Fixed: A Gin & Tonic Mystery

Despite an opening section featuring a discussion between a gray tabby, Penny, and a "fawn-coated Shar-Pei," Georgie, about goings-on at a Seattle, Wash., animal shelter called LifeHouse, Kornetsky could easily have omitted the animal chorus in this well-crafted sequel to 2012's Collared. The focus is on the human leads Ginny Mallard, owner of a private concierge company that has branched out into "researchtigations," essentially unlicensed PI work, and her bartender assistant with a Harvard degree, Theodore Tonica. They are drawn into the shelter matter when a volunteer there, Nora Rees, comes to them with concerns that someone is embezzling money and jeopardizing the shelter's future. As Georgie was adopted from LifeHouse, Mallard has a personal, as well as a professional, stake in the case. This is a typical comfort-reading cozy, with few surprises. Agent: Jennifer Jackson, DMLA. (Oct.)