Gaits of Heaven

A Dog Lover's Mystery #17

by Susan Conant

Dog lovers and mystery fans await this new novel from the award-winning author of Bride and Groom.

Praised for its eccentric and quirky characters Susan Conant's hilarious series now finds dedicated dog trainer Holly Winter following the tracks of an odd breed of pup to an even stranger breed of human- when she's enlisted to rein in a dysfunctional New Age couple's over-spirited Aussie huskapoo. But when the wife succumbs to an accidental overdose of mixed meds, Holly becomes embroiled in the family's dirty little secrets, especially when the victim's daughter convinces Holly that it was murder.

Genres: Mystery, Dogs, Cozy Mystery, Animals, Fiction, Cozy

336 pages, Hardcover

First published November 7, 2006

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
(1)mysteries

Mother of author Jessica Park aka Jessica Conant-Park

The photo is of Jessica Conant-Park and Susan Conant, daughter and mother.

Reviews

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been slowly making my way through this series about Holly, a dog obsessed Malamute owner who gets involved in murders in the community of dog owners. This mystery was actually pretty good and had a cast of quirky characters. Her hatred of psychiatrists comes through, as well as some anti fat sentiments. These books can be judgmental at times, but this was still one of the more interesting books in the series.

[Robert Beveridge · Rating 1 out of 5]

Susan Conant, Gaits of Heaven (Berkley, 2006)

I was prepared to give this a mediocre review and pass it off as a relatively unmemorable mystery until Conant started talking about how awful it is to be overweight. From there, the longer the book went on, the more offensive it got. And it's not a case of Conant making fun of fat people. It's worse than that-- it's pity. Cloying, stinking pity that glops all over everything else in the book. It's at that point that the book goes from being mediocre to being terrible. I'd planned to give this my usual review, with a paragraph of plot summary and then a breakdown of the book's good and bad points, but I find that I can no longer remember any good points. Aside from the obvious (pointed out above), the pacing is godawful, the mystery setup is handled clumsily, and the resolution, as it does with so many bad mysteries, involves getting everyone into a room and having the solution to the mystery spoon-fed to them. (And us, of course, for the few who didn't see it coming a mile off.) I read a book or two as bad as this in the last month, but I didn't read any that were worse. *

[Chelsea · Rating 1 out of 5]

This entry into the Dog Lover's Mysteries was bizarre and disappointing for me. Holly Winter, who is usually hilarious and dog-obsessed, spent a huge portion of the book fat-shaming a young woman whose mother just died. She describes Caprice as "disfigured" by obesity. When she invites Caprice to stay with her, Holly purges all the high-fat food in her cupboards so she can control what Caprice eats and keep her from having things she "shouldn't." One of the high drama points takes place when Sammy becomes sick from gorging on Caprice's secret stash of junk food... This entire portion of the plot was repulsive and offensive. Disappointing since I usually love Holly.

[Regan · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the better entries in this series. I liked how Holly looked for the best way to help Dolfo and realized that he needed someone other than her to train him. She didn't let her ego get in the way of caring for the dog. I did object to her thinking she knew better what was best for Caprice. Who was she to decide?

[Debi Emerson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another wonderful entry in the series!

[Khanh · Rating 1 out of 5]

This one just wasn't for me. I read it but I wasn't drawn into the story. It didn't have a lot of mystery aspects to it, and it was an effort to keep my attention interested in the characters.

[Dlora · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy Susan Conant's books because I like reading about dogs and how to train and take care of them. This book had all of that, the main dog element being training owners how to teach a dog to be housebroken. It also had an interesting subtheme exploring the Boston-area psychotherapy environment. However, as a murder mystery, I thought it was a bit weak this time. Conant always writes about the world from a dog lovers viewpoint, but she maybe went a little overboard this time. And she had an odd writing technique of having the main character creatively imagine what was happening to some of other characters without the main character actually being an eyewitness. Maybe that was supposed to be a therapeutic technique and she was just continuing the psychotherapy subtheme? I still enjoyed the book, and I suspect Melissa will too, but unless you are a real dog lover, you might not like this book as much as some of her others. My favorite ones from Susan Conant are Animal Appetites and The Barker Street Irregulars, both of which are a murder mystery that combines a literary subtheme with dogginess.

[Adrienne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've learned to appreciate Conant's mysteries for the wonderful descriptions of Holly Winter's dogs, life in Cambridge, and familiar characters, and to accept the somewhat bizarre plot twists that usually occur at the end. Her introspective monologues make the books so enjoyable for me, a therapist myself, and I think it is no coincidence that one of her supporting characters is a therapist. This story makes light of the stereotypical well-intentioned yet hopelessly impractical psychotherapist, and it avoids portraying the profession in an overly negative fashion. I have thoroughly enjoyed the development of Holly and Steve's relationship, which is one of the main reasons I continue to read the series. Conant often uses her books to advance animal welfare issues, and I wish she had spoken out even more against the phenomenon of so-called designer dogs, especially with the availability of thousands of mixed breed dogs in shelters in this country.

[Tammie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book to be a bit interesting in the set up. I don't really see how it is supposed to be a mystery in the traditional sense that there are not really that many clues or things to pick up on through the story to try and make a conclusion before getting to the end. I also felt that the story was dragging on and on until it abruptly wrapped up in the last few pages.
The writing is fun and easy. I understand that the main character is a dog trainer, but it gets a little annoying since she constantly relates almost every situtation that happens in her life to dogs and dog training.
I got this book from a library leasing program, so it was only two dollars, but I would not have been happy if I had spent the regular hard cover price for it.
I guess if you are looking for an easy read that this is a good choice.

[Spencer Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

A light-hearted mystery with dogs.

Holly quickly becomes enmeshed with a new-agey couple, both of whom are therapists. They own a "designer" dog who is misbehaving (peeing in the house, etc.), at least in part because this flaky couple insists on treating the dog like a "person of fur." Of course, someone dies, and Holly figures out who-done-it.

I've enjoyed most of Susan Conant's books. They're light-hearted with a touch of humor (sometimes I find myself ROFLing, but more often chuckling), and she leavens them with advice on coexisting with and training your dog.

This one includes swipes at pop therapy and the designer dog fad. It was an entertaining read.

[Karen-Leigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really enjoyable read.
Praised for its eccentric and quirky characters Susan Conant's hilarious series now finds dedicated dog trainer Holly Winter following the tracks of an odd breed of pup to an even stranger breed of human- when she's enlisted to rein in a dysfunctional New Age couple's over-spirited Aussie huskapoo. But when the wife succumbs to an accidental overdose of mixed meds, Holly becomes embroiled in the family's dirty little secrets, especially when the victim's daughter convinces Holly that it was murder.

[Sharon · Rating 2 out of 5]

The mystery was OK but way too much philosophizing on the part of the author who clearly sees dogs dog trainers and veterinarians as superior to most humans. The authors low opinion of those in the mental health professions is clear as they indulge in over-prescribing, taking, mixing,and sharing proscription psychotropic medicines with little or no thought to the consequences. I would not read another book by this author.

[Lbaker · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little too much about psychologists, therapists, trauma, psychotherapists, social workers, psychopharmacologist, acupuncturist, herbalist, massage therapist, and it was all fluff that was annoying.

The dog part of the book was good - I would like a golden Aussie huskapoo - large mutt as far as I can figure.

The sad thing was the author focused more on a Caprices' weight than her important qualities and had more sympathy for the dog Dolfo than the girl Caprice.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad - better than her cat series! I was a little disapointed in that this book didn't seem to be as great as her previous books in the series. I think I need to go back and re-read some of her older ones to see if perhpas she has changed her writing style or if I just remember them as being better.

I do really enjoy her stories though and it was still a great, easy read.

[Nadine in NY Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love dogs and I love Conant's sense of humor and I love that the main dog is named Rowdy, just like mine (though mine is not a Malamute). I've learned so much about dogs and dog training from Conant's books.

Favorite line: "Confronted with a flock [of sheep:], Rowdy would reduce the sheep to racks of lamb. At least he wouldn't do it in any sort of sneaky, duplicitous fashion."

[Lea Anne · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've enjoyed the series in the past but this one was kind of hum drum. I'm glad the main character got married to the person she loves. The previous books had a lot of focus on the dogs and while this one did too...the murder that the main character was helping to solve was just a little far fetched for me. And the ending (with the person who was found to be the murderer) was fast and abrupt.

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating page-turner, written in a slightly different style and format than the author usually employs, which only enhances the curious and strange unfoldings of plot, introduction of characters, and pulls the reader right into the swirling mental game of it all.

[Hayseed · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this is her best mystery yet, enjoy the show dog aspect having been there once myself and a murder mystery wrapped into her story.

[Lis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love all of her doggie mysteries. Hey, everyone needs a break.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun blend between dog training and psychotherapy. Very entertaining.

[Dixie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really feel a bit guilty about how much I like these books. The multi-dog household bits are a real treat. At one point, I could not put the book down until I knew that the dog was OK. Silly!

[Linda Nelms · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is an easy read, doesn't require thinking, and I like puppies

[Tara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Charming (March 2012).

Re-read (September 2015).

Re-read (October 2021).

[Ginny Tata-Phillips]

One of the main dogs in this book is a Golden Aussie Huskapoo. Take THAT all you Labradoodle people!

[Gail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly readable, and ..clever! I shall definately try another of her books to see if it holds the standard. Entertaining.

[Toesnorth's mom]

too boring to read

[Skyler · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this series. This one lost a star for me for the weight loss subplot. To others, that might be a plus.

[Minrose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun read.