‘Shutter Island’ author offers to name a character after person who returns his lost dog

Author Dennis Lehane has offered to name a character in his next novel after you.

That's if you can find his lost dog, Tessa, missing since Dec. 24. The author of such books as Mystic River, Gone Baby Gone and Shutter Island posted a desperate-sounding note to his Facebook page on Tuesday saying his Beagle had gone missing in Brookline, Mass.

"Our recent and beloved rescue dog, Tessa, jumped the fence in Brookline and has been roaming through the wilds of Coolidge corner for the last 24 hours," the post says.

"She's smart, fast, and immeasurably sweet. she doesn't have a mean bone in her body."

The message says Tessa has a micro-chip to identify her but she wasn't wearing any tags when she ran off.

A tweet from Lehane's account on Wednesday thanked all who posted to the Facebook page but said the dog was still missing.

The post says Lehane will name a character in his next book after whoever returns the black and tan coloured dog, adding in parentheses "No, really," in case anyone doubts he means it.

The strange reward has certainly drawn attention to his cause. Helpful fans with dreams of seeing Leonardo DiCaprio depict them on the big screen will no doubt have the pooch returned soon.