Pre-Meditated Murder: A New Downward Dog mystery and Guest Post by Tracy Weber

Yoga instructor Kate Davidson is ready to marry her boyfriend Michael, so she’s disappointed when a special dinner doesn’t end with a proposal. But disappointment turns to dismay and outrage as she learns the real problem: Michael is already married and his green card-seeking wife is blackmailing him.

When his wife’s body is found—by Kate and her dog, no less—Michael is strangely unable to remember where he was the night she died. Since Michael has no alibi, Kate steps up to uncover what happened. What she walks into is a tangled web of deceit, obsession, and immigration fraud . . . with Michael trapped in the middle.

Guest Post from Tracy Weber

Finding Inspiration in Everyday Life: What Inspired Me to Write the Downward Dog Mystery Series

Several things inspired me to become a writer: a lifelong love of cozy mysteries; a passion for yoga; an almost obsessive love of dogs; a next door neighbor who is also a prolific author. I can even narrow down the specific moment I decided to write the Downward Dog Mystery Series. It involved a rainy night, a particularly challenging workout, and a passage from Susan Conant’s book Black Ribbon.

But in the end, the inspiration for my Downward Dog Mystery Series came from my first German shepherd dog, Tasha.

Tasha had some of the same issues as Bella, the German shepherd in my series. She was huge, not always perfectly well behaved, and she had a variety of expensive health conditions. In spite of her problems, I adored her to a fault.

She passed away a year and a half ago, and I still miss her. Living with Tasha changed my life, in every way for the better. She made me more patient, more loving, and more connected with my community. At the same time, she got me into some pretty “interesting” situations. I began to wonder: What if a yoga teacher with a crazy German shepherd like mine started stumbling into murder investigations? What kind of trouble could she and her dog get into?

The plot for my first book, Murder Strikes a Pose, formed from that idea. In that story, Bella’s owner, a homeless man named George, is murdered. In the most recent, Pre-Meditated Murder, Bella digs up the body of Kate’s boyfriend’s wife. Oops!

Now that Tasha is gone, I share my life with crazy German shepherd pup Ana, so hopefully I’ll have another twelve years of GSD antics to share with my readers.

Ana protecting Tracy from Unidentified Creepy Statue

I hope you all continue reading my work and finding creativity in your own lives!

About The Author

Tracy Weber is the author of the award-winning Downward Dog Mysteries series featuring yoga teacher Kate Davidson and her feisty German shepherd, Bella. Tracy loves sharing her passion for yoga and animals in any form possible. Her first book, Murder Strikes a Pose won the Maxwell Award for Fiction and is a 2015 Agatha award nominee for Best First Novel.
Tracy and her husband live in Seattle with their challenging yet amazing German shepherd Tasha. When she’s not writing, Tracy spends her time teaching yoga, walking Tasha, and sipping Blackthorn cider at her favorite ale house.