What the Dogs Know:
The Story

On Looser Island, the non-human animals outnumber the humans by a significant margin.

This small hump of rock in the Salish Sea is home to rabbits, deer, seagulls, bald eagles, cormorants, bufflehead ducks, Canada geese, several pairs of great horned owls, and petite orange-footed puffins making their Three Stooges sounds as they swim, for reasons known only to themselves, in circles.

Then there are the domesticated animals. Flocks of sheep graze placidly, black and white splotches on impossibly green fields. Cows moo as if they’re on a movie set responding to the director calling, “Cue farm animal sounds.” Chickens scratch and cluck, llamas look disinterested, and one cheerfully combative camel makes an occasional appearance, visiting from a nearby island.

When you add in the fact that almost every household has a dog, it is or should be clear who really runs the show. Ask any islander and they’ll tell you it’s true: the animals rule the roost. That’s just the way it is, the way it’s always been.

Until the day the dogs start disappearing.

Suddenly this quiet, close-knit community is thrown into turmoil.
Where are the dogs?
Who would do such a thing?

Everyone is a suspect. Everyone has a secret to hide.