From Publishers Weekly
This is Agatha and Macavity nominee Berenson's 10th charming canine cozy (after 2002's Hot Dog) to feature Melanie Travis, the poodle breeder and devoted "mom" to black Standards Faith and Eve. Melanie leaves her seven-year-old son, Davey, and dog, Faith, with her ex-husband while she travels with Eve to the Poodle Club of America National Specialty dog show in Maryland. Melanie's Aunt Peg, who runs the show, directs her to work with two eccentric sisters from Georgia who look alike, dress alike and finish each other's sentences "like a pair of bickering bookends." When one of them falls on a hotel porch and is fatally injured, it looks like an accident-at first. For all the engaging human characters, including dog handlers, breeders, show officials, trimmers and owners, the dogs, in all sizes, colors and ages, provide the most fun. Carried along by crisp dialogue, the story occasionally bogs down in "doggy" details, but even the uninitiated should find these interesting and informative. The arrival of Melanie's "almost fiance" at the end will leave readers hoping that the two will set up dog breeding together by the next book.Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Berenson takes her latest--and best--Melanie Travis tale on the road and into the ring: the entire story takes place at the Poodle Club of America's dog show. With her seven-year old son, Davey, staying with his dad for the week, Melanie hops in the car with her puppy, Eve, forsaking Connecticut to head for Maryland and poodle-lovers' paradise. Familiar characters joining her are the always-demanding Aunt Peg and Bertie, the currently pregnant wife of Melanie's brother. The preshow high jinks are interrupted, however, when an elderly spinster turns up murdered. Melanie investigates, of course, and the offbeat dog owners and trainers make for a fertile field of suspects. Not nearly as farcical as the movie by the same name, the novel offers an affectionate and realistic portrait of the dog-show world. A pleasant mystery and a loving tribute to poodles. Fetching in every way. Jenny McLarin
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review
To the spectators, a dog show is entertainment. To the participants, it's serious business. To poodle lovers, the PCA (Poodle Club of America) National Specialty Dog Show is the best of both. Melanie Travis has been looking forward to showing her standard poodle puppy at the big show. She's also excited because her almost-fianc￯﾿ﾽ, Sam, will be at the show￯﾿ﾽand her seven-year-old son, Davey, won't be there as a chaperone. Unfortunately, she's got demands on her time that interfere with her romantic plans: Her aunt (and mentor in the poodle business) has volunteered her to sell fund-raising raffle tickets during the show. The co-chairs of the committee are a pair of southern sisters who haven't let crossing to the wrong side of 60 slow them down one little bit -- and they expect Melanie to keep up. No one knows much about the sisters, but their silver toy poodle puppy is causing quite a stir on the circuit. When one of the sisters is murdered, it's a blow to the whole PCA community, but everyone agrees that the show must go on. That's when raffle tickets and romance take a backseat to investigation, as Melanie turns her knack for finding trouble to the task of untangling leads, uncovering passionate secrets, and trailing a murderer through the twists and turns of a plot that's as curly as a poodle's coat. Laurien Berenson's breezy style and quirky characters are definitely a winning combination! Sue Stone

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Murder￯﾿ﾽs on the ticket when intrepid poodle breeder Melanie Travis travels to Maryland for a world-famous dog show where the competition isn￯﾿ﾽt the only thing that￯﾿ﾽs cutthroat.... There are dog shows. And then there￯﾿ﾽs the PCA: The Poodle Club of America National Specialty Dog Show. For poodle purists, it￯﾿ﾽs the pinnacle of the show season, drawing thousands of competitors and spectators from all over the world. And though she has her own Standard poodle puppy, Eve, to show, Melanie gets leashed into helping out on the raffle committee by her formidable aunt. Selling tickets and sprucing Eve up for competition won￯﾿ﾽt leave much time for Melanie to spend with her almost-fianc￯﾿ﾽ Sam on their first trip together without their usual chaperone, Melanie￯﾿ﾽs seven-year-old son, Davey. Once in Maryland, Melanie is put to work selling raffle tickets by the co-chairs of the raffle committee, Betty Jean and Edith Jean Boone. Sixty-ish steel magnolias from the South, the reclusive sisters make few appearances. But this year, they have a silver Toy puppy that has already caused quite a buzz on the show circuit. Even though the poodles remain well behaved, it￯﾿ﾽs their owners and handlers who start acting up. And then murder takes center stage. Betty Jean is found dead at the host hotel. But this is the PCA -- and the show must go on. As Edith Jean staunchly resumes her raffle duties, Melanie instinctively starts searching for clues, and comes up with a compelling cast of suspects: a rival owner whose bite may be just as bad as his bark, a handler with a nasty reputation, and a possibly fraudulent pet psychic. With all the attention riveted on the ring, someone out in the crowd is about to get away with murder. Scraps of conversations and suspicious goings-on have Melanie looking for a suspect￯﾿ﾽand getting ever closer to the killer. Soon she￯﾿ﾽs shocked to discover that in the dog-eat-dog world of showing, a life can be as easily lost as a blue ribbon. And unlike cats, dogs -- and their owners -- have only one to risk.... Laurien Berenson is an Agatha and Macavity nominee, winner of the Romantic Times Reviewer￯﾿ﾽs Choice Award and a four-time winner of the Maxwell Award, presented by the Dog Writers Association of America. She lives in Georgia with her husband, her son and four Poodles. Please visit her at her website: www.LaurienBerenson.com.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

This is Agatha and Macavity nominee Berenson's 10th charming canine cozy (after 2002's Hot Dog) to feature Melanie Travis, the poodle breeder and devoted "mom" to black Standards Faith and Eve. Melanie leaves her seven-year-old son, Davey, and dog, Faith, with her ex-husband while she travels with Eve to the Poodle Club of America National Specialty dog show in Maryland. Melanie's Aunt Peg, who runs the show, directs her to work with two eccentric sisters from Georgia who look alike, dress alike and finish each other's sentences "like a pair of bickering bookends." When one of them falls on a hotel porch and is fatally injured, it looks like an accident-at first. For all the engaging human characters, including dog handlers, breeders, show officials, trimmers and owners, the dogs, in all sizes, colors and ages, provide the most fun. Carried along by crisp dialogue, the story occasionally bogs down in "doggy" details, but even the uninitiated should find these interesting and informative. The arrival of Melanie's "almost fiance" at the end will leave readers hoping that the two will set up dog breeding together by the next book. (Sept. 2) Forecast: With 15 champions to her credit, the author breeds and exhibits Standard and Miniature poodles, doing her own grooming, trimming and handling. Confusion with the 2000 film comedy of the same title can't hurt. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

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