From Publishers Weekly
Hammond offers readers more death and dog lore in the latest adventure (after Give a Dog a Name ) of Scots kennel owners, Falklands veteran John Cunningham and his wife Beth. A hit and run claims the life of a petty thief on a remote road on New Year's Eve. The incident leaves a spaniel pup abandoned. Another pup is found at the scene of a brutal killing in nearby Dundee. The Cunninghams are a soft touch when it comes to dogs in distress; their largesse extends to John's army friend Angus Todd, who is suspected of the hit and run and looks to have been expertly framed. Soon the Cunninghams are hunting down a killer. Hammond, in this series and his Keith Calder mysteries, gives us quintessential Scots: dour, pragmatic and tight-lipped to a fault. Though readers might wish for fuller development of his characters' psyches, especially regarding John's recurring illness and melancholy, Hammond doesn't scant plot or canine lore. Overall, this series continues to deliver, especially for dog-loving readers. Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From AudioFile
Relax for a kinder, gentler murder mystery in the classic British tradition: an engaging puzzle unlikely to trouble your sleep. It may also be read as an homage to a certain kind of genteel, rural community, which must now be an endangered species even in Scotland, where the story is set. The post held so long and honorably by Miss Marple is here assumed by a young couple who breed dogs, when they aren't helping the police over rough patches. Donald Douglas reads with enormous amiability. He sounds a bit older than one estimates the first-person narrator to be, but his tone is perfect. Other characters are given a very satisfactory individuality through subtle shifts of tone and accent, with no hint of display. Here is a model of gracious entertainment. J.N. (c) AudioFile, Portland, Maine

From Booklist
John and Beth Cunningham live in the Scottish Highlands, where raising a newborn son and breeding and training hunting dogs keep them busy and happy. When an old Army buddy of John's is accused in a mysterious hit-and-run accident, John agrees to help prove his friend's innocence. But the hit-and-run isn't the only crime occupying the local constabulary--three other vicious murders have taken place recently, and the only clue seems, strangely enough, to be the presence of a black spaniel pup at each murder scene. Since dogs are right up John and Beth's alley, they decide that their expertise in matters canine makes them the perfect pair to help solve the crimes, but their detecting very nearly gets both of them killed. An unusual but engaging story with a nicely original plot, gentle humor, and plenty of Scottish country ambience featuring dogs, guns, waterproofs, and Wellies. Emily Melton

From Kirkus Reviews
Hardly a dull moment at Three Oaks Kennels (scene of Doghouse, 1992, etc.), the Scottish dog breeding/training farm owned and run by ex-army captain John Cunningham, his wife, Beth, and their older friends Isobel and Henry Fitts, with an assist from the aptly named young Daffy. As the last stragglers leave the annual New Year's Eve get-together at the local pub, a hit-and-run accident kills a man who turns out to be a grifter wearing someone else's coat. A note in the pocket connects the coat to a recent murder in nearby Dundee, and on the roadside is a very young cocker spaniel pup that John and Beth agree to care for until it's claimed. Because of evidence found on his Land Rover, the police suspect John's army buddy Angus Todd, who persuades John to help investigate. Working with Beth, he eventually traces the breeder of the cocker spaniel. Subsequent events include another murder and three serious attempts to add John to the list, the final one bringing the culprit into the open. The plot lines are cluttered, and there's the usual ration of dog lore, but the cozy setting and the likeable Cunninghams make Hammond's latest an easygoing, mildly engaging read. -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

The Curse of the Cockers continues the sleuthing adventures of Captain John Cunningham, Falklands veteran and champion dog breeder. Gerald Hammond's Cunningham books, lauded by Publishers Weekly as "a superior series," feature the hunting lore and local Scots color that have made this author such an enduring figure on the mystery scene. This time around, the Cunninghams' New Year's Eve (or Hogmanay, as the Scots call it) revelry is cut short by a hit-and-run accident that leaves a man dead and a terrified cocker spaniel on the side of the road. Then, as news of a particularly gruesome murder shakes his small town, Cunningham finds that one of his war buddies is the prime suspect in the hit-and-run. Soon, the dog, the "accident," and the murder come together in a nightmarish encounter with a ruthless psychopath.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Hammond offers readers more death and dog lore in the latest adventure (after Give a Dog a Name ) of Scots kennel owners, Falklands veteran John Cunningham and his wife Beth. A hit and run claims the life of a petty thief on a remote road on New Year's Eve. The incident leaves a spaniel pup abandoned. Another pup is found at the scene of a brutal killing in nearby Dundee. The Cunninghams are a soft touch when it comes to dogs in distress; their largesse extends to John's army friend Angus Todd, who is suspected of the hit and run and looks to have been expertly framed. Soon the Cunninghams are hunting down a killer. Hammond, in this series and his Keith Calder mysteries, gives us quintessential Scots: dour, pragmatic and tight-lipped to a fault. Though readers might wish for fuller development of his characters' psyches, especially regarding John's recurring illness and melancholy, Hammond doesn't scant plot or canine lore. Overall, this series continues to deliver, especially for dog-loving readers. (Mar.)

AudioFile - John Niessink