The One Paw in the Grave series

The master storyteller behind the genre-bending Spot and Smudge series offers up this collection of wonderfully twisted dog-themed short stories.

Meet a disturbed little dog with a curious sock fetish, and a smart puppy who isn’t about to let the monster in the closet scare his little girl, and a plucky cur whose unique relationship with a very large fish might just save a lost soul.

Travel back to the first encounter between an inquisitive wolf and a curious human, and forward to a very special dog returning from space, and along the way stop at a farm with a dark secret and a creepy French manor and a not so restful old folks’ home. There’s even a midnight encounter with an unlucky assassin, and a visit from the grim reaper.

And woven throughout all of these extraordinary tales is one irrefutable truth…

We all have One Paw in the Grave

Meet a scrappy stray pup who shows a distraught stranger what’s truly important, and a heartbroken boy who uses his cunning dog to settle a score, and a woman who discovers a loyal friend sometimes finds you when you need them most.

Travel back to the old west, where a gunslinger’s past comes back to blindside him and his dog, and forward to find a marooned spaceship unsure of who their real enemy is. Along the way there’s a pair of very protective hounds who teach a bully a different kind of lesson, and a man who shouldn’t have used the family dog as a spy. View the world through the eyes of an odd boy and his forever companion who see things very differently, and follow a couple as they make a few improvised explosives to get back at a pet store. There’s even a wager with the devil, and a few clones, and a very disagreeable genie.

Meet a rookie sniffer dog who can smell more than just fires, and a deaf boxer who finds his disability is anything but, and a magician’s dog who teaches the master a few tricks.

Travel back to WW1, where enemy dog soldiers make a terrible pact, and forward to an apocalyptic world where even metal dogs are still dogs, and along the way meet a priest whose setter has a thing for demons, and an unexpected serial killer who you can’t really blame, and a cartoon dog who doesn’t like taking orders from his creator. There’s also a different kind of séance, and the Hong Kong Masters, whose dogs are very Feng Shui.

Meet a king who has to trust the fate of his kingdom to the castle’s puppies, and a robot dog who unfortunately follows orders, and a reclusive CEO no one has ever seen for a very good reason.

Travel back to the War of 1812, where privateers wage war on the high seas with their unique shipmates, and forward to a dog who watches the suspicious neighbors, and along the way meet an old biker and his scruffy dog who can’t help getting into trouble, and a grandmother who doesn’t want the family to see their DNA test, and a veterinarian who saves more than her patients. There’s also a Nazi, and a shapeshifter, and a few zombies who are much more than just dead.

Meet an eccentric group of tobogganers who take over an Alpine mountain, and a hallucinating dog who stumbles into a party in the desert, and an extinct animal who doesn’t know it’s extinct.

Travel back in time through the eyes of a famous stuffed dog, and forward to see sheep dogs still know to watch over a flock, and along the way meet a penitent man whose dog helps him right a few wrongs, and a three-legged hound who hobbles into an unsuspecting girl’s heart, and a puppy who really likes to dig but uncovers way more than he bargained for. There’s also wild boars used as body guards, and a world record breaking throw, and a bitcoin tycoon who likes pizza bites and peeing his name in the snow.

Meet a unique cave-rescue team who escape a tight spot only to land themselves in a far more dangerous hole, and a bitter couple who just can’t agree on splitting up the marital assets, and an expecting couple struggling with their strange new neighbors, and their dog.

Travel back to the wild west, where the hired coolers pick on the wrong railway workers, and take that last car ride to heaven with an unsure new angel, and along the way meet a costumed dog who gets a really big admirer, and a puppy who finds his doppelganger, and a K9 cop who just won’t let that smell go. There’s also the religious scholar who makes the most significant discovery in history, and a city cowering under the threat of annihilation.

Meet the first dog to take the witness stand in a murder trial, and a doomed chief who wants his dogs story to continue. Watch from the treetops as a girl and her squirrel pals help a dog get the best of a mean old man, and climb to the top of the world with a dog who doesn’t know how to quit.

Travel back to the old west, where a pack of cunning dogs meet a band of unscrupulous rustlers, and forward to see a new world gifted to the worthiest of creatures. There’s a radio host dog, and hungry bush dogs, and impeccably trained dogs who really know how to take out the trash.

Meet a tenacious canine with clockwork parts, and a man who will do whatever it takes to land his dream job, Run the wildest race ever with a tough dog and his smoke-belching nemesis, and hope a latchkey pup makes a new friend, even if that friend is a little strange.

Travel back to the great flood, where dogs are wondering how they’ll fit in after the waters recede, and forward to a scientist using dogs to advance his questionable research. There’s animated dogs, and ghost hunting dogs, and a litter who have an extremely strong connection to one another.

Meet a wronged soldier who travels a long way to get his unique revenge, and a sweet dog taking that last car ride, and superhero dogs who can’t trust thier own team, and a cunning stray who laps from a very odd puddle.

Travel back to the fifties, where a young reporter is trying hard to make her mark, and forward to meet some popular aliens who have a dark secret. Follow a loyal dog to prison, and a protective dog who gets into real trouble out on the range. There’s even a beautiful girl from Africa with hands that are very much not like ours.