Product Description

Welcome to an elite Connecticut kennel club where shocking secrets gnaw at the best of the breed and competition has a sharp and deadly bite. As if raising her son Davey, training her rambunctious Poodle Faith for the show ring, and grooming fellow handler Sam Driver for romance aren't enough, Melanie Travis's entree into the exclusive Belle Haven Kennel Club has been met with a grisly murder. Unfortunately, the only witnesses to the crime were the victim's startled pair of Beagles. And they aren't talking Melanie hadn't intended to do any serious snooping, what with coping with the unexpected arrival of an ex-husband out to get joint custody of the son he's never known. In need of some serious distraction, she's off to sniff out dangerous secrets, only to discover that everyone at Belle Haven has something damning to hide. As the shocking truth slowly comes to light, and her own domestic drama moves centre stage, Melanie finds herself eager to put the bite on a dogged killer who's desperate enough to strike again.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #872277 in Books
• Published on: 2006-02-28
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

From Publishers Weekly
In her third adventure (after Underdog) in the rarefied world of dog fanciers in Southern Connecticut, Melanie Travis copes with the unexpected reappearance of her ex-husband, Bob. After almost five years of deadbeat dadhood, Bob has decided to become a responsible parent, and if that's not enough, Melanie's unrelenting aunt Peg is nipping at her heels to join the Belle Haven Kennel Club. Still learning how to groom and show her new dog, a standard poodle named Faith, Melanie finds discovers that kennel club members anything but a well-bred lot. Plying her with pictures of their dogs, they quiz her on her own and align themselves into various camps. When the president announces that some cash and checks are missing, the meeting quickly degenerates into accusation and innuendo. A week later club member Monica Freedman is found murdered in a parking lot. Beginning to dig, Melanie soon unearths a few skeletons, which turn out to be the same ones Monica had uncovered and used to taunt her colleagues, including Aunt Peg. It seems the cream of Connecticut society has dabbled in fraud, animal abuse, alcoholism and deception in the ring. All of this is a romp among puppies compared to Melanie's problems with Bob, who wants to take their son, Davey, back to Texas, to live with him and his 20-year-old fiancee. Melanie's easygoing common sense helps her solve both problems in a story as calm and as controlled as a well-behaved dog on a lead.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Single parent, teacher, and dog-show enthusiast Melanie Travis investigates murder at a prestigious Connecticut kennel club. As she uncovers illegal show practices and fake pedigrees, she closes in on the murderer. Lightweight yet involving stuff from the author of Underdog (LJ 1/96).
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Ingram
When money turns up missing from the exclusive Belle Haven Kennel Club and one of the members is found dead in a parking lot, Melanie Travis--teacher, single parent, and proud owner of Faith, a rambunctious Standard Poodle pup--finds herself moving closer to a killer desperate enough to strike again.

Customer Reviews

A glimpse into dog show life
Not only are these mysteries entertaining, but they also inform the reader of the ins and outs of the dog show business and breeding. I am new to dog ownership and these books have answered many questions I was afraid to ask others.
Surely worth enjoying!

Woof!
Welcome back to the "dog eat dog" world of dog breeding and shows, where Melanie Travis and her Aunt Peg are once again embroiled in a mystery. This time, in Dog Eat Dog, a member of Peg's kennel club is murdered shortly after a meeting, and Melanie is compelled to find the killer despite the fact that she is not a member of the club herself.

This, however, is not the only thing "eating" at Melanie: the ex-husband is back in town and anxious to take up where he left off with Melanie's son, five-year-old Davey, even though the two haven't seen each other in four years and two months. Needless to say, the reunion does very little for Melanie's escalating relationship with Poodle breeder Sam Driver, particularly when the former hubby drops hints of taking Davey back to Texas.

Discoveries of gossip and blackmail are the focus of Dog Eat Dog, which is a good followup story to Underdog. A light, sometimes humorous read, this is a recommended "cozy".

Pleasant read
This is a book definitely to be reserved for the rainy day read. It is not demanding or particularly compelling and the characters are somewhat two-dimensional and caricaturish. The plotting is simplistic and homespun. Yet, while not being among the more accomplished of the genre, it is generally unobjectionable if one's expectations are not set too high.