Terrier by Tamora Pierce

 

Beka Cooper is starting her career in the police force.  She is a rookie, a Puppy in the Dog Patrol with two mentors, Goodwin and Cantrell.  As a Puppy, she is to listen and learn and figure out how to police a place as crime-ridden as the Lower City.  But Beka has an advantage.  She was born and bred in the Lower City and knows most of the people there.  She and her family were plucked out of poverty by the Lord of the area and he is her mentor and protector.  The Dogs are in his employ and he approves of Beka's decision to join them.

The streets are teeming with criminals.  There are pickpockets, thieves, smugglers, beggars and plenty of aggression and fights.  There are also murders and two murderers are currently at large.  One is the Shadow Snake.  He kidnaps the children of poor people and the ransom is the one treasure they have somehow acquired and hung on to.  If they pay, their child is returned, if not, their body is.  Tansy, Beka's childhood friend, has just lost her three year old son to the Shadow Shape and Beka is determined to bring him to justice.  There is also a shadowy figure who is mining opals in secret.  To keep the secret, the workers are killed and buried on the site.

Beka's other advantage is her magic.  She can hear the voices of pigeons, who carry the ghosts of the dead and can pick up clues from their stories.  She can also understand the voices of whirlwinds who also know the gossip of the dead along with all the other stories they sweep up.  Beka uses these secrets to work with her Dogs to investigate the crimes, while forming an alliance with the Rogue's Court, many of whom live in her building.  Finding the murderers will make her place with the Dogs permanent and bring justice to those she loves.

This is the first book in the Beka Cooper trilogy, which in turn is part of a huge world with many novels.  It is written in the young adult genre yet there are dark occurrences like the omnipresent slavery and the casual violence of both the police and the criminals.  Beka is a lovable character and the reader will cheer as she advances in confidence and ability.  This book is recommended for readers of young adult fantasy.