March 17, 2026 by Holiday House
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
Edmund is a goldendoodle who thinks he should become a British Royal Guard at Buckingham Palace when his owner, the British Mrs. Brandywine, passes away from a heart attack. He is returned to the Academy, where service dogs are trained. Since Edmund has a talent for identifying when people are about to have seizures, he is paired with Willy, a veteran who suffered a traumatic brain injury in the service and also suffers from PTSD after the death of his friends Jeff and Mike. Willy has a camper van, and hosts a ghost hunting show. He and Edmund take off to the Grand Canyon to investigate the 1928 disappearance of hikers Glen and Bessie. Edmund, who is extremely supercilious and overestimates his own importance, is condescending to the dogs he meets, like Rocky and King Ruler (a tiny Chihuahua), although he bows to social pressure and lets Rocky sniff his butt. Because many people have died in the Grand Canyon, Edmund realizes that he can see and talk to their ghosts. Willy starts his investigation at the Emery Kolb photography studio, since it was the last place that the hikers were seen. The other dogs warn Edmund about the Mogollon Monster who frequents the canyon, and there are plenty of scrapes, like Willy slipping and almost plummeting to his death before being saved by travelers Emmie and Jared. Edmund uses his conversations to help lead Willy to some conclusions about the mystery, and he is soon able to lean into his new life, even eating a lowly hotdog that Rocky provides. Willy's seizures have returned, so the two get help from Emmie and Jared in order to head off to their next adventure.
Strengths: Bowling uses a lot of history of the Grand Canyon, especially in her portrayal of the ghosts. I loved her author's note at the end, as well as the bibliography. It's always fun to travel in the Southwest via her books. There's a nice balance between Edmund's point of view and Willy's activity, and the representation of a military veteran dealing with health issues and being helped by a service dog was excellent. I'm not sure how many elementary readers are interested in podcasts, but middle school ones occasionally listen, especially to ones with murder and ghost themes, so the mystery of Glen and Bessie will garner some interest.
Weaknesses: Edmund's British affectations and insistence that he is somehow better than the other dogs will amuse elementary school readers more than middle school ones.
What I really think: Comparisons to Messner's Ranger in Time series are apt, since both books feature dogs who save the day and are roughly the same length and reading level This reminded me most strongly of Erickson's 1982 Hank the Cowdog series with a dash of Cameron's Puppy Tales books.
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