Christina's review
Terrier (Beka Cooper) by Tamora Pierce (Goodreads author!)
Another great Tamora Pierce book. This tale goes back in time to tell the story of the ancestor of George Cooper, the Lioness Alanna's husband. Beka Cooper has wanted to be a "Dog" since she was 8 years old, and now at 16 she is a trainee, or "puppy" under two of the best dogs in the "cesspool" or slum of the city. Despite being very very shy when called upon to report in front of the judge, Beka excels at "dogwork" (what we call detective work, investigating, following clues) and soon is helping to solve two important cases--poor workers who are hired to dig for gems but then are murdered and never found again, and a series of child kidnappings by the mysterious "Shadowsnake"... I really liked this book for all of the good mystery and clue-following bits, the unusual slang terms (boys are "coves," girls are "motts," the police station is the "kennel"--some of it is reminiscent of Cockney London slang, but ...more
