A mom goes undercover to locate a purloined poodle—and a killer—in this series debut with “a solution that packs a surprising amount of surprise” (Kirkus Reviews). The apparent heart attack that killed kennel owner Max Turnbull has left seven pups in mourning, and his wife Peg suspecting foul play. But the only evidence is their missing prize pooch—a pedigreed poodle named Beau. Enter Melanie Travis. With her young son happily ensconced in day camp, the thirty-something teacher and single mother is talked into investigating her uncle’s death—unofficially, of course. Posing as a poodle breeder in search of the perfect stud, Melanie hounds Connecticut’s elite canine competitions, and finds an ally in fellow breeder Sam Driver. But her affection cools when she's put on the scent of Sam’s questionable past…and hot on the trail of a poodle-hating neighbor and one elusive murderer who isn't ready to come to heel. For, as Melanie soon discovers, in a championship dog-eat-dog world, the instinct for survival, and winning, can prove fatal. “Naturally flowing prose, extended suspense, and an infectiously upbeat single mother as protagonist make this a special treat.”—Library Journal “A bonanza for ardent dog fanciers and for others, a likable heroine in a smoothly paced romantic mystery.”—Publishers Weekly
Laurien Berenson is the award-winning author of the long running Melanie Travis canine mystery series and the new Senior Sleuths series starring Peg Turnbull and Rose Donovan as a pair of seventyish sisters-in-law who are learning to put aside old grudges as they work together to solve mysteries. DIE ANOTHER DANE (#31 in the Melanie Travis series) is out now.
Laurien's work has appeared numerous magazines and the New York Times. She and her husband live on a farm in Kentucky, surrounded by horses and dogs.
I don't know anything about dog breeding, aside from what video snatches of dog shows I happen to catch on Animal Planet as I'm flipping channels. I don't even own a dog (apartment rules, sigh), so when I picked up A Pedigree to Die For I had hoped for at least enough coherent explanations of the breeding and show process to help me understand what was happening in the story without detracting too much from the mystery.
I'm happy to say Laurien Berenson, in this debut installment of Melanie Travis mysteries, does a great job of balancing suspense and milieu, about as well as Melanie herself balances single motherhood and sleuthing. It helps here that Melanie, the niece of a champion Standard Poodle breeder, knows little about dog breeding as well, and we learn with her.
Of course, while we're learning the difference between a Standard and a Toy Poodle, Melanie is changing hats at breakneck speed -- from mother to aggravated sister to compliant niece to sleuth to summer school teacher and back again. When a prized stud Poodle from Melanie's aunt's kennel is "dognapped", Aunt Peg convinces Melanie to go undercover and scour the dog breeding community for clues and paw prints.
A Pedigree to Die For is a fun, "cozy" read, where the mystery lies in the chase and not in gruesome killings. I'm definitely looking forward to reading more about Melanie going to the dogs in the future.
Yay, found a promising new-to-me cozy mystery series thanks once again to Audible Plus. This time it's single mom and teacher, Melanie, who reluctantly gets drawn into an investigation on her aunt's behalf and things go awry, as they tend to do in cozy mysteries. :-) This first book centres around dog breeders and dog shows (Melanie's aunt breeds poodles). Loved getting a behind the scenes look at these prestigious dog shows. There's a nice set up for the possibility of romance and an intriguing mystery to solve as well.
Things I liked: Melanie's little boy isn't all charm and precocious cuteness. Sometimes he's down right ornery, whiney and rude...aka typical four-year-old. Also appreciated the length of time it took to gather leads and solve the murder -- this isn't a five day wonder case, but draws out over the entire summer and just seemed a bit more realistic to me. (Yes, I know this is a cozy and we readers are happy to suspend common sense from time to time but it was fun to see a different approach.) And there was a nifty twist at the end that I didn't anticipate. At all.
Things I didn't like: the sprinkling of mild coarse language -- not excessive, but it could have easily been left out and not changed the story or the characters at all.
School's out for the summer, and single mother and teacher Melanie Travis is not enjoying the easy summer days.
Her boyfriend has dumped her for a chorus girl, her summer job as a camp counselor has fallen through, and her Uncle Max has died suddenly of a heart attack. All that would be bad enough.
But then her Aunt Peg, Max's wife, calls with the news that one of her and Max's prize poodles, Beau, has been stolen. She wants Melanie to help her convince her brother Frank to help track him down. This can only go one way, and it does: Frank is completely dismissive of the importance Peg places on this dog, believes she's making it up about the dog's dollar value, and refuses to become involved.
So Peg settles for Melanie instead, and Melanie can't say no. Suddenly she's embarked on a crash course in dogs, genetics, and the politics of dog shows. It's even kind of fun, until she discovers a dead body.
Melanie is thoroughly likable, and maddening as she can be, Peg grows on you, too. Melanie's four-year-old son, Davey, is a normal troublesome four-year-old, not an overdone joke or improbable angel.
And the portrayal of the dog show world is delightfully realistic--the obsessions, the love of dogs, the politics, the friendships, the common values grounded in what's good for the dogs even when people have not much else in common. It's all too common to simply ridicule the dog fancy and the people involved in it, but this is a realistic and loving look at the dog world.
**Big Library Read title** June 3-18, 2014: a cozy mystery with lots of info about show dogs and breeding that seemed fairly accurate to me from our years of showing dogs. I thought the plot was a bit too contrived though--I'm afraid I would have told the aunt to hire a private investigator to find her stolen dog. The twists at the end had me scratching my head, with the murderer being a character who was barely mentioned. I probably wouldn't have read this book if it hadn't been chosen for the Big Library Read and I don't think I'll bother reading more in this mystery series. Too many books, too little time.
Since I don't normally write reviews unless I have something specific to say, here's the break down of how I rate my books...
1 star... This book was bad, so bad I may have given up and skipped to the end. I will avoid this author like the plague in the future.
2 stars... This book was not very good, and I won't be reading any more from the author.
3 stars... This book was ok, but I won't go out of my way to read more, But if I find another book by the author for under a dollar I'd pick it up.
4 stars... I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be on the look out to pick up more from the series/author.
5 stars... I loved this book! It has earned a permanent home in my collection and I'll be picking up the rest of the series and other books from the author ASAP.
I read A Pedigree to Die For because it was Overdrive's Big Library Read title in June 2014. For two weeks, it was available for checkout and download from our library's ebook service for as many people who wanted to borrow it. I appreciate the author and her publisher making it available.
This is a straightforward, quick read. It passed the time quickly for me on a travel day involving waiting at airports and sitting on planes. I'm not especially a fan of mystery series involving dogs, so that no doubt affected my rating and interest level.
It is clear that the author knows what she is talking about so far as the dog breeding and dog show information. All of the descriptions and dialog about that came across as true to life.
Some of the writing is unoriginal. One of my personal pet peeves in novels is the kiss on the cheek. Who does that? I never see Americans kissing each other on the cheek, but it comes up in books all the time - at least twice in this book. And at one point a female character grabs the first donut in the box, not caring which donut she gets - what? That was a character trait I did not buy.
However, there is a nice plot twist at the end, and there are some nicely written passages.
A Pedigree to Die for is not great, but good. There is plenty of potential for character development in future titles, and the first book in a series is often not the best. This is a fine start to a cozy series.
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars I honestly found this book to be quite slow at first until about the 40% mark. I thought that the terms and information about dog shows was very confusing and I honestly felt that the book was moving too slow at times, while it was way too fast at others. I am glad to say that the pacing improved greatly and that I really liked the rest of the book. I especially like Melanie as a character because she is a special education teacher and I am going into education. I felt she was a really upfront character that was real and honest. I also felt that her life, with all of the hectic things she had going on was a great depiction of what it is like to be a teacher and a single parent. I absolutely loved the lack of a love triangle! I am definitely cheering for Melanie and Sam and can't wait to read more. Overall, I really liked this first book in the series, but found it too slow at the beginning and thought it was filled with too many technical terms that weren't really explained.
There really are no words to describe how great this series is! If you are looking for a great series to get in to these are absolutely perfect! They are gold from start to finish! Every book in this series so far has grabbed my attention and kept it. Characters are well written and there is enough twists and turns to keep you on the edge of your seat through out the whole book. I have spent many nights up until 4 a.m. just so I could find out what happened in the end! Definitely my number 1 book book series and author ever!
This takes place in Connecticut during the summer. Melanie helps her aunt find her missing dog. The mystery was a minor part of the story, but it was interesting. I didn't expect the ending. The story also has dog shows, which is my favorite part of the series.
Ok, I found this series from my Romantic Times Book Review mag. I've not been a fan of animal based mysteries although I know they are quite popular. So I figured, dog oriented I'd give it a try. It was ok. Not something I'll be hanqering to buy but cute. My only real complaint is that it was more a description of the dog show industry rather than a murder mystery. The author pulled a "Clancy" and I feel spent too much time explaining the "dog show" world, full of more egocentric and elitist individuals than I think I've seen anywhere else, and the solving of the mystery felt forced and contrived. Overall, I didn't finish it. I read about 3/4 of the way through it then cut to the end because I lost patience with dog show etiquette and what clip was what for what breed. I love dogs, but I don't show nor do I have an interest in showing so this series is not for me. But hey, it's all good. The center family this revolved around was classic dysfunction without being overly so keeping the humor factor nihl.
So anyway, enough of my nit-picking. It was ok, not great. I'm glad I got it from the library.
This was the first of Laurien Berenson's "Melanie Travis Canine Mysteries". At this time Melanie has been divorced for three years raising her son Davy on a teacher's pay. Times are difficult to make ends meet. Her ex-husband hasn't offered any financial assistance.
In was in this canine mystery that Melanie becomes familiar with Standard Poodles and the Dog Shows. Melanie's Aunt Peg owns Standard Poodles and also participates is these dogs shows. Aunt Peg's husband, Max, has been murdered inside their kennel, and their show Poodle has been taken.
Peg asked Melanie, an amateur sleuth, to help solve the murder and the dognapping of Aunt Peg's Standard Poodle, Beau.
This mystery was an enjoyable read; the reader doesn't need to appreciate dogs to be entertained by this canine mystery.
A Pedigree to Die for by Laurien Berenson is the first book in the Melanie Travis mystery series. When Melanie's Uncle Max dies suddenly of a heart attack at the same time as his prize poodle Beau goes missing, Melanie and her aunt investigate. Along with Melanie you learn a lot about the dog show circuit. An enjoyable book with a strong and very capable main character, who is willing to tackle anything and manages to juggle sleuthing with single motherhood.
I read this book because it was the Big Library Read selection for 2014. It was an easy read, and I did enjoy it, but there was not much substance. I probably will not read the rest of the series, at least not right now, but for a summer read, it was okay.
My brain kept telling me this book, based off the subject matter, should be dumb...but it’s NOT! Highly engaging, great settings, fun characters, and info that doesn’t bore you into sleep. Really looking forward to the rest of the series!
Disclaimer - my first book of this series was the 20th one. So coming from there to the first book felt like I was shown the future and now I have to build my present towards it. Not sure if I am making any sense here but that is how I felt after reading this book. Melanie and Davey are so young and un-worldly in this book. They are just being introduced to the world of dogs and their competitions. Melanie is slowly learning from Peg about all the nuances of the competition while simultaneously solving the murder of her uncle, Max, Peg's husband. Although she is actually searching for the missing Poodle Beau, the story effectively is about that murder. Normally after reading so much ahead of the series, when you come back to the debut of the author, you tend to expect some mistakes, some lapses in writing - something to blame. But Laurien has shown a steady hand right from the first book. The effortless flow of the experienced 20th book is not something which has gradually come. She has been effortless right from book 1. There was not a single attention lapse throughout the book. It is truly had to believe that this is a debut novel of hers - it seems so perfect. I am so glad my library has her entire series. I am going to devour them all. Laurien Berenson - a huge fan of hers now!!
And my search for a good dog mystery series continues, because I'm never reading any other book in this series again.
This book was shit, written by somebody who clearly didn't like dogs, for readers who didn't know anything about dogs, dog shows, or the AKC. She also didn't know how to write a decent mystery, as too little information was given to help readers choose the murderer.
What we did get was:
* A hateful family without one likeable character, even Our Protagonist * An annoying little snot-nosed kid you just hope someone will smack * A guy Our Female Protagonist at first hates, then grows to like (as if that's never been done before) * Lots of dog abuse (dogs should never spend their lives primarily in crates or kennels, for starters) * A completely unrealistic plot. * A blurb on the back cover that uses a horse racing term (win, place and show) and NOT a dog show term.
There's a lot that's wrong with this book, but what pissed me off the most was that the dogs were mainly just treated like objects, not dogs. They are just furry background decorations. The second most infuriating part was that there was ABSOLUTELY NO ATTEMPT to find the valuable Standard Poodle other than having a neice play amateur detective for an entire summer.
The first in a series about Melanie Travis, mom, special ed teacher and amateur detective. The series revolves around dogs (specifically Standard Poodles) and the purebred dog world including dog shows. For some readers, this might make this book a no-go. It is a cozy mystery, quite well written, readable and an enjoyable way to spend an afternoon. I'll be curious to see how Berenson balances the logistics of parenting an adventurous five-year old with the time needed to investigate a murder.
Very 90s! A love letter to show poodles! Cozy murder mystery!
Dislike: nothing happened, but I freaked out when a Catholic Priest told a young boy to reach in his pocket for a “surprise.” The young boy did, and it was just candy, and all the adult ladies around thought that was adorable, which is fiiine… but it freaked me out and I don’t want it to freak you out in a book I’m recommending for enjoyability, ya know?
Fair warning: they use the dog-accurate word for female-dog a LOT, so audiobookers, beware!
This is the first book in an ongoing series. The main character is Melanie Travis who tries to help her aunt when the aunt's prize poodle goes missing(stolen). Melanie and the readers learn a lot about show dogs and a lot of what goes into having a show dog. It was interesting since I have owned dogs. The book was a quick easy read.
I struggled through the book because of the extreme amount of breeding and other dog information. I might have enjoyed the story more but felt it got lost.
The story moves along at a good pace, dialogue is well-written, and the parts about the dog show are not overdone. What bothered me throughout the whole book was the 4-year-old child. I'm not a fan of the "children do whatever they want, and there's nothing anyone can do about it" style of parenting that seems to be prevalent today, but it's irritating. Stuffing Legos in the VCR and blowing up a juice box in the microwave? C'mon -- why are the 4-year-olds playing with the microwave? At one point, child plays hide and seek with another 4-year-old "all afternoon" in the backyard. I don't think so. The mother in the story leaves the child unattended by a swimming pool. Shocker!! The kid falls in wearing a raincoat. Raincoat starts to fill up with water, but no worries, he knows how to swim. Uhm... Child calls for mom who is in the house, and she HEARS him and rushes out to save the day! Narrator actually says that this is no big deal in the life of an average 4-year-old. In another scene, child is left unattended sleeping in a car. In yet another, mom is so engrossed in her conversation that the child wanders off and turns up in the middle of a dog show. All of this is annoying and pointless as far as moving the plot along.
When Aunt Peg's husband dies and her prized poodle goes missing at the same time, she enlists her niece, single mom teacher Melanie Travis's help in figuring out how the two connect. This is the first book in the Melanie Travis mystery series and I think I plan on going though the whole series. The characters are likable and engaging and the mystery held my interest. Only one warning: this series goes into detail about poodles and dog shows, so if you are not a dog lover you may want to skip it.
This isn't actually a review. I'm a women of few words but the few I utter are inspirational. This is a Great book especially for dog lovers, amateur sleuths, moms everywhere not to mention those who enjoy learning about new things while reading novel novels.
The 1st book in the Melanie Travis mystery series by Laurien Berenson. Melanie investigates her uncle's death. Along the way, she learns about dog shows and the dogs in them. Fun and entertaining cozy mystery. Especially good for dog lovers.