The Purloined Poodle
Ratings25
Average rating4.2
Thanks to his relationship with the ancient Druid Atticus O'Sullivan, Oberon the Irish wolfhound knows trouble when he smells it - and furthermore, he knows he can handle it.
When he discovers that a prizewinning poodle has been abducted in Eugene, Oregon, he learns that it's part of a rash of hound abductions all over the Pacific Northwest. Since the police aren't too worried about dogs they assume have run away, Oberon knows it's up to him to track down those hounds and reunite them with their humans. For justice! And gravy!
Engaging the services of his faithful Druid, Oberon must travel throughout Oregon and Washington to question a man with a huge salami, thwart the plans of diabolical squirrels, and avoid, at all costs, a fight with a great big bear.
But if he's going to solve the case of the Purloined Poodle, Oberon will have to recruit the help of a Boston terrier named Starbuck, survive the vegetables in a hipster pot pie, and firmly refuse to be distracted by fire hydrants and rabbits hiding in the rose bushes.
At the end of the day, will it be a sad bowl of dry kibble for the world's finest hound detective, or will everything be coming up sirloins?
Series
Series
9 primary books18 released books#8.3 in The Iron Druid Chronicles
The Iron Druid Chronicles is a 18-book series with 9 released primary works first released in 2010 with contributions by Kevin Hearne.
Featured Series
2 primary books#1 in Oberon’s Meaty Mysteries
Oberon’s Meaty Mysteries is a 2-book series with 2 released primary works first released in 2017 with contributions by Kevin Hearne.
Reviews
Popular Reviews
Reviews with the most likes.
Kevin Hearne delivers as usual! While at the park, Atticus and Oberon discover that some show dogs have been stolen in the area. They decide to track down the perpetrators. As always, lots of humor and a great story! I love anything that has anything to do with this series!! I received a copy of this book from Net Galley.
This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader. (and yes, this is different than my post on the print version)
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The best and most consistent part of The Iron Druid Chronicles has been Atticus' Irish Wolfhound, Oberon. Now Kevin Hearne has given us a novella narrated by and starring him, with Atticus in the supporting role. It's good that he kept the Druid around, because he has the whole opposable thumb thing going for him and can do things like communicate with other people
While playing in a dog park, Oberon stumbles upon a rash of dognappings – the victims are all Grand Champions. Oberon is appalled that such a thing can happen and vows to find the dogs and return them home. He enlists Atticus to assist him (and well, to do most of the work). They spend the next couple of days moving around the country visiting various dog trainers/owners and skirting trouble with the law. While Atticus does the heavy lifting of investigating, Oberon has a lot of fun meeting various Champion dogs – in particular, a Boston terrier named Starbuck.
The interplay between Atticus and Oberon is a lot of fun, but his narration is even better – between the repeated mentions of trying to pull off “the Full Jules” (reciting Ezekiel 25:17 at just the right moment); his summary/slash review of The Great Gatsby (which will forever alter the way I look at the book); Oberon as food critic (his takes on coffee and mustard are highlights); and a repeated tribute to Denis Leary's best movie, this book was flat-out entertaining. Because it's by Hearne and featuring Oberon, I assumed I'd enjoy it – I didn't plan on (but should've) cackling by the 7% mark.
I thoroughly enjoyed this as a novella – the story was good enough to justify the time reading, but Daniels doing Oberon's voice elevates the audio version to something great. Daniel's Oberon doing a Pickup Truck commercial-voice over killed me – how Luke Daniels could read this whole book in that voice, I'll never know. It must've required a lot of takes and more recovery time than you'd want to think about.
If you've read an Iron Druid Chronicle or two, you'll know how good Oberon can be. Get this – you'll squee.
