The Department of Lost Dogs

In this stand-alone middle-grade novel set in the same world as A Dog-Friendly Town, Josephine Cameron delivers a mystery full of prime-time puppers, Houdini-inspired whodunits, and a reminder that puzzles are best solved with a little teamwork.

Eleven-year-old Rondo McDade is starting to feel left out. His older brother, Epic, is heading into high school, and his younger sister, Elvis, is always mad at him. His parents keep pushing him out of their dog-friendly bed and breakfast, the Perro del Mar, and into the company of the new kid in town while a famous TV show films on location at the Perro. It’s an important week for the town, and everyone knows Rondo has a history of causing trouble. Even if he doesn’t mean to.

But when canine actors start to disappear, including Carmelito’s most beloved celebrity doggo, Pico Boone, Rondo is sure he knows who did it. Can he win back his family’s trust and crack the case before Pico is lost forever?

Josephine Cameron received her MFA in creative writing from the University of Notre Dame. She is the author Maybe a Mermaid, A Dog-Friendly Town, and Not All Heroes, which was a Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year. She lives in Maine, where she writes, sings, and teaches music to kids.