Hot Dog [Mass Market Paperback]

Per usual, as with all the cozy mystery series I start and follow, I was a day late and a dollar short with this one. It is the first book in this series I have read, and apparently it is actually number nine in the series. To be honest though, that did not distract from the enjoyment I got from reading it one bit. I read this particular genre for the pure joy of relaxing and clearing my mind. They, the cozy mystery are the perfect vehicle for this and I must say that after reading this Laurien Berenson offering, I will read the rest.

This book and indeed, this series uses dogs, show dogs and show poodles (standard) as the hook to hang the story on. Now I love dogs and have been involved in just about ever aspect of life dealing with dogs, so this book was a natural fit for me.

This was a rather odd read for a mystery as it did not have a bunch of dead bodies lying around to be discovered. Actually, I found that sort of refreshing. No, this book is more about the everyday happenings in the life of Melanie Travis, our heroine. Yes, there is a stalker, or stalkers, and there are some semi tense moments and the author has thrown in a few red herring to throw us off the scent, but overall, this is sort of a sketch of the life of a dog breeder and handler of dogs as she goes about her daily business with family, friends and of course, dogs. There are more positives to this type of story than negative.

First, I feel that this work puts on display just what a fine writer Laurien Berenson is. If a writer can spend three pages telling us of a mundane shopping trip to the local supermarket and still have the reader eager to turn the page and see what is happening....well....the writer is doing his or her job! If she can make combing out a dog an exciting event...hey, I am impressed!

Secondly, I loved her descriptions of the inner workings of a dog show. While I have never shown in the ring myself, I have had plenty of family that have and have had many, many friends involved, and of course I have attended more than my fare share of shows, so I found this information the author has passed along fascinating. I also am a complete sucker for any stories about dogs, so to be honest, the author had be hooked from page one.

Thirdly, the author uses the technique, and uses it very effectively, of having our heroine say one thing, but then immediately telling us what she is actually thinking. This author has a very acute, if not down right quirky, sense of humor and I found myself chuckling quite a lot as I turned the pages.

For a fast, light and thoroughly enjoyable read, you would have problems finding a better choice than this one. I cannot wait to get to the rest of these books.

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks

In this ninth book of the series, Melanie Travis is dealing with her current lover's return to the fold after he took off for parts unknown for several months; Her ex-husband Bob is still in town and getting more involved with her family; and she is caught, as usual, in the mix between her Aunt Peg and her dogs hows, and her Aunt Rose who is a well-meaning ex-nun and their various crazinesses.

One of these outrageous ideas comes from Aunt Rose whose husband - Peter - is organizing a charity auction. A well-to-do man contributes a show dog puppy to the auction. not only does this offend Melanie and Peg to the extreme, it turns out that he is doing so to get back at his ex-wife to boot. The puppy is a dachshound (hence the name of the book).

While she is dealing with all of this, Melanie is also being followed by a perky young TV reporter who has noted Melanie's predilection to get involved in murder investigations. So, the reporter, to make her career shine, stalks Melanie. But that is not the only problem. There is another stalker who apparently has more sinister thoughts about Melanie and that is the real mystery that needs solving.

Along the way towards solving this mystery we visit more dog shows, get to meet some more of the twisted personalities that inhabit the show dog world; watch Melanie grow up some more; and find that the puppy is dognapped!

All is resolved in the end with only one gunshot resulting in a wound, and Melanie's relationship with Sam is strengthened. Like all of these books, it is a pleasant escapade without much thinking involved. That's the good stuff.

The bad news from my perspective was the unreal situation when the stalker manages to enter Melanie's house repeatedly to either pull pranks, cause damage, or worse and NEITHER OF THE DOGS EVER BARKED!!! How can a book with dogs living in the house have let this happen? Do you really believe that the dogs would have kept on sleeping when intruders walk throughout the whole house at night, turning on appliances, and stealing the puppy without barking even once? That unbelievable poor plotting makes me drop this book's rating by two whole stars.

Hot Dog, like all the other books in Berenson's poodle/mystery, series is comfortable or as on review described it "cozy." I'm not a fan of the dog show circuit, but find the information of them fascinating. The mysteries are rather transparent and I am not sure if the mysteries are the driving force in this series or just a pleasant sub-story. We all want to follow Melanie's life and learn more about the people involved. The characters are well written and even though you can expect the outcomes you still want to stick around to learn the details. Best of all, now I know I wouldn't mind owning a poodle someday.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 5 reviews  4.2 out of 5 stars