I’ve read a good number of Rita Mae Brown’s Mrs. Murphy series and enjoyed them. This book is a different series with similarities to the Mrs. Murphy series.

Set in Nevada, Mags Rogers and her wirehaired dachshund, Baxter, have relocated to the Wings Ranch, owned by Jeep Reed. Jeep is Mags’ great-aunt and the owner of Wings Ranch. Along with Jeep, her Shepard mix, King, and her son and daughter-in-law live and run the ranch.

When one of the Red Rock Valley’s water pumping stations is sabotaged by a pipe bomb, and then another station is, it becomes apparent someone has it in for Silver State Resource Management, the company who handles water distribution for the area. Water is a precious commodity and also can be big business. These vandalisms not only affect SSRM but also the community.

Deputy Pete Meadows is heading the investigation and when he and Mags meet up it looks like there is a strong attraction between them. A little romance is in the plot?

The two dogs, Baxter and King, initially are unsure of each other but then find they each have complimenting strengths and both are loyal to their humans. In light of this they team up to help solve the bombings.

A side plot is while Mags is doing online research to help with the investigation, she stumbles on a connection between Buffalo Bill and Jeep’s ranch. A side trip into the history of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show is interesting.

An enjoyable cozy read in a Western setting. This appears to be the first in the series. ( )

When Magdalene Rogers (Mags) flees the financial meltdown and her banking job in New York City for the Nevada ranch belonging to her great-aunt, known as Jeep to her friends, she brings along her wire-haired dachshund, Baxter. Mags is still getting used to the rhythms of rural life when she is recruited to help Jeep and her neighbors with a burgeoning problem: a local corporation is attempting to divert their water supply to Reno, and is willing to go to any lengths to do so.

The mystery doesn't have a great deal of depth but the dogs are adorable and the way they talked to each other was really cute. Depending on your point of view you may or may not appreciate the author's political lecturing on what she thinks is wrong with America. I doubt I continue with the series but a fan of her Sneaky Pie books will probably enjoy this as well. ( )

After a disastrous end to her Wall Street career, Mags Rogers and her dog Baxter are off to see her namesake, her great-aunt Magdalena, who now goes by the name Jeep Reed and her German Shephard mix, King, at her ranch in Red Rock Valley. The human and dog duo becomes mixed up in a potentially dangerous situation involving exploding gas stations, threatened water supplies, a string of local murders, and the remains of a human male that were dug out of Jeep's barn. Along with these dangers comes Deputy Pete Meadows, and a strong attraction between himself and Mags. Between these two, the sharp tongued Jeep, and the dogs who will do anything to protect their humans, the mystery of the wild west with connections to Buffalo Bill and the Russian Army come to an unforgettable climax.

The illustrations are one of the best things about the book. The story is OK, but some of the characters seem too good to be credible. The dogs could have played a bigger role throughout the story rather then just at the end (where they saved the day). The sermonizing about the water resources is overdone and the carping about the state of society is tedious too. All in all I think this is for hard-core Rita-Mae Brown fans. ( )

Disappointing, but so was Rita Mae Brown's last novel. Characters are likeable enough, but too much exposition and history lesson about water conservation and the region. Not much really happens in this novel. Also, animals aren't well developed or as entertaining. ( )