now with Dog Eat Dog coming in July and Best in Snow in October, both available for pre-order now. Adjust your book buying budget accordingly. You were warned.

To enter to win a copy of Animal Instinct, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “instinct,” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen May 22, 2021. U.S. residents only, and you must be 18 or older to enter. If you are entering via email please include you mailing address in case you win, it will be deleted after the contest. You can read our privacy statement here if you like. BE AWARE THAT IT WILL TAKE MUCH LONGER THAN USUAL FOR WINNERS TO GET THEIR BOOKS DUE TO THE CURRENT CRISIS.

Check out other mystery articles, reviews, book giveaways & mystery short stories in our mystery section. And join our mystery Facebook group to keep up with everything mystery we post, and have a chance at some extra giveaways. Also listen to our new mystery podcast where mystery short stories and first chapters are read by actors! They are also available on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, and Spotify. A new episode went up this week.

You can use this link to purchase this book from indie bookstore Mysterious Galaxy, and KRL gets a portion of the sale:

Animal Instinct: A K Team Novel (K Team Novels #2)

You can use this link to purchase these book from Amazon. If you have ad blocker on you may not see the link:

Sandra Murphy lives in the shadow of the Arch in St. Louis Missouri. She’s editor for Peace, Love, and Crime: Crime Stories Inspired by the Songs of the ’60s, with twenty-two cozy stories. She also edited A Murder of Crows, twenty-one stories featuring animals and crime (no animals were harmed). She also writes for magazines, newsletters, and the occasional guest blog. Both anthologies are available at the usual outlets, print or ebook.

Disclosure: This post contains links to an affiliate program, for which we receive a few cents if you make purchases. KRL also receives free copies of most of the books that it reviews, that are provided in exchange for an honest review of the book.