Hounded to Death (Melanie Travis Series #14) » (Reprint)

Laurien Berenson is an Agatha and Macavity nominee, winner of the Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award, and a four-time winner of the Maxwell Award, which is presented by the Dog Writers Association of America. She lives in Kentucky with her husband, son, and four poodles.

As the dog days of summer turn to the playful nip of autumn's chill, Melanie Travis is ready for a little relaxation. Her Aunt Peg has the perfect solution--a five-day symposium for dog show judges in Pennsylvania's idyllic Pocono Mountains. While Peg and Melanie's sister-in-law Bertie welcome the opportunity to socialize with the dog world's elite, the very pregnant Melanie embraces the chance to simply unwind.

But when renowned judge Charles Evans delivers a keynote address that irritates many of the attendees, the symposium's agenda takes a deadly turn. For later that evening, Charles is found floating face-down in the outdoor hot tub.

With few clues to go on, the police are baffled. But Melanie decides to take matters into her own hands, suspecting that a cold-blooded murderer may lurk among her fellow dog-lovers. . .

Publishers Weekly

Dog show enthusiast Melanie Travis, starring in her perky 14th whodunit (after 2006's Chow Down), puts her four-months-pregnant self into the back of a minivan and heads off to a canine judging symposium in the Poconos with her sister-in-law, Bertie, a professional dog handler, and Aunt Peg, a respected judge of poodles. The three expect a relaxing vacation, but a few hours after keynote speaker Charles Evans shocks his audience by announcing that dog shows are unethical, Melanie and Co. discover Evans dead in the hotel hot tub. Was he offed by an angry judge, or did his wife finally decide that his countless affairs were intolerable? Sleuthing isn't the only thing occupying Melanie-she's also busy looking out for her 60-something aunt, who's pursuing romance with a younger man she met over the Internet. Berenson refrains from overloading the mystery with too many dog details, and though a few character development devices never get off the ground, this canine cozy is still absorbing enough to delight even cat lovers. (Sept.)