Product Description

When a canine lover is murdered, sleuth Holly Winter discovers his double life. But who can explain the odd behavior of his family? What was his strange connection to a local legend who died centuries ago--and how can Holly muzzle the killer before he strikes again?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #835784 in Books
• Published on: 2005-05-03
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 272 pages

From School Library Journal
YA. To win a bet with a friend that she can write about something other than dogs, Holly Winter begins in-depth research into the life of Hannah Dunston, a local 17th-century heroine who turns out to have been a murderer. Clues into Hannah's past lead to the murder of Jack Winter Andrews 18 years ago and the mysterious circumstances of finding his golden retriever tied to his desk at the crime scene. Holly diligently searches through libraries and other people's cluttered basements to discover the identity of Jack's killer, the location of his illegitimate son, and Holly's own tie to Hannah Dunston. Conant adeptly weaves Andrews's murder together with the legend of Hannah Dunston, resulting in an intriguing mesh of converging facts. The author keeps readers entertained between major breakthroughs in the story by relating all sorts of pointers about dogs in general, and more specifically Holly's own malamutes, who play a role in solving the crime. Holly comes across as self-assured, independent, and knowledgeable, and all of the other characters are precisely drawn through subtle details and expertly manipulated facts. During the last chapters, the suspense and tension build rapidly, although the twist at the end is somewhat convenient. Readers who enjoy the dogs in Virginia Lanier's series will also enjoy Conant's mysteries.?Pam Johnson, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
The 18-year-old murder of a book publisher interested in showing dogs sidetracks Holly Winter from her research into the life of a New England woman abducted by Indians. She finally solves the case but nearly gets killed in the process. For all those dog-loving readers.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews
Conant, who has delighted dog-lovers in the first nine volumes of this specialty series perhaps to the point of alienating everyone else, displays in entry ten an invigorating diversification of interest. Dog-columnist Holly Winter is dared by a therapist friend to write something about--quelle horreur!- people. Her research takes her all around Harvard Yard as she looks into the history of Massachusetts settler Hannah Duston, a tribal captive who proved handier with a hatchet than Lizzie Borden. Simultaneously, Holly explores the ten-year-old murder of a local publisher--benign Jack Winter Andrews of Damned Yankee Press--and observes her two projects becoming as entangled as malamutes Rowdy and Kimi during a food fight. Stud Rites (1996) was set claustrophobically within a dog show. This time, Conant gives us a cool, merry, and informative look at academic Cambridge and a scene of sexual misunderstanding that goes from low comedy to something like tragedy. Conant still tends to overexplain jokes and her detective is still irritatingly full of pet-grooming advice. But there are human beings here and some very welcome human drama as our author slips her leash. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Customer Reviews

An addictive series!
Holly Winter, a writer for DOG'S LIFE magazine, makes a bet with her friend and neighbor Rita (a psychotherapist) that she can indeed write something that has nothing to do with dogs whatsoever. Thus, Holly begins research on Hannah Duston, who, in 1697 was captured by Indians--then killed her captors and returned home. At the same time she is learning about Hannah Duston, however, Holly is also finding out about John Winter Andrews, who died eighteen years ago (was it suicide or murder? the case was never solved)--and owned a Golden Retriever, the same breed of dog Holly's family has bred for decades. Surely there must be a kinship link of some sort, and Holly is determined to find out what really happened.

Holly is a fun person to hang out with--smart, smart-mouthed, and with a smart choice of companions: her two Alaskan Malamutes, Kimi and Rowdy. Think Kinsey Millhone transplanted from Santa Teresa, California to Cambridge, Massachusetts and immersed in the world of dogs. Holly's other friends--her lover (and vet) Steve, her next door neighbor (and homicide detective) Kevin, and Rita--are almost as engaging as the assorted canines who show up in the novel.

Be warned: the Holly Winter series is addictive! This reviewer read ten of them (of which this is number ten) in ten days. All are stronger on dogs than on the mystery elements--which is not to say the mystery elements are weak, they aren't--but that's just fine by me. It isn't necessary to read these novels in order, so grab the first one you can find (and all the others you can put your hands on) and dig in for a tour of New England, dog shows and obedience trials, colonial history... and, oh yes... rats.

Kimberly Borrowdale, Under the Covers

Just OK
Holly Winter, dog writer extraordinaire, is trying to write about a person, colonial heroine Hannah Duston, who, in another age would have been known as an ax murderer. She is also writing about an 18 year old murder, because the victim's dog was the proof it was not suicide. The two pieces would seem to be world's apart, but there are puzzling connections.

I am a fan of Ms. Conant and I cherish my friendship with Holly and her malamutes, but this is not up to her best writing. The story seemed oddly flat, and my favorite non-series character was murdered after one appearance.

Those who enjoy the series will certainly want to read this, but if you haven't met Holly and company before, don't start here!

Dogs and colonial history--Yeah!
Susan Conant has written a series of books in which murders are solved by a very unlikely person. The "detective" in Ms. Conant's books is a dog lover with the unlikely name of Holly Winter. Holly makes a living writing for a dog magazine. Holly's life centers around her two Alaskan malamutes. I am not a "dog lover" but I have enjoyed meeting the malamutes and I have enjoyed in other books reading about the strange world of dog shows.

In Animal Appetite, Holly investigates the murder of a pubisher who died at his desk 18 years before the start of the tale. Concurrently, Holly is researching an actual historical event in which a woman who had been captured by native Americans managed to escape (killing several of her captors in the process). I enjoyed the combination of colonial history and wry humor aimed at dog fanciers and Harvard professors. I read Susan Conant because I enjoy the world she creates and the vivid way she brings dogs to life on the printed page. Don't expect the wild humor of Susan Evanovich or the well crafted puzzles of vintage Agatha Christy; expect an enjoyable romp with two wonderful malamutes.