When linguist, Paul Iverson, comes home one day, he discovers that his wife is dead, the only witness: Lorelei, the family dog.

Thankfully, this is only the plot of a work of fiction, The Dogs of Babel (also known as Lorelei’s Secret in the UK) by Carolyn Parkhurst. As the story unfolds, Iverson tries to teach Lorelei to speak desperate to uncover more about his wife’s last day and the events in their life together leading up to it. We won’t spill the beans as to whether or not Lorelei (named after the German mythical siren, Loreley) learns to speak, but if any dog could do it, it would be Lorelei. She is a Rhodesian Ridgeback.

Dogs of Babel was one of The New York Times Notable Fiction & Poetry books of 2003 and became a best-seller. For a review, click here.

Image: Pug and Rhodesian Ridgeback by Nicole Zeug is available for purchase here