Rating: 
Summary: Well worth the wait
Review: It has been a long time since the last Holly Winter mystery. When last we saw her, she was suffering from both a head injury and heartbreak. Her vet and lover had married someone else and she was injured during another of her escapades. Rita has recommended a psychiatrist to help heal her mind and body and her elderly friend Ceci asks her help in solving a problem at the dog park. A dog owner with a vicious Golden is making things difficult for all of them. Holly solves the problem temporarily, and then a murderer solves it permanently. Holly helps to solve the murder.This is the best Conant mystery in a long time. Conant has taken the time to add more dog elements to the mystery and as usual she makes them work brilliantly. The dogs and the mystery blend wonderfully, so this novel should appeal to all readers, not just dog nuts. The author understands dogs and murder mystery like very few others and I always enjoy her dog mysteries, even though the previous two were more mystery and less dog. They were markedly less enjoyable, and I am glad she has returned to the previous formula.
Rating:
Summary: Well worth the wait
Review: It has been a long time since the last Holly Winter mystery. When last we saw her, she was suffering from both a head injury and heartbreak. Her vet and lover had married someone else and she was injured during another of her escapades. Rita has recommended a psychiatrist to help heal her mind and body and her elderly friend Ceci asks her help in solving a problem at the dog park. A dog owner with a vicious Golden is making things difficult for all of them. Holly solves the problem temporarily, and then a murderer solves it permanently. Holly helps to solve the murder. This is the best Conant mystery in a long time. Conant has taken the time to add more dog elements to the mystery and as usual she makes them work brilliantly. The dogs and the mystery blend wonderfully, so this novel should appeal to all readers, not just dog nuts. The author understands dogs and murder mystery like very few others and I always enjoy her dog mysteries, even though the previous two were more mystery and less dog. They were markedly less enjoyable, and I am glad she has returned to the previous formula.
Rating:
Summary: One of Her Best
Review: This book, 14th in the Holly Winter series, carries over many of the characters from her previous books--Holly, her vet and love interest, Steve; her friends Rita (tenant and psychotherapist) and Kevin (the cop next door); her courtesy aunts Ceci and Althea; the Massachusetts cities of Cambridge and Newton; and last but not least the well drawn Malamutes Rowdy and Kimi. The identity of the killer is genuinely mysterious and the victim's life is explored in detail. Much intelligent information about dogs, dog shows, and dog obedience is imparted but the book is never preachy-Holly is just completely obsessed and shares her obsessions with the reader.
I believe that a reader who hadn't read any of the preceding books would enjoy this as much as those of us who have read all fourteen.
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