We are happy to announce that Kensington will publish in October 2012 the first in our series of humorous mystery novels about a talking Chihuahua named Pepe. They just sent us the cover copy. We love it and we wanted to share it with you.

Front Cover:

He’s got a nose for crime—and a weakness for bacon…

DIAL C FOR CHIHUAHUA

A Bark in the Dark Mystery (this is still under discussion–if you can think of a better tagline, let us know!)

Waverly Curtis (this is our pen name–pretty tricky, right?)

Back Cover:

“I am Pepe. But you can call me el Jefe.”

Pepe may have soft white fur, big brown eyes, and mucho attitude—but he’s no furry fashion fad. Pepe is different. Pepe can talk—even if his new owner, Geri Sullivan, seems to be the only person who can understand him.

When Geri takes on her first assignment for a quirky investigator named Jimmy G and stumbles over a Seattle millionaire’s corpse, Pepe proves to be worth his weight in liver treats. Suspicion falls on the not-so-grieving widow, Rebecca Tyler, who wants to finance a reality TV show, Dancing With Dogs. Normally, Pepe wouldn’t be caught muerte in a sparkly costume. However, for Mrs. Tyler’s caliente Pomeranian, he might make an exception. But puppy love will have to wait. First Pepe has to sniff out the real killer and keep Geri safe. Lesser dogs might flinch. But Pepe isn’t the kind to turn tail and run…

My chroniclers, Curt Colbert and Waverly Fitzgerald, will be reading the first TWO chapters from the first novel about me, which is now called Dial C for Chihuahua, at the Ballard Library, this Thursday evening, September 8. They are featured readers at the It’s About Time reading series which begins at 6 PM and ends at 7:45 PM and also features two other writers: Denise Calvetti Michaels talking on the writing craft and poet Ann Hursey. I will make a brief appearance IN PERSON at the end of the reading. The Ballard library is at 5614 22nd Avenue NW in Seattle.

I’m posting a video I took on my phone when a passel of new Chihuahuas arrived creating quite a stir amongst the company assembled at the doggy daycare where they meet.

Janis is admiring The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein, which is a marvelous novel told from the point of a view of a dog. On the shelf beside it, Corduroy Mansions by Alexander McCall Smith, an author we love but this novel doesn’t have enough about the dog in it.

Curt is just across the aisle, standing beside two novels we haven’t read: Funeral for a Dog by a German author, Thomas Pletzinger (translated by Ross Benjamin) (Booklist says it’s a novel of postmodern suspense) and Charles Portis, The Dog of the South. Not sure if there’s even a dog in this one; it’s a comic novel that’s been republished.

What are your favorite novels featuring dogs?

We’re having a big book launch party at Elliott Bay Book Company some time in October. Sign up to be on our mailing list (over there to the right of your screen) to receive updates on Pepe’s adventures and announcements, like the date of the book launch. We’re also going to be at Bouchercon in Cleveland the first weekend in October.

We love the work of Krista Brooks of RetroPets ® who allowed us to use her portrait of a Chihuahua, Head Honcho, for our web site.