Night Kill: A Zoo Mystery

By Ann Littlewood

Night Kill is a mystery set in fictional Finley Memorial Zoo in Vancouver, Washington, seen from an insider perspective on the challenging and dangerous world of zoo keeping. Iris Oakley, a young zookeeper, hopes to reconcile with her husband after he promises to quit drinking. But he's soon found dead drunk and just plain dead in the lion exhibit. A paralyzing mix of grief and anger at his betrayal keep Iris from questioning the assumptions around his death.

Her co-workers are soon convinced that she is unhinged by losing Rick, but friends inadvertently motivate Iris to prove that her husband could not have died the way it appears. These same friends impede her progress as she follows ambiguous clues and sorts through unlikely motives.

Meantime, Iris must adjust to losing her beloved job as feline keeper and instead learn to be a bird keeper. The veterinarian respects her skills, but the foreman, her boss, would far rather she get a job elsewhere, and the senior bird keeper seems to agree. After Iris survives a series of near-fatal "accidents," the behavior of a lioness and the death of a penguin at last make clear what happened the night Rick died and who fed him to the lions. Then Iris has to survive to prove it.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sourcebooks
• Release date: Jun 30, 2012
• ISBN: 9781615951178

Ann Littlewood

Ann Littlewood was a zoo keeper in Portland, Oregon for twelve years. She raised lions and cougars, an orangutan; and native mammals, as well as parrots, penguins, and a multitude of owls. The financial realities of raising primates (two boys of her own) led Ann to exchange a hose and rubber boots for a briefcase and pantsuit in the healthcare industry. Ann has maintained her membership in the American Association of Zookeepers and has kept in touch with the zoo world by visiting zoos and through friendships with zoo staffers.

Reviews for Night Kill

[sugarcreekranch · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Night Kill isn't great literature. But, oh the fun of reading a mystery set in a Pacific Northwest zoo! The author has worked as a zookeeper in our local zoo for years, and her knowledge is apparent. The setting, animals, zoo crew drama, and daily zoo activities were very real. The mystery plot and characterizations were just okay. But the setting more than makes up for it.This is the first in a series of three.

[cathyskye · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

First Line: Hot breath from the lioness touched my cheek.Iris Oakley loves her job as a feline keeper at the Finley Memorial Zoo in Vancouver, Washington. What she doesn't love is the amount of alcohol her husband Rick is lapping up every night. After a short separation, the two are reconciled, and Rick swears off the sauce. However, the next morning his dead (and dead drunk) body is found in the lion enclosure. Once Iris sorts through some of her initial grief, she begins to deal with no longer being with the big cats and being trained as a bird keeper-- and the feeling that her husband's death was no accident.When this book concentrates on animal behavior, the day-to-day running of a small zoo, and the training of the keepers, it is first rate. It is obvious that Littlewood, a former zoo keeper, knows her stuff. A scene in which Iris is attacked by a big cat is scary and riveting.Unfortunately I never felt connected to any of the characters-- including Iris-- and parts of the plot were too easily deduced. Littlewood's second book in the series, Did Not Survive, is available, and I would be interested to see if the characterization and plot in it can rise to match the author's background knowledge. I'd love to see more writing that matches that big cat attack!