Product Description

Holly Winter the malamute trainer knows she's not the only Holly Winter living in Cambridge, Massachusetts, but it would be so much nicer if Holly number two weren't a dog-hating academic... and if a third woman calling herself Holly Winter didn't happen to be dead. Holly number one can attest to this unfortunate fact, having discovered the gunned-down body while searching for a missing Siberian husky.

Another missing dog-this time a blue malamute- is somehow tied into this tangled web. With her husband Steve away on a camping trip and her other human housemates otherwise occupied, Holly and her prize-winning pups will have to bring the case to heel on their own-before a killer sniffs them out.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #718137 in Books
• Published on: 2007-11-06
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 256 pages

From Publishers Weekly
In Conant's entertaining 18th Dog Lover's mystery (after 2006's Gaits of Heaven), Holly Winter, Massachusetts malamute trainer and dog columnist, goes searching for a missing dog, a Siberian husky named Strike, and instead finds a woman's corpse. In the victim's possession are personal papers belonging to Holly and another Cambridge-area Holly Winter, suggesting the woman may have been indulging in a little identity theft. Even stranger, when Holly finally finds Strike, she turns out to be a rare blue Alaskan malamute with Holly's name and phone number on her tag. The two living Holly Winters must deal with their mutual dislike as they hurl into a hair-raising conflict connected to a crooked former dog breeder who'll stop at nothing to get what he wants. Conant includes a lot of insider doggy details and lovingly depicts Holly's interactions with her malamutes, Kimi, Rowdy and young pup Sammy. Sammy and Rowdy's courageous defense of Holly when the killer catches up to her will have dog lovers cheering. (Nov.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author
Susan Conant is a three-time recipient of the Maxwell Award for Fiction Writing given by the Dog Writers' Association of America. She lives with her husband, two cats, and two Alaskan malamutes.

Customer Reviews

Identity Thefts of People and Dogs
What happens when a dog-walker loses the blue malamute that has been entrusted to her and refuses to tell anyone the name of the owner because she finds out that the woman--Holly Winter--was murdered?

To add to the dog-walker's dilemma, a dog rescuer--a second Holly Winter--shows up to help her find the lost dog.

As if that weren't enough, a third Holly Winter emerges to protest the theft of her identity. Mayhem ensues when a Harley-riding stranger who mistook Holly Winter the dog rescuer for the dead Holly Winter shows up at her house looking for...guess what! It's a good thing the dogs know one Holly from another because they become the human rescuers.

Susan Conant weaves this who's-who mystery around interesting people and places with catchy names--like dog owners named Yappel and Woofenden (do their dogs yap and woof a lot?), the LaundroMutt (a self-service dog wash), and the Loaves and Fishes supermarket. She also gives us some insight into dog shows, dog trainers, and folks who rescue dogs. Aren't dogs lucky that there are people who are so dedicated? There's also some history thrown in about Massachusetts and Maine.

This story has it all--murder, mystery, drug dealers, identity thefts, dog rescues, and a pack of out-of-the-ordinary characters. Sometimes I was confused, but maybe Conant meant for that to happen with the identity thefts of people and dogs alike. Still it's a delightfully convoluted plot made even more so by all of the sub plots.

So, curl up in your favorite chair--with your favorite furry friend if you have one--and enjoy.

by Doris Anne Roop-Benner
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women

I liked this book
I've been a fan of Susan Conant's books since the beginning and I don't understand why some long time fans seem so disapointed by this.

It's the usual mix of cheery off topic discussions, odd characters and dog training. What's not to like.

What I especially liked was that the husband wasn't around. I think he's a bore, I don't know why Holly married him and I can't imagine how the author is going to use him in the future.

If you're a fan of the series you'll enjoy this, and if your not a fan, but want a funny, light murder mystery with dogs, you can't miss with this one.

Last Legs?
I have been an avid fan of this series since I discovered it, but the latest installment- All Shots- left me confused. I honestly had to check to see if I had taken cold medicine while I was reading it. Part of it is that for what I believe is the first time, (the third person point of view is used sporadically) and the plot us unclear.

The protagonist of the series, Holly Winter, stumbles across another crime scene in the progress of her daily activities. This time there is a strange factor in that the victim has the same name. There is a missing malamute involved and apparently another Holly Winter right there in Cambridge, who is right out of central casting for smug intellectual Yuppie. The usual supporting cast characters is diminished, as Holly's husband Steve and tenant Rita are away on separate trips, leaving only annoying cousin Leah and upstanding police officer neighbor Kevin as back up.

I really did not have a sense of why exactly the first person was killed and why, other than a vague something to do with drugs. The usual meticulous characterization and plotting are just not there this time.