Zero at the Bone — Mary Walker

“Texas dog trainer Katherine Driscoll embarks on a perilous quest to unravel family mysteries in Walker's gripping debut . . . harrowing.” -- Publishers Weekly

Winner of the Agatha and Macavity Awards for Best First Novel

In Mary Walker's Zero at the Bone, Katherine Driscoll is just three weeks away from disaster: foreclosure on her home and dog training business, even the sale of her beloved golden retriever, Ra. She has no hope of raising the $91,000 she so desperately needs -- until the father she hasn't seen for thirty years writes to her, offering her enough money to solve her problems . . . if she will do one thing in return.

But Katherine may never learn what that is. When she arrives in Austin, she is hours too late: her father has died in a bizarre accident at the zoo where he worked. As she sifts through the cryptic notes he left behind, she finds herself caught up in terrible family secrets -- and a deadly illicit trade. The more she learns, the more determined she becomes to prove her father's death was no accident. In doing so, Katherine will make a bitter enemy -- one desperate enough to kill . . . and perhaps, kill again.

“Walker is terrific at goosebumps!” -- The Philadelphia Inquirer

“This book grabs readers from the beginning paragraphs and doesn't let go until a satisfying conclusion . . . Katherine is a likable heroine with a gutsy intelligence that mixes well with her realistic human frailties. A gripping book.” -- School Library Journal