Book Review: The Anteater of Death

Title	Anteater of Death: A Zoo Mystery
Author	Betty Webb
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	This is the first in a new series by Betty Webb, who also wrote the Lena Jones series about a private eye in Scottsdale, AZ. I enjoyed the Jones series, so was eager to read the new series about Teddy Bentley, a zoo keeper. Teddy has a complicated family history. Her father fled many years ago after embezzling funds from the law firm where he worked. Teddy's mother is a society matron who has married several times since her husband left, but is currently unmarried and making Teddy's life miserable by trying to force her to fulfill her social obligations. Meanwhile, the husband of someone who had been Teddy's best friend in high school, and who is from the family that owns the zoo, has been murdered. The person who the police think did it is someone Teddy feels must be innocent. Complications include that the police chief was Teddy's boyfriend in high school and her mother broke them up because he wasn't socially acceptable. I liked the book quite a bit, liked Teddy and some of the other characters. Webb also presents quite a spirited defense of zoos and what they do, which comes at an interesting time because I just read Temple Grandin's Animals Make Us Human, which points up some of the problems of zoos but also some possible solutions. The next book in the series, the Koala of Death, is due out soon and I look forward to it.
Publication	Poisoned Pen Press (2008), Hardcover, 270 pages
Publication date	2008
ISBN	1590585607 / 9781590585603

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