Sacred Cows by Karen E. Olson

Published: 2005
Genre: Mystery
Pages: 290

From Publishers Weekly:

A phone call summons New Haven, Conn., crime reporter Anne Seymour from a beer-fogged sleep to cover a breaking story at the start of Olson's spirited debut, the winner of the first Sara Ann Freed Memorial Award. The dead body of a Yale undergrad lies at the foot of a luxury high-rise condo. Anne faces the usual stonewalling by the detective-on-the-scene-which smarts a little extra as he has recently vacated her bed. Dogged by a pesky fellow reporter, Anne struggles to keep her byline to herself, while she's warned off the case by her boss, her cop boyfriend and the university higher-ups. The plot thickens when she learns that the student was a high-priced escort, as is the next young female Yalie found murdered. A slave to her hormones, the smell of garlic and her driving ambition, the spunky, imperfect Anne is an engaging protagonist. Several other well-realized characters, some bovine humor and an miable sense of the Yale/New Haven community round out this enjoyable first.

I didn’t “love” this book, but I thought it was enjoyable and will read more by this author. Annie Seymour is a fun heroine – tough, yet trusting, cynical, with a sense of humor. It was a promising first novel and I look forward to more of Annie’s adventures.