Terrier

 Terrier by Tamora Pierce, 581 pages.

Centuries before most of Pierce's heroines lived, Beka Cooper starts her career as a dog. This is the term for the policing force of Tortall during this period, and Beka has been training for it most of her life, ever since the Lord Provost took her family in from the slums after she helped him capture a criminal gang. She stays very busy in her first few months, and (with the aid of the ghosts that talk to her) quickly stumbles upon not one but two major cases.

That wasn't a particularly good description, but this is a very good book. This was a reread for me, and is probably one of my top two Tamora Pierce series. The cast in this book is great, and I like the diary format. I would definitely recommend this for anyone looking for relatively smaller stakes high fantasy.

Fun fact: George Cooper (from the Alanna series) makes a cameo in this book, Beka is his famous ancestor.