It is not enough that Dona Milly, elderly owner of Casa Colonial, must tame a household of difficult guests - she also must solve multiple murders and help Zapotec villagers fight off a homicidal giant who laces his size eighteen tennies with purple shoelaces.
On top of that, an irritating watchdog starts barking her awake twice every night from his post on the roof of the house next door.
Paco and Amelia, a gentle Zapotec couple who find a fashionably-dressed dead man in their corn field; Inocencio, Dona Milly's sidekick and the manager of the Casa Colonial; Rodolfo Sanchez, a retired gangster from Mexico City, and various hotel guests round out the colorful cast of characters. Kindly, pragmatic Dona Milly, Oaxaca's Miss Marple, guides them all with energy, warmth, and an irrepressible sense of humor.
Review: "The Dog on the Roof, Hallock's lighthearted debut, features an assortment of temperamental tourists, Zapotec farmers and Mexico City gangsters trying to coerce those farmers to grow marijuana..."
-Publishers Weekly
"Mary Madsen Hallock brings a small village in the valley of Oaxaca to bright and witty life...in this well-crafted and engaging debut adventure."
-Jaqueline Girdner, author of the Kate Jasper Series
"...A well-written novel with an exciting plot that kept me turning the pages until I reached the end. Along the way, I got to know a fascinating city, Oaxaca, described with a rich authenticity seldom found in mystery or other fiction. Hallock's characters are hard to forget, especially those who combine gentleness and decency with strength."
-Jake Fuchs, author of Death of a Dad
Bio: MARY MADSEN HALLOCK fell in love with the city of Oaxaca when it was still a sleepy provincial capital. Ten years later she became owner of the real Casa Colonial and led more than fifty groups of tourists to the area. She now resides in Santa Rosa, California, and is hard at work on Ghost of a Gringo, the second book in the Casa Colonial mystery series.
