Salt city blues - Barbara Block

A Robin Light thriller
Three weeks before Christmas, times are even harder than usual in Syracuse, New York. The sensible thing would be to declare bankruptcy and close down her exotic-pet store. Instead, Robin is working in a bar two nights a week, which is where she meets Freddy Sanchez.
When Freddy turns up dead in a burnt-out house two days later, Freddy's mother, Bea, wants Robin's boss, Ian Yates, to look into it. Ian owes Bea one, and Robin owes Ian one, so guess which amateur detective ends up investigating the local gangs . . .
The thing is, she's not so sure they have anything to do with it. And not only that there's also the question of how Freddy came to acquire a rare breed of dog, of which, according to the local breeder, there are only two in the area. Neither of them are registered to Freddy. But why would either of the respected local businessmen who own a labradoodle have anything to do with Freddy's death?