In Howling Bloody Murder, her first book, Sue Owens Wright introduces half-Washoe Indian Elsie "Beanie" MacBean and her basset hound Cruiser. When an environmental dispute in South Lake Tahoe turns murderous, uneasy residents aren't the only ones howling for the killer to be collared. The nosey basset hound named Cruiser does some howling of his own when he sniffs out the mutilated remains of a Tallis Corporation CEO on a hiking trail near Cave Rock. Cruiser and his Native American owner, Beanie, soon find themselves up to their ears in a homicide investigation.

Someone in South Lake Tahoe is Sirius about murder, and dog owners and their pets are about to discover that the killer's bite is much worse than his bark. Elsie MacBean (Beanie) and her Basset Hound, Cruiser, find themselves dewlap-deep in a murder investigation when supporters of a controversial dog park, proposed for a coveted tract of Tahoe shoreline, are earmarked for death.