Hot Dog

August 12, 2002
In the ninth installment of this beloved cozy series featuring teacher, prize-winning poodle owner and amateur sleuth Melanie Travis (Once Bitten, etc.), a young journalist hopes Melanie's penchant for stumbling over dead bodies will lead her to a career-making story. But as Melanie tells the woman, at this point her life is pretty dull—dull, that is, if you discount her tangled personal life. Melanie's ex-fiancé, who left for six months to find himself, has just returned; her ex-husband has a new 20-something girlfriend and has moved into town to reconnect with his seven-year-old son; and she's involved in a divorced couple's battle over a Dachshund puppy, Dox. When strange things begin to happen—her wallet goes missing, she returns home one night to find all the lights on, an unidentified caller phones at all hours of the night, someone steals Dox—Melanie begins to believe the next murder investigation might be her own. As in previous books, Berenson's insights and knowledge of the world of show dogs are a must for anyone who wants to know what it takes to get to the Westminster Dog Show. Melanie's poodles are as lovable and real as the story's human characters, while committed fans will enjoy following the progress of Melanie's relationships, some of which she actually resolves. A catchy title, an alluring dust jacket and the author's solid reputation should attract new readers as well. (Sept. 3)FYI:An Agatha and Macavity nominee, Berenson is the four-time winner of the Maxwell Award for Fiction, given by the Dog Writers Association of America.