First Pedigree Murder

Dog Lover's Mystery #5

by Melissa Cleary

Jackie Walsh, a teacher of film studies at Rodgers University, and her crime-solving dog, Jake, investigate the murder of Mannheim Goodwillie, one of Palmer's most prominent citizens, who drops dead during a live radio broadcast

Genres: Mystery, Cozy

195 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published July 1, 1994

Reviews

[Caryn · Rating 2 out of 5]

This installment in Cleary's series was not as engaging as the previous books. The story felt a bit disjointed, with many characters to keep track of in a shorter book. The author digressed into some lengthy descriptions of the history of radio shows and one on how the Zapruder film was edited. The information on the Zapruder film was actually quite interesting, but added little to plot.
It's clear the author is knowledgeable on film and radio and wanted to offer more than the average cozy mystery.
Some of the dogs' actions in the book were completely implausible, still it was worth reading as a quick break between other books.

[Suzanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not quite sure why I keep reading this series—so obvious to me now that each book is being written by different people. (Not gonna use term, “author”)
I so wanted to like it—dog detective and all.
But, Blatant errors in story consistency with this “book”!! From protagonist’s behaviors to numerous references to previous books in this series—Bassett Hounds NOT Beagles!! Really?!? Along with editing errors and a thoroughly unlikeable protagonist, long sections strayed from plot line (such as it was) and were totally skippable!! Sigh!

[Julie Fetcho · Rating 4 out of 5]

An older cozy mystery. Good book but as far as I'm concerned there were a couple of pages that I felt could have been left out. I skimmed them pages. I thought that part was boring. . I do love the series thus far.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall I enjoyed this book, the second in the series that I have read. I loved how it mixed in some old time radio shows. I didn't like that there was practically no way you could have solved the murder as that character really didn't show up until Jackie said s/he was guilty.

[Karen-Leigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jackie Walsh, a teacher of film studies at Rodgers University, and her crime-solving dog, Jake, investigate the murder of Mannheim Goodwillie, one of Palmer's most prominent citizens, who drops dead during a live radio broadcast