Rating: 
Summary: Hard to put down (especially if you love dogs)
Review: Once again, Susan Conant delivers a masterfully written mystery featuring Holly Winter, dog writer/trainer living in Cambridge, Massachusetts. When Holly agrees to train a mob boss's new puppy, she doesn't count on getting involved in a mob murder. Interrupting the session to search for dog treats, she returns to find a dead body. The mob quickly removes the evidence, but Holly remains nervous, with good reason. Another shoot-out gives her a fright and lands her neighbor in the hospital. Holly doesn't track clues and the murderer's identity is a surprise, although a clever one. While I kept turning the pages, I felt a little cheated of a true mystery. Holly's dog savvy remains unquestioned but I wish the author had given her a murder that drew on her unique skills and talents. A spoof? An author who can't resist the "dogfather" pun?
Regardless, I most liked the stories where Holly speaks the language of dogs to uncover the murderer. Here Holly turns over the stage to the ...well, Dogfather. Holly's training tips are valuable as always (bits of roast beef work well as treats!) and we can welcome back her former lover, Steve the veterinarian. The author has created a quandary for herself: Mystery heroines with romantic interests tend to lose their allure, and Steve is such a terrific catch that Holly's resistance makes no sense.
Even Holly is beginning to realize he's a prize. And Holly's cat Tracker needs to mellow out. She needs to consult a cat therapist! I have one dog and two cats and everybody needs attention, every day.
Rating: 
Summary: Not Another Mafia-Oriented Book!
Review: Sigh. Does every mystery writer have to do a Mob-related story? I really love Susan Conant's Holly Winter books: I like the unconventional heroine, I love her malemutes, I like Steve Delaney, I like Kevin and Rita. I'm Italian, both sides. My dad's family comes from near Rome. Mom's family was from Ischia, off the coast of Naples. I have so much Italian blood that bread is my Friend, the scent of fresh spaghetti sends me into transports of joy, I drool at the thought of proscuitto. But I hate Mafia stories. I don't understand the interest in these criminals. I hope now that Ms. Conant has this peculiar mania out of her system we'll get an interesting book next time instead of this flirt with gangsters. P.S. Holly: For cryin' out loud, find a good home for your cat. If you have to keep him locked up in the study all day while you fuss over the dogs, you're doing him as much disservice as those dog owners you criticize who neglect their dogs.
Rating:
Summary: Wise Up, Holly
Review: Susan Conant has done it again. A fun mystery, Holly becomes the dog trainer of the mafia. Problem is, they're happy to do her "favors" (of the mob variety). When one of "the family" gets murdered, the only eye witnesses are Holly's two dogs, Rowdy and Kimi. If you loved other Holly Winter books, you'll love this one. Written with humor. Paws up on this one!
Rating: 
Summary: Best Book Yet!
Review: Susan Conant has done it again. A fun mystery, Holly becomes the dog trainer of the mafia. Problem is, they're happy to do her "favors" (of the mob variety). When one of "the family" gets murdered, the only eye witnesses are Holly's two dogs, Rowdy and Kimi. If you loved other Holly Winter books, you'll love this one. Written with humor. Paws up on this one!
Rating:
Summary: Best Book Yet!
Review: Susan Conant has done it again. A fun mystery, Holly becomes the dog trainer of the mafia. Problem is, they're happy to do her "favors" (of the mob variety). When one of "the family" gets murdered, the only eye witnesses are Holly's two dogs, Rowdy and Kimi. If you loved other Holly Winter books, you'll love this one. Written with humor. Paws up on this one!
Rating: 
Summary: Think Tyler, Jackson, and Evanovich
Review: Think Anne Tyler's THE ACCIDENTAL TOURIST, think Lillian Jackson's cat mysteries, think Janet Evanovich's self-deprecating first person narrative, and you'll get a good idea of what THE DOGFATHER is like.
Tyler's famous novel doesn't really come alive until the main character meets the dog trainer and we have a dog trainer here as well, only Holly Winter is hired to train mafioso Enzio Gaurini's Elkhound puppy, Frey.
The Jackson similarity is with the Holly's adult malamutes, Rowdy and Kimi. One of Enziro's henchman is murdered and Rowdy and Kimi are instrumental in finding the culprit.
If you've read Evanovich, you know her bounty hunter has quite a unique sense of humor. She constantly has problems with her car, as does Holly. There's a hole in the floor of Holly's Bronco and she's worried something will happen to her dogs. She need not have worried because somebody ultimately blows it up. Conant uses dog hair and puppy shenanigans to add humor as well.
Much of the book concerns one of Holly's other sidelines, showing her champion Malamutes. At one of these shows, the mafiosos show up and try to bribe the judge. There's a short tutorial about the various competitions here that left me more confused than before. There's Best of Breed, Best of Opposites, and Best of Winners. Conant tries to explain the differences but I'm still in the dark. Conant also has trouble juggling the dog material with the Enziro Guarini plot.
I had a problem with the stereotypical Italian hoodlums. They have names like Favuzza and Zappardino, and Al Favuzza looks like Count Dracula. Conant also has a fascination with beginning participial phrases; there are at least five on each page.
Rating:
Summary: Off-key Sopranos
Review: When I read that Susan Conant's new book had a Mafia background, my first thought was, "Identity theft." Surely someone else had written the book, somehow managing to publish it under this otherwise self-assured author's good name.
Conant's previous dog-related mysteries have given us well-researched yet breezy forays into little-known subcultures: eonism (look it up), Nazi eugenics, Cambridge social life and Sherlock Holmes buffs, with the eccentric world of show dogs and their humans always in the background. But from the title on, "The Dogfather" offers nothing new on the much-overworked territory of the Mafia. Conant's usually sharp and observant narrator, Holly Winter, is content to tell us that Italian-American organized-crime figures really do dress, act and speak exactly the way cliched pop culture would have us believe.
In previous books in this otherwise witty and unpretentious series, Holly's involvement in the central murder case is much less contrived. Here, a Mafia chieftain sends henchmen out to confront her on the street; she is literally pulled into the requisite black limousine by her own treat-loving dogs, who sense cannoli inside. She isn't a dog trainer, but the capo insists that she try to bring his new puppy to heel.
As the story continues -- much more slowly than Conant's usual pace -- Holly doesn't make much progress with the dog or her on-again relationship with her once-and-future boyfrien. Even the murder (of a seriously underdeveloped, thus unsympathetic character) doesn't kick in until surprisingly late in the proceedings.
At one point, Holly's tenant Rita asks her why she's associating with these lowlife, murderous mobsters. It's a question I would like to ask the author. The ending leaves open the possibility of future appearances by the dog-loving don. Since this book is definitely the runt of an enjoyable series, let's hope Holly can't think of any favors for him to return.
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