Terrier (Beka Cooper, #1)

Like all Tamora Pierce's books I've read before, this one was very much a coming-of-age story. However, it also felt pretty difference, both thanks to Beka's narration which seemed a bit different from the usual writing style I expect from the author, and because there's such a big focus on the mystery plot. Which, by the way, was really well-handled—it was fun to follow this investigation, and there were a few quite nail-biting moments. 

Otherwise, I liked the cast of characters and the development they all got, and the found family vibes. Beka's cat companion stole the show more than once. The setting was described vividly, in rich detail, and made me feel like I've really walked the streets of the Lower City. 

The only reason this isn't a five-star read for me is that I never quite clicked with the main character. I liked following what happend to her, but I didn't feel connected to her / didn't enjoy being in her head, I guess? And since the book is written in the form of Beka's journal entries, that often created a bit of dissociation from the story for me. Definitely a me problem and not the book's, or maybe not so much a problem at all as a personal preference—we can't click perfectly with every main character we meet! 

Recently I've been seeing posts singing the praises of Tamora Pierce.  I had to admit that I had never heard of her even though she written a gazillion books.  (There are 79 distinct works listed on Goodreads.)  I decided to give her a try and Terrier was an available ebook on my library's website.I'm not sure what I was expecting.  Fantasy?  YA?  Whatever it was, it wasn't this.This book reads more like a crime story than typical fantasy.  There are fantasy elements.  It is set in a fictional world with its own unique idioms and cultures.  There is magic.  But those things are secondary to the story being told.Beka is a police trainee.  Real police are known as Dogs and trainees are Puppies.  She is assigned to a rough part of the city by request and is partnered with a well known team of Dogs.  She wants to be here because she comes from these streets.  As a child she helped the Provost with a tip on a crime gang and when he went to thank her he found her living with her terminally ill mother and her younger siblings.  He took the family into his household.  Now her siblings are growing up with aspirations of a better life than Beka could have ever imagined for them but she is afraid that they are ashamed of her and where they came from.Beka is also magical.  She can hear the ghosts that ride on the backs of pigeons.  She can hear the snippets of conversation that get caught up in wind swirls in city corners.  She has a feline companion named Pounce who may or may not be a God. He isn't saying. She uses this information to find out about two crime sprees going on under the noses of the Dogs.She has other issues too.  Twenty percent of puppies die during training.  A charming gangster who is new in town and his entourage decide to move into her boarding house.  Her childhood best friend has married into a crime lord's family and now her son was murdered.The policing skills she are learning are a bit questionable.  She learns the correct etiquette for taking individual bribes and how to collect the weekly bribes due to the Dogs as an organization.  She is learning the proper way to beat criminals into submission.  Bribery and police brutality are just how things are done in this world.I enjoyed this first book in the Beka Cooper series. I will definitely be reading more. Thanks to Nori and everyone else who has recommended her recently.

Beka Cooper by CPattenon DeviantArtThis review was originally posted on Based On A True Story

What an interesting twist, that George Cooper comes from a long line of Provost's Dogs! Though his mother shouldn't be surprised about him consorting with thieves, given his 6-times-great-grandmother did just as well when she was a Puppy.

Yet another great fantasy mystery from Tamora Pierce. I particularly liked the diary style, and the fact that she managed to include foreshadowing in that style was quite surprising!