Terrier by Tamora Pierce is a fantastic mystery-based fantasy novel. Or fantasy-based mystery novel? Who knows. Basically it's just really good. I first read Terrier around the time it came out in 2006, I think. The second book hadn't been released, I thought it was a stand-alone, and I was psyched to have a new Tamora Pierce book to read. However, it'd been a long time since I'd read the first book, so while I vaguely remembered the characters and plot line, I couldn't exactly remember what had happened. Beka Cooper is a Puppy (the training stage of becoming a Dog aka the law enforcement of Tortall). She works in the lowest areas of the city (aptly named The Lower City). Since Beka was born there and lived there for most of her childhood, she has a certain level of respect for the place. She's paired with two of the most revered Dogs, Tunstall and Goodwin. Between the three of them, they'll need to find the source of a new and semi-illegal gem...