Diane Meier enjoyed killing off the evil animal shelter director on page one of her first novel, which captures some of her experiences as an animal rescuer, advocate for no-kill shelters, and blogger. Meier’s hope is that people will not only enjoy her murder mystery but also spread the word about saving more homeless dogs and cats. By the time Meier burned out as a rescuer, she had five dogs, including two Pit Bulls and two Beagles that had been on death row for being “unadoptable.” The community cats living in the woods behind her house had all been neutered and vaccinated. In the winter, the cats came into her garage to sleep by a heater, although they were still unwilling to be anywhere near people. Meier is no stranger to controversial issues. She grew up in Washington D.C. where politics, legislation, and public policy are an obsession. She worked a city planner with citizens to preserve neighborhoods from high-rise developers that were gobbling up land around Metro stations. Later she consulted with the federal government on policy and environmental impacts of radioactive waste disposal, cleanup of the nation’s nuclear bomb-making sites, dismantlement of nuclear weapons, and storage of highly enriched uranium and plutonium from dismantled weapons. After Meier retired, she lived for five years in the Delaware beach area where she had vacationed with her family for over 20 years. When a tree crushed her house during a storm, she moved to the Philadelphia suburbs where her grandkids are closer and where the trees seem friendly.