This is a delightful book. Mostly serious, but funny in parts.

It is the story of a retired sheriff’s deputy in Texas who is following a case as a favor for the sheriff. Many, many semi-cremated bones are discovered at a cat and dog shelter. They appear to be of differing races. Do we have a case of human trafficking? While at the first shelter, Al adopts a dog. The dog is absolutely delightful.

It is later discovered that their case turns out to be organ trafficking. As we follow the clues along with Al, and his motley crew, Fergie, Maury and Bonnie – and Tanner the dog – the story evolves into a fast paced chase.

A very good read with no typos or grammatical errors. I look forward to reading more of Russ Hall.

Thank you very much Netgalley for allowing me to read this book.

Throw the Texas Dog a Bone is a thriller/mystery set in Texas, of course. Al Quinn is a retired sheriff’s deputy who conducts investigations at the request of the current sheriff.

Quinn visits an animal shelter to investigate some bones they have found in their incinerator. Turns out, those bones are human. Since he’s at an animal shelter, Al adopts a dog, whom he names Tanner. Quinn figures out that there may be other bones, so he investigates other animal shelters that have incinerators and finds his hunch was correct.

Tanner turns out to be a good addition to the investigative team since his nose can pick up subtle scents that are beyond human capability. With the help of a forensic CSI tech who is slightly autistic but very observant and smart, Quinn finds more clues. His new partner though, is not quite so helpful. In fact, she seems to be working at odds with his investigation.

The story moves along at a fast pace. There are plenty of plot twists to draw the reader into the story. The dialog is believable and the characters are developed well. Quinn has a strange home life, with two women living there with him, which may be explained in another book in the series. The addition of the dog, Tanner, as a character is nice and we get to see the capabilities of our canine friends.

The mystery itself is pretty complex and involved and takes some unraveling. It goes way beyond just the bones but it makes for good reading and I won’t give any spoilers here. It’s a well-done story and fans of the mystery and thriller genre should enjoy this book.

third book in this series and its again a five star read for me, really enjoy the setting, the characters and the writing. great book! russ hall is becoming one of the top in the genre for me

Throw the Texas Dog a Bone is a great read!! Al is a fantastic character, the story revolves around an animal shelter, & the pup Tanner steals the show- perfect read.

I look forward to reading the first 2 books in the series.

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.