Steve Cavanagh is a favorite at Crimespree, and his Eddie Flynn series is exceptional. We’re thrilled to welcome Steve to talk about Lolly, and if you haven’t yet read his books, the brand new audiobook, THE CROSS, is a prequel to the Flynn series and is guaranteed to delight!
My wife is almost always right, and I am almost always wrong. Sometimes I think I should have this carved in stone and hung around my neck. In 2012 I had a two very young kids, I was working full time as a lawyer and during the night I was writing what would become my first novel. Spare time and sleep were in short supply.
โLetโs get a dog,โ my wife, Tracy, said.
I asked her if she was serious, and she said she had been looking at dogs at a pet rescue centre and had fallen in love with this little puppy. The little dog did look cute. She had black fluffy fur and was a mix of labrador retriever and terrier. Of course, we got the dog. Thereโs no suspense here. My wife had set her heart on this little puppy. We learned that the dog had been abandoned and was found roaming the streets. She was only a few months old. We got her, and quickly named her Lolly on the way home in the car.
The dog was very timid, and for the first few hours she sat only with our five-year-old daughter and the two of them bonded immediately. An hour later Lolly was sick, wouldnโt drink any water and became lethargic. I took her to the vet that afternoon and they told me she had Parvo, which was very serious while they would do whatever they could, it was likely that Lolly wouldnโt survive.
When I told my wife about this she did some research. It was true that Parvovirus was often fatal in dogs and there didnโt seem to be much anyone could do. Then she found something online about treating Parvo with the human drug Tamiflu. I called the vets and told them this. They said they had never heard of this, but they could try it off-license, if we consented. We did.
Remember when I told you my wife is nearly always right about everything, that doesnโt just apply to me, it also applied to veterinarians. Lolly, against all odds pulled through and responded well to Parvo. When we got her back home after a week and a half in the vetโs, she was a different dog. So loving, vibrant and full of energy. A couple of months later I brought Lolly back to the vetโs practice for her shots. Lots of the vets and the staff came out to meet Lolly. They told us that there had been a bad outbreak of Parvo in the community and until they treated Lolly, none of the dogs had survived. However, since Lolly had responded so well to Tamiflu, they recommended it to other pet owners. The dogs that got Tamiflu all recovered, so Lolly, and more importantly, my wife, had already made a big impact on a lot of dogs and pet ownerโs lives.
As I finished that first novel which went on to be published as The Defense, Lolly sat at my feet at night while I wrote in our kitchen. When we moved house and I got a study, I made sure to have a bed in there for her. While write, she sits beside me, and itโs a great comfort to have her there.
Lolly is now almost thirteen-years old, and for the last five years sheโs had a friend in our other dog, Muffin, a Border Terrier who loves people, loves Lolly, and playing with her catch balls. At this age, Lolly has some medical issues, including the canine form of Cushings syndrome, but she still has her personality and her love of the family.
And as I write this gearing up for the release of The Cross, sheโs at my feet. Contented.
And I am too.
Steve Cavanagh is the bestselling author of the Eddie Flynn novels and standalone thrillers. In 2018 The Liar won the Crime Writers Association Gold Dagger for crime novel of the year. In 2019 Thirteen won the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the year 2019.
All of his novels have either been nominated for awards, or have won awards internationally.
He is a former lawyer, and was born and raised in Belfast, Northern Ireland, where he still lives.
