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I am an author, an animal advocate and a Canadian citizen. Born in Ontario, I grew up in a military family, and spent part of my childhood in Europe. I lived in Victoria, British Columbia, before moving to Oregon, where I now live with my partner and our very spoiled cat.
I studied English and Philosophy at Carleton University in Ottawa and at the University of Toronto. After graduating, I taught high school English for a few years before getting my dream job as an editor at the University of Toronto. I wrote short stories, won a few awards, then began my novel-writing career using the pseudonym Lauren Wright Douglas. I won the Lambda Literary Award for my second novel. Stolen is my eleventh novel and the first written under my own name, Linda J Wright.
Stolen was inspired by a horrific event in my past. I write about it on my blog at my website www.lindajwright.com. It changed my life and led me into 30 years of animal advocacy. In 1990, I founded the rescue organization The Cat People, and served as its first President. Since then, I have served on the Boards of several animal rescue/welfare organizations and have been a consultant to dozens more. In 1999 I was part of the team that rescued Keiko the orca (the real Free Willy) and rehabilitated him in Newport, Oregon, setting him free off Iceland. I continue to advocate for animals through my writing.
Reviewed by Ruth Castleberry for Readers' Favorite
Stolen by Linda J. Wright offers a unique perspective on crimes against animals as Kieran Yeats investigates the theft of eleven Bengal cats from a cattery, along with several missing pets (cats and dogs) in the Oak Bay neighborhood. Jen, Kieran’s goddaughter, is taking care of the Bengals at Wild at Heart while the owner is attending a cat show out of town. When Jen checks up on the cats, she finds they are gone, but all the doors are locked and the alarm system is still armed. Panicked, she wakes Kieran up and asks for help. Contacting Oak Bay Police Detective Alexander MacLeish (Mac) to help Jen report the stolen cats, Kieran discovers there has been a rash of local pet thefts. As she begins her investigation, Kieran meets with the pet owners who want help finding their animals. Now, Kieran is working for both the cattery owner and the group of local pet owners, and according to experts she only has five days to locate the animals before they are shipped off to drug testing facilities.
The mystery in this series debut, Stolen, is well conceived. Linda J. Wright provides interesting information about animal thefts committed by “bunchers”, underground pet thieves who kidnap pets or illegally trap stray animals for the illegitimate purpose of meeting the demand by pharma, universities and private labs for test animals. The characters are realistic, the dialogue genuine. The pace is steady, and red herrings distract. The exchanges between Kieran and her cat, Trey, are priceless and I laughed out loud a few times. For instance, imagine a cat who keeps track of the number of cat food cans in the pantry and apparently, when the stash falls below six cans, Trey acts out. Cozy mystery fans will enjoy this, especially those that follow series featuring feline sleuths.
