Guiver, Patricia

PERSONAL: Born in England.

ADDRESSES: Agent—Perseverence Press/John Daniel & Company, P.O. Box 2790, McKinleyville, CA 95519.

CAREER: Writer and novelist. Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), Orange County Chapter, head.

WRITINGS:

MYSTERY NOVELS; "DELILAH DOOLITTLE PET DETECTIVE SERIES"

Delilah Doolittle and the Purloined Pooch, Berkley (New York, NY), 1997.

Delilah Doolittle and the Motley Mutts, Berkley (New York, NY), 1998.

Delilah Doolittle and the Careless Coyote, Berkley (New York, NY), 1998.

Delilah Doolittle and the Missing Macaw, Berkley Prime Crime (New York, NY), 2000.

Delilah Doolittle and the Canine Chorus, Berkley Prime Crime (New York, NY), 2001.

The Beastly Bloodline, John Daniel & Co. (Santa Barbara, CA), 2003.

SIDELIGHTS: Patricia Guiver is the creator of a series of mysteries featuring pet detective Delilah Doolittle, a sleuthing British widow who lives in Surf City, California. Doolittle's specialty is animals—particularly finding missing pets. Her companion is a Doberman pinscher named Watson, who has a nose for investigation. In their first adventure, Delilah Doolittle and the Purloined Pooch, the duo is on the trail of a missing German Shepherd, Herbert Fitzherbert. When they find a human corpse in the dog's doghouse, the investigation takes a much different turn. A commentator for Publishers Weekly noted the debut of the pet detective series, calling Delilah Doolittle and the Purloined Pooch "mildly amusing" for its details on pet ownership and the services that deal with pets.

In Delilah Doolittle and the Motley Mutts, Doolittle again finds a corpse instead of a hound, this time that of a parks and recreation worker with whom she wanted to discuss the illegal trapping going on in the wetlands of Surf City. After another murder takes place, Doolittle begins to wonder if the illegal trapping and the missing dog she is trying to locate are linked. Gloria Miller, in the Literary Times, called this second installment in the series "a delightful, well-crafted whodunit that reads fast and will hold your interest and keep you on your toes."

Guiver's third Doolittle animal mystery is Delilah Doolittle and the Careless Coyote. In this book Delilah is searching for the beloved Abyssinian cat belonging to Mavis Bryde. Mavis believes her neighbor, who she suspects of practicing witchcraft, is behind the cat's disappearance. When Delilah tries to meet with the neighbor, however, she finds that she has been murdered. Harriet Klausner, in a review for Under the Covers, commented that the book would be "especially enjoyed by Anglophiles and animal lovers."

Delilah Doolittle and the Missing Macaw finds Delilah and Watson on the trail of Beryl Fairchild's missing scarlet macaw. The valuable bird, nicknamed Scarlet O'Hara, came up missing and presumably stolen some days before Delilah and Watson found a corpse along the beach. Oddly, the dead man had a red feather in his pocket, and Delilah begins to suspect a connection between the corpse and the bird. Her search for the macaw involves her friend, Tony Tipton, a reformed criminal who still has underworld connections. She travels to unsavory parts of Tijuana, Mexico and finds herself embroiled, unwillingly, in numerous police investigations along the way. Reviewer Wendy Crutcher, in a review posted on the Mystery Reader Web site, noted that the novel is "ideal to wile away a rainy day or Sunday afternoon. Light atmosphere and charming characters make this cozy a quick and enjoyable read." Harriet Klausner, in a review on the Books'n'Bytes Web site, called the novel "a charming entry" in Guiver's ongoing "delightful pet detective series."

Delilah Doolittle and the Canine Chorus provides not only an animal-themed mystery, but considerable background material on Delilah, as well. A widow once married to an American, her marriage lasted only six months. When she last saw her husband, he was in a rundown Las Vegas hotel, playing poker. He gave her a pair of ostrich boots and convinced her to leave. She never saw him alive again; he was found dead in the desert several months later. In Delilah Doolittle and the Canine Chorus, someone has broken into Delilah's home, leaving behind a book of matches from the hotel where she last saw her husband. Revisiting evidence from the time, Delilah examines the boots her husband gave her and finds the deed to a silver mine and a specimen of rock inside. It seems likely her mysterious visitor may have been after the deed. A trip to Las Vegas to solve the mystery exposes her to unexpected danger and raises the possibility of Delilah becoming involved in another relationship. Klausner, in another Books'n'Bytes Web site review, called the book a "quaint, but delightful cozy" in the ongoing series.

The Beastly Bloodline finds Delilah investigating the death of a million-dollar horse on a California dude ranch. The ranch's haughty and aristocratic owner, Hilda Dorsett-Bragg, suspects that the Duke of Paddington, the horse, was poisoned. Hilda had been counting on proceeds from the horse's race winnings at the Dorsett Cup to shore up the family's dwindling fortunes, and the animal's death strikes a tremendous financial blow. The stakes are dramatically increased when ranch manager Hank Carpenter is found murdered. Delilah feels out of her league investigating Hank's murder and the death of an animal as valuable as the Duke of Paddington. Still, she agrees to find out what she can, which places her in the path of those willing to murder both man and beast, and in the way of her prospective boyfriend, police detective Jack Mallory. Guiver's narrative, character, and subtle British stylistic touches "commend her latest series adventure to most mystery collections," noted Library Journal reviewer Rex Klett.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Drood Review of Mystery, November, 2000, review of Delilah Doolittle and the Canine Chorus, p. 15.

Kirkus Reviews, July 15, 2003, review of The Beastly Bloodline, p. 939.

Library Journal, September 1, 2003, Rex Klett, review of The Beastly Bloodline, p. 213.

Publishers Weekly, August 18, 1997, review of Delilah Doolittle and the Purloined Pooch, p. 89.

ONLINE

Books'n'Bytes Web site, http://www.booksnbytes.com/ (February 6, 2006), Harriet Klausner, reviews of The Beastly Bloodline, Delilah Doolittle and the Canine Chorus, and Delilah Doolittle and the Missing Macaw.

Chesapeake Style Online, http://www.chesapeakestyle.com/ (February 6, 2006), Ariellan Colt, review of The Beastly Bloodline.

Mystery Reader Web site, http://www.themysteryreader.com/ (February 6, 2006), Andy Plonka, review of Delilah Doolittle and the Careless Coyote; Wendy Crutcher, review of Delilah Doolittle and the Missing Macaw.