Every chapter of Tracy Kiely’s new mystery, Murder Most Austen, begins with a pithy quote from Jane herself, the undisputed mistress of early 19^th-century British literary fiction. For Austenites, this is cause for celebration. What’s more, the story is packed with Austen allusions, and Kiely’s narrative combines a well-constructed plot with a nice and easy sense of humor.

Kiely has fashioned a series with strong, admiring links to Austen the Original. In this installment, the series heroine, Elizabeth Parker, has traveled with her aunt Winnie to Bath, England, to attend that city’s annual Jane Austen Festival. As usual, where Elizabeth goes, along comes a murder or two. The Anglophile young woman soon finds out that real murder in present-day England is not quite the same as the cozy plots of a bygone Jane Marple day.

An egocentric English professor from America has promised to deliver a paper at the festival that will turn Austen fans on their ears with its supposed revelations about what “really” lies behind the author’s writings. Quite a few people are mightily upset by his claims, including Cora, an old friend of Aunt Winnie. Cora can’t seem to let the professor’s ridiculous propositions die a natural death, and she confronts him at every opportunity. Thus, when the professor dies a very unnatural death, suspicion immediately falls on Cora. Elizabeth is drawn into the fray in order to prove Cora’s innocence.

Tracy Kiely’s many fans will welcome another installment in a series that brings the brilliant Jane Austen to the forefront.

The strange assortment of possible suspects includes the dead man’s wife, ex-wife and a lover or two; an exasperating Brit named John Ragget, who insists on showing off his local knowledge to all and sundry; the professor’s square-jawed assistant; Cora’s seemingly naïve daughter; and the nasty professor’s equally nasty daughter-in-law.

Another murder ups the ante, but faithful readers will likely uncover the villain at about the same time as Elizabeth, who ends up confronting the real killer with—I might venture to say—a very unlikely final thrust. But then, this is fiction, and Kiely’s many fans will welcome another installment in a series that brings the brilliant Austen to the forefront.

As sole proprietors of the Little Detective Agency, canine detective Chet and his (human) friend Bernie are at it again in A Fistful of Collars. After the mayor of Bernie’s Southwest desert hometown (“the Valley”) successfully promotes the area as a location for the newest Thad Perry blockbuster film, the pair act as minders for the popular but problem-ridden actor. Turns out the oddly winsome Thad has a way-back connection to the Valley. No one in his entourage seems to want his past known . . . maybe badly enough to kill?

As in his four previous books, author Spencer Quinn features the indomitable Chet as narrator, and you’ll never have a dull moment as the cocky canine wags his way into your affections. The book is full of hilarious verbal fly-bys, and these Chet-isms are what give the books their inventive humor, as Chet alternately misses the point or gets it with bells on. He explains that an idea can slip right by him, a fact he quickly accepts: “My mind shrank away from the thought. Always a surprisingly nice feeling when my mind did that: I had one of those minds that was on my side, if you know what I mean, which I actually don’t.”

You’ll never have a dull moment as the cocky canine wags his way into your affections.

The quiet Bernie (one wishes he’d say more) is hopeless with expressing feelings, especially toward the opposite sex; and he’s a loser at finances. But as the brains behind the operation, he has a fine-tuned sense of what’s going on in people’s heads, exacting the crucial truth from troubled suspects. Chet contributes his superior doggie hearing and speed, and he has a wonderful sense of what’s buried inside the human heart, fueling those human needs that sometimes confuse him. Bernie puts ‘em on the spot, Chet gets ‘em by the collar.

This book contains some fascinating cameo roles: a smallish dog barking from the desert outside Bernie’s gate; a frightening killer dog named Outlaw; and Brando, a silky-smooth, golden-eyed cat who belongs to Thad. Chet’s full of surprises, and they frequently surprise him, too. We hope that Quinn (a k a well-known author Peter Abrahams) doesn’t tire of this, pardon me, arresting pair.