Bloodhound
Beka Cooper is finally a Dog – a full-fledged member of the Provost's Guard, dedicated to keeping peace in Corus’s streets. But there's unrest in Tortall's capital. Counterfeit coins are turning up in shops all over the city, and merchants are raising prices to cover their losses. The Dogs discover that gamblers are bringing the counterfeit money from Port Caynn.
In Port Caynn, Beka delves deep into the gambling world, where she meets a charming banking clerk named Dale Rowan. Beka thinks she may be falling for Rowan, but she won't let anything – or anyone – jeopardize her mission. As she heads north to an abandoned silver mine, it won't be enough for Beka be her usual "terrier" self. She'll have to learn from Achoo to sniff out the criminals – to be a Bloodhound...
Tamora Pierce
Tamora Pierce (born 1954) is an author of fantasy literature for young adults.
Beka Cooper
Set 200 years before The Song of the Lioness.
When she was eight years old, Beka Cooper did the Lord Provost of Tortall a very big favor. In return, he took her, her dying mother, and her two younger sisters and two younger brothers into his house, to raise and educate them well above the poverty-stricken slum where he found them. Beka’s brothers and sisters have honorable trades, but Beka?
Beka wants to be a Provost’s Guard, or as they’re known in her time, a Provost’s Dog, the most despised, rough-and-tumble law enforcers in the realm. She starts right back where she came from, in the Lower City, because Beka has this funny idea that poor people deserve equal protection under the law. Guiding her steps are Goodwin and Tunstall, two of the toughest Dogs in the capital, who will teach Beka the ropes—if she survives. Walking with her on her rocky are as motley a crew of friends and helpers as ever the Lower City has seen: the Lord Provost himself; Rosto the Piper, sheer lightning with knives, and his associates, the swordswoman Aniki and the hedgewitch Kora; the lady knight Sabine; the ghosts of the dead who ride on pigeon-back; the city’s dust whirlwinds, who collect conversations; a devoted young scent hound, and the strange, purple-eyed black cat Pounce, whose hobby is grooming heroes.
Beka Cooper consists of three books. The current recommended reading order for the series is provided below.
Main series The Tortall Universe