Bloodhound (Beka Cooper Series #2) by Tamora Pierce

From Barnes & Noble

In this 550-page stand-alone sequel, Beka Cooper, the first-person protagonist of Terrier, finally becomes a full-fledged Dog. (For those of you who missed that trilogy starter, "Dogs" are the guards who serve under Lord Provost to keep the peace in Tortall.) In her first important assignment, she must sniff out the culprits in an international counterfeit money scheme. A rookie cop who will win the empathy of any perceptive teenager; the linchpin volume of an exciting fantasy series.

From the Publisher

Beka Cooper is finally a Dog—a full-fledged member of the Provost’s Guard, dedicated to keeping peace in Corus’s streets. But there’s unrest in Tortall’s capital. Counterfeit coins are turning up in shops all over the city, and merchants are raising prices to cover their losses. The Dogs discover that gamblers are bringing the counterfeit money from Port Caynn. In Port Caynn, Beka delves deep into the gambling world, where she meets a charming banking clerk named Dale Rowan. Beka thinks she may be falling for Rowan, but she won’t let anything—or anyone—jeopardize her mission. As she heads north to an abandoned silver mine, it won’t be enough for Beka be her usual “terrier” self. She’ll have to learn from Achoo to sniff out the criminals—to be a Bloodhound. . . .

Children's Literature

Yes, Beka has graduated from "Pup" to "Dog" —the city of Corus' police jargon for a first-year patrolman—and already she is in trouble. She cannot keep a partner or keep her nose out of criminal plots considered beyond her abilities, but she is tough, honest, obsessed, and newly blessed with Achoo, a much-abused scent dog. Suddenly, squashing Rogue Queens and counterfeiting rings seems possible. With her growing self-confidence, even a love affair seems possible. Beka Cooper could easily become one of the most honored heroines in the realm of Tortall. This is no small distinction in the fantasy universe (readers will see shades of Terry Pratchett's Discworld, without the surreal humor), created by Tamora Pierce. It should be noted, however, that Beka's world is a night world, and Pierce has peopled it with night people. Prostitutes, discussions of birth control, and a nicely portrayed transvestite make this a definite young adult read, and it will be read, because as usual with Pierce's books, this title is hard to put down! Reviewer: Kathleen Karr

VOYA

Two hundred years before Alanna disguised herself as a boy to become a knight in Pierce's The Song of the Lioness quartet, Beka Cooper, the ancestor of Alanna's husband, George Cooper, master thief and spy, joins the Provost Guard to become a police officer. Beka was a trainee in the first book, Terrier (Random House, 2006/VOYA February 2007). In this middle book of the trilogy, she is a junior police officer, and her second year on the force is quite a challenge. She goes through four unsuitable partners and is abandoned by Pounce, her god cat, who is off on a personal mission. Beka gets a replacement in Achoo, a scent hound she rescued from an abusive trainer. The ghosts in pigeons and the spirits in spinning dust funnels still talk to her, which comes in handy when she and Goodwin, her former trainer, go to Port Caynn to investigate who is behind the spread of counterfeit silver coins. The investigation leads her to Pearl, the dangerous Rogue of the city, who is involved in a scheme that puts all of Tortall at risk. Beka also meets and falls in love with a young bank courier, who shows her a good time but then bids her a fond farewell when she returns home. This compelling first-person narrative, recounted by Beka in the pages of her journal, includes a vivid cast of characters and lots of action. It is fantasy, an excellent police procedural, and an immensely satisfying read. Mystery and fantasy fans will be eagerly awaiting the next installment of Beka Cooper's adventures. Reviewer: Bonnie Kunzel

School Library Journal

Gr 7 Up

Fans of Pierce's medieval fantasy police-procedural series will love this book as much as Terrier (Random, 2006). Beka, 17, is serving her first year as a Dog (police officer) in the Provost's Guard. She and her mentor and old partner, Goodwin, are sent from Corus to Port Caynn to try to discover the source of the counterfeit silver coins that are flooding the region, causing soaring grain prices and riots in Corus. Beka is accompanied by Achoo, the scent hound she rescued from its abusive handler. While in Port Caynn, she and Goodwin tangle with Pearl, Queen of the Thieves, and her crew. Beka falls for Dale, a handsome and charming gambler and bank courier who may be in league with Pearl. The action drags a bit in the middle to focus on the romance but makes up for it in the end. Pierce vividly imagines this world in which police procedures are different, yet similar to those of today. Ponce, Beka's wise cat, who is also a God, is mostly absent but Beka's other unusual magical sources of information-pigeons inhabited by talking ghosts of the dead and spirits in spinning dust funnels-continue to add to the series' appeal. Beka is as headstrong and feisty as ever and frequently makes errors in judgment but is willing to learn from her mistakes. She truly earns the nickname Bloodhound as she faithfully narrates her story through journal entries.-Sharon Rawlins, New Jersey State Library, Trenton

Kirkus Reviews

In this second volume in Pierce's historical Tortall trilogy, Beka Cooper is now a junior Dog (police officer) in the Corus slums. Beka's uncompromising morality will never make her popular, but it nets her a high class of friends-and gains her a new scent-hound (endearingly named Achoo), rescued from a brutal former master. Her latest adventure starts slowly, with creeping worry about the large number of counterfeit silver coins she's seen. Soon she's investigating the counterfeits in the nearby city of Port Caynn, befriending gamblers and making enemies of both magistrates and criminals. Beka's Tortall is clearly distinct from the 200-years-later Tortall of the Alanna books: Elizabethan-inspired (and decipherable) slang adds earthy flavor, and the thin line between crime and law shows more subtlety than the high-fantasy good and evil of Alanna's world. Despite the languid pace, Beka's detective work will appeal not just to Pierce fans, but to lovers of police procedurals. After all, the detail-oriented, plodding movement of the story-much like Beka's own method-builds to a well-established, satisfying revelation. (Fantasy. 11-14)

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