Hush Puppy

October 4, 1999
Amateur sleuth and single mother Melanie Travis (Watchdog, etc.) and her show poodle, Faith, return in a mundane canine cozy centered around the prestigious Howard Academy in Greenwich, Conn., where Melanie is a full-time tutor. School caretaker Eugene Krebbs, an unsavory school fixture, is found dead in his tool shed, stabbed with a pitchfork. Now, along with juggling Faith's dog shows and dealing with the unexpected arrival in town of her fianc 's ex-wife, Melanie finds herself drawn into the investigation. As part of the school's pageant committee, she is charged with searching through the Howard family papers in the school basement, where she discovers a painting and a 60-year-old diary that may hold the clues to Krebbs's death. Berenson's tale, particularly the Howard family history, starts out with potential but degenerates into a muddle of predictable characters, such as hunky boyfriend Sam, adorable son Davey and a precocious waif called Jane who knows too much for her own good. A fiery close call for Melanie leads to a disappointingly tidy wrap-up in Aunt Peg's kitchen, as the police, having been beaten to the punch by Melanie, eat cookies.

October 15, 1999
Melanie Travis, dog trainer and amateur sleuth, has a day job as tutor for children with problems in a tony Connecticut private school. When a murder occurs, the school's polished image is threatened by the crime as well as by allegations of drug-dealing. With this sixth Melanie Travis mystery, Berenson becomes top dog in the pack of mysteries featuring canines. Berenson's characters--both human and animal--have recognizable and enjoyable traits yet continue to grow and develop. Even readers indifferent to dogs will be challenged by the book's mystery and unsettled by the sad timeliness of its theme. The novel suggests Stephen Dobyns' "Boy in the Water, except Howard Academy and its teachers are less depressing and menacing than those in Dobyns' thriller. Recommend this to readers of both mysteries featuring dogs and those set in New England. ((Reviewed October 15, 1999))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1999, American Library Association.)