Book Description
Holly Winter gets an offer she can't refuse: dog trainer to the Mob. Specifically, teaching an Elkhound puppy to behave. Its owner is another story-a wiseguy who's killed so many people even the FBI's lost count. And now Holly's caught in the middle of his newest vendetta...
About the Author
Susant Conant is a three-time recipient of the Maxwell Award for Fiction Writing given by the Dog Writer's Association of America. She lives with her husband, two cats, and two Alaskan malamutes.
The Dogfather FROM OUR EDITORS
The Barnes & Noble Review
This 15th outing for Boston dog trainer Holly Winter is no walk in the park -- but it's a real romp for any well-schooled mystery fan. Like most dog enthusiasts, when Holly thought of "connections" she meant canine bloodlines, not crime bossesﾽat least until the dog-loving local godfather made her an offer she couldn't refuse. Now, like it or not, Holly is dog trainer to the Mob, and desperately trying to limit herself to that perfectly innocent, totally legal role in the life of the notorious mobster. Despite the advantages of training the don's delightful elkhound puppy, she'd like nothing better than to see her all-too-connected human client back in a cage. Thanks to him, a hit man has disrupted her training sessions, some shady feds have come around making threats, and her car has been blown to smithereens. And, worst of all, some well-intentioned meddling by the mobster's eager-to-please associates is likely to get Holly and her wonderful malamutes tossed off the dog show circuit for influence peddling. Lately, it seems like only the dogs are listening to Hollyﾽand the results could be deadly. Susan Conant once again unleashes her lively writing style and her witty sense of humor in this top-notch mystery. Sue Stone
FROM THE PUBLISHER
"Holly Winter likes to be appreciated - just not so forcibly. When she and her two Alaskan malamutes, Rowdy and Kimi, are ushered into Enzio Guarini's black limo, she finds that her reputation as a dog trainer has attracted a very insistent new client. An entrepreneur of some notoriety, Guarini oversees a big-business empire of loan sharking, drug trafficking, gambling, prostitution, and money laundering. But there's one thing the wiseguy can't handle: his new four-month-old Elkhound puppy, named Frey." Enter Holly Winter, dog trainer to the Mob. All she has to do is overlook the fact that Frey's owner has killed so many people even the FBI's lost count. Easier said than done. One day into training and Guarini's right-hand man is shot dead. The official story is a heart attack. Holly knows better. Between jumpstarting a romance on the side and teaching a tough pup to fetch, she's found herself in the middle of a vendetta with a family well-trained in murder. And it's going to take more than her understanding of the animal instinct to get away without getting bitten.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
Dog fans will lap up Susan Conant's The Dogfather, in which series sleuth Holly Winter (The Wicked Flea, etc.) reluctantly agrees to train mob boss Enzio Guarini's four-month-old Elkhound puppy. When someone bumps off Guarini's right-hand man, Holly realizes she might've done better to roll over and play dead than to accept a training job she couldn't refuse.
Kirkus Reviews
The first thing to know about freelance canine reporter/sleuth Holly Winter (The Wicked Flea, 2002, etc.) is that she sees no happenstance in dog being "god" spelled backwards. Because Holly worships manﾽs best friend—not only her matchless pair of Alaskan malamutes, but virtually every pooch, right or wrong, that ever barked up a tree—she allows herself to begin a relationship she never could have predicted. That Enzio Guarini, Massachusettsﾽs leading crime boss, has spent decades filling body bags is certainly true and, she acknowledges, certainly reprehensible, but clearly the man has an upside: Heﾽs a fellow fanatic. Redeemed by Hollyﾽs own obsession, Guarini, in addition, has an irresistible four-month-old elkhound brimming with adorable puppy energy. In fact, the boss has been a devoted reader of Holly on puppy training and is convinced sheﾽs nonpareil. Willy-nilly, then, she becomes dog-trainer to the mob and an object of interest to the FBI, and two grim-looking feebies materialize on her doorstep with covert listening devices and veiled threats. Holly, refusing to plant the devices and determined to ignore the threats, is soon the bone of contention between snarling, teeth-baring enemies. A couple of corpses complicate matters scarily, a precious malamute is almost stolen, Hollyﾽs love life takes a serious hit, and she herself has a near-death experience, but, as the fans sheﾽs garnered over 15 novels can testify, Holly hangs in doggedly. Amiability and wit enough to entertain even dog dilettantes. For canophiles, a must.
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