DEATH ROLL, featuring mystery's first zoologist sleuth: Lavender "Snake" Jones.
What people are saying:

A competent debut with engaging characters and an intriguing behind-the-scenes look at zoo life.  

--Kirkus Reviews     

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An exciting zoo setting with snappy, right-on dialogue and fast pacing.  I loved Death Roll.

Mary Ann Grossmann, book critic The St. Paul Pioneer Press

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 This book is by turns amusing and creepy--in a good way.  Snake and Jeff are a great team, the plot is nicely twisty, and action is fast-paced.  I hope we see more Snake stories from this talented writing team.

--Rae Helmsworth, Crimespree Magazine

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It's a big night at the Minnesota Valley Zoo, a gala dinner to celebrate the opening of a new exhibit, The Australian Walkabout Trail.  The mood abruptly changes when the viewers reach the Crocodile Island part of the exhibit.  There, the body of the Zoo's Director is seen floating in the crocodile pool, showing signs of a crocodile attack.  The next day, one of the crocodile keepers, J. R, Erling, disappears just as the police discover that his name is phony and J. R. Erling does not exist.  He immediately becomes the obvious suspect in the killing, because the condition of the exhibit shows that the Director, Anthony Wright, could not have accidentally fallen into the pool. JR's friends, Lavendar "Snake" Jones and her husband Jeff, are determined to prove him innocent, but as facts about JR's past emerge, they begin to have doubts.

This is a first book by the authors, both of whom are involved in the background that adds so much to the story.  I have never read another story set behind the scenes in a zoo, and that alone made it fascinating and intriguing.  But the plotting and writing were also both first rate, and extremely sophisticated.  It was a book I did not want to put down, and just kept reading till I reached the end.  HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

 --Eden Embler, I Love A Mystery Newsletter

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...this is a fine amateur sleuth tale in which Snake's investigation enables the audience to see what goes on behind the exhibits of a zoo. The deep look at a zoo is cleverly interwoven into the whodunit, but is so well done, the Minnesota Valley Zoo feels like a key character. Fans will enjoy this fine murder mystery in which every clue points toward JR being a killer hiding his illegal peddling of wild animals with only Snake and Jeff having doubts that are slowly vanishing with one clue after another.

--Harriet Klausner, BookReview.com

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“Great mystery, great book!”

“...You will learn things about animals that you never knew, and what goes on behind the scenes, and the camaraderie between people who make things happen at the zoo.”

"It's hard to believe this is their first book."

--Janet Rosenthal and Marion Stein, Docents Detroit Zoological Institute.   Reviewed for AZAD, the Association of Zoo and Aquarium Docents

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"...an engaging romp..."

"...Despite the fact that this is a novel, its conservation-themed undertones may well provide subliminal education to those who read it."

"As the busy summer zoo season winds down, you might want to put this title on your winter reading list...It's a great escape into a murder mystery within the zoo world."

--Animal Keepers' Forum, September 2007, the official monthly publication of AAZK, the American Association of Zoo Keepers

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"...Boy, did I learn a lot about zoos, and boy, was I impressed.   I wanted to
rush out and visit a zoo (almost any well-run zoo) while I was reading this
novel, but all my "for me" time was spent reading the book.   The story,
featuring zookeeper Snake Jones and her husband Jeff, an import from
Australia who's "into crocodiles" fascinated me.  There was new and
exciting information on every page, and the mystery (who killed the zoo
director, and why?, plus much more bad stuff and close calls) kept me
guessing.   There were enough hints to point to the true killer, and I had
suspicions, but didn't really get it until the tell-all ending.   The plot
is terrific and exciting.  All the characters are real, with involved human
emotions and motivations.   And the zoo setting?  Well, you can almost
smell the "Zoo-Doo," if you know what I mean..."

--Radine Trees Nehring, Author of the "To Die For" series.

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I loved the zoo setting for this mystery.  Snake and Jeff are fabulous characters.  The zoo really lent itself to the cozy genre with the "small town" feel of the employees and supporters. 

There were plenty of secrets and corruption to keep me guessing at the killer's identity.  And there were plenty of twists and turns in the plot to keep me reading.

I found myself not wanting to put this book down.  I can't wait to read another one in this series.  I hope the writers write a little faster!

--Dawn Dowdle, Mystery Lovers Corner   www.mysteryloverscorner.com

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The most fun I've had reading a mystery in a long time! It's a mystery why no other author has given readers a zoo setting before -- lots of behind-the-scenes animal fascination and human intrigue here. A wow of a book!

-- Connie Fletcher, author of Crime Scene: Inside the World of the Real CSIs

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Death Roll is a fun read. The action is well paced and the plot does not sag. Most of the characters have depth, so readers feel like they are getting to know new neighbors. What makes this book come alive is that the scene of the crime is our very own Minnesota Zoo.                                                                                                                             

--Mary Schoen, Twin Cities Daily Planet

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What a fun, fun book!...I can't wait to read the next in the series.  Clever and very engaging.

--Theresa Barnaby, Ms. Tree's Mystery Reviews, Richlund Public Library, Richlund, Washington

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“The unique setting, fun characters and great story kept me glued to this mystery novel. The colorful descriptions of zoo life made me feel I was right there with Jeff and Snake Jones.  Some parts of the story made me laugh out loud; they were hilarious.  I can’t wait for the next Snake Jones mystery.  I loved Death Roll!”
 
--Marcia Cummings, Forensic Artist, Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension

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"Marilyn Victor and Michael Allan Mallory have given mystery readers a treat...[Death Roll] is fast-paced, exciting and often amusing."

--Doris Ann Norris, famous librarian and reader