A Nose For Murder
By Lee Charles Kelley 

     In A Nose for Murder, Jack Field is an ex-cop from New York City, living in a small Maine town and running a dog kennel. He's content with his life until one of his clients is murdered and he realizes the local police have set their sights on the wrong suspects. With the encouragement of his current lover, Jamie Cutter, part time medical examiner, he sets out to find the real killer.

     It soon becomes clear to Jack that several people in town have something to hide, including the sheriff, one of his deputies, and Jack's lover's lawyer.

     While the mystery in A Nose For Murder was sufficiently engrossing to keep me reading, I found the main character, Jack Field a little hard to take. He had an air of knowing more about everything than everyone he met, he frequently went out of his way to antagonize everyone around him, and nearly everyone in the book commented on the fact that he was annoying, even his adoring lover. Although he apparently had a heart of gold (judging by the fact that he was sheltering and trying to protect a teenage boy who had seen his family murdered by drug dealers), it was buried under so many layers of sarcasm that only a quarter of the way through the book I found myself wishing that his would be the next body to turn up dead.

     The lead characters in series books I follow are generally a lot more likeable than Jack Field. Nevertheless, I found the supporting characters, including Jack's lover, Jamie, and the sheriff very interesting. If I were to read another book staring Jack Field, it would be to learn more about them. If you enjoy reading about smart aleck ex-cops who like dogs more than most people they meet, you will love A Nose For Murder.