The Hound of the Sanibel Sunset Detective (28 page)

The novel, like the other four in the series, is intended as an entertainment, and hopefully you, the reader, have not been disappointed.

However, writing the book also gave me the opportunity to explore within a fictional framework this deep, passionate love affair we have for our pets, how they manage to work their way into our lives and our hearts in ways we never could have imagined.

Any suggestion that they do not become family members is, of course, ludicrous. Only people who have not experienced pets would argue differently. Not only are they members of the family, they manage to become the most important members. We used to say, only half-jokingly, that Clinton didn’t live with us, we lived with Clinton.

The looming tragedy of all this, the cosmic joke the gods have chosen to play, is that our beloved pets do not stay long. We love and protect them in life, but then, all too soon, we must orchestrate their deaths. It is the heartbreak of our pet love—they must exit long before we do, leaving us shattered.

Kathy and I go on, we muddle through. But it’s not the same without Clinton. There remains an emptiness in the house every time we enter, and I doubt that will change any time soon. The memory of Clinton lingers always, the wonderful times we had with him, the ways in which he enriched our lives. Why, he even helped me write a book.

My unforgettable boy.

Acknowledgments

The usual suspects saved me repeatedly from myself: Kathy Lenhoff, first reader and incredible wife; David Kendall and Ray Bennett, longtime friends and hardnosed editors; Ric Base, brother extraordinaire, without whom these books would not be possible.

We introduce a couple of new members to the editorial team with this book. Susan Holly not only runs MacIntosh Books, one of the great independent bookstores on Sanibel Island, but is also a meticulous editor. Thanks to Susie and her eagle eyes,
The Hound of the Sanibel Sunset Detective
is a whole lot better than it would otherwise have been.

Ann Kornuta, a talented Milton, Ontario, artist, previously created the map of Sanibel-Captiva for the books. This time I asked her to bring Clinton to life for the cover. She’s done an extraordinary job capturing that mixture of the comic and the elegant that was so much a part of his personality.

Over the course of writing five books, I have shamelessly exploited family members and have not hesitated to do so again. Thanks to my son, Joel, enthusiastic reader, and daughter, Erin, whose own efforts to write a novel help to improve mine.

Many thanks to my nephew, Eric Base, and his partner, Lorena Inostroza, for introducing me to the delights and mysteries of Miami. Alicia Base is the world’s best sister-in-law, maintaining remarkable patience and good humor over the years in the face of repeated visits from a certain freeloading brother-in-law.

Finally, a word about Kim Hunter, aka The Driver. As regular readers know, such is my international renown that Kim drives me to Florida each November in his pickup truck. He still does not seem to understand that he must show more respect to a famous author, but I thank him, anyway.

Don’t Miss Previous Tree Callister Novels

The Sanibel Sunset Detective

Everyone on Sanibel Island, Florida, thinks former

newspaperman Tree Callister is crazy to become a private detective. The only client he can attract is a twelve-year-old boy who has seven dollars with which to hire Tree to find his mother.

The Sanibel Sunset Detective

Returns

The beautiful wife of a disgraced media mogul is certain her husband is having an affair. She hires Tree Callister to get the evidence. Then the mogul turns up dead on Sanibel Island, and not only is Tree’s client arrested, but he finds himself accused of being an accessory to murder.

Another Sanibel Sunset Detective

Private Detective Tree Callister’s marriage is in jeopardy, his son is in trouble, a guy with a machete threatens to cut off his hands, and a mysterious woman can’t decide whether she wants to kill him—or seduce him.

The Two Sanibel Sunset Detectives

Madi and Josh are smart kids. Except they don’t know what their father does for a living. That’s where Private Detective Tree Callister comes in. Tree sets out to find the truth only to encounter vengeful cops and a murderous female drug lord who decides that Tree is her next victim.

Coming Soon

The Four Wives of the Sanibel Sunset Detective

Tree Callister is blissfully married to his wife, Freddie Stayner. However, there are three former wives with whom he must deal. They have gathered on Sanibel Island where Tree is supposedly happily retired from being the island’s only private detective. All three wives are in trouble, and they expect Tree to get them out of it. The ensuing complications include fraud and murder—not to mention an increasingly unhappy fourth wife.

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