I received this book for free from in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Doggie Day Care Murder
by
Laurien Berenson
cozy mystery in a hardcover edition that was published by Kensington Books on September 1, 2008 and has 256 pages.
Explore it on Goodreads or Amazon
Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Hounded to Death
Fifteenth in the Melanie Travis mystery series revolving around Melanie Travis, a former dog handler and now a second-time mom, in Stamford, Connecticut.
My Take
This was a cute, homey mystery. Light and fluffy. It’s ideal if you love dogs — Standard Poodles in particular with a peek-in behind-the-scenes of dog handlers getting ready for a dog show.
The odd notes are Melanie’s not-so-happy relationship with Aunt Peg. Berenson needs to work up a bit more tension between the two. She writes the tension but I’m just not feeling it.
I do like the better light that now shines between Melanie and Detective Minton. It’ll be curious to see where this goes.
The Story
Married a year now, Melanie and Sam are the proud parents of three-month-old Kevin and nine-year-old Davey is thrilled to have a new brother. Enjoying her role as a stay-at-home mom, Melanie’s best friend, Alice, flatters her into checking out the Pine Ridge Canine Care Center. Seems Alice is all too ready to give up the stay-at-home routine and go back to work as a paralegal at her husband, Joe’s, law firm. But Alice needs daycare for Brinkley, their 18-month-old golden retriever, and wants Melanie, with her dog expertise, to check the place out.
Heck, I’m impressed — a Taj Mahal of daycare for doggies! Lots of pasture and toys for dogs outside. Inside there are couches and chairs set up in individual rooms each with its own televisions and an in-floor remote so the dogs can turn it on/off or change the channel. No doors allows the dogs the freedom to move around and choose their friends.
Then Aunt Peg comes up with questions Melanie hadn’t thought to ask and when Melanie and Alice return to Pine Ridge, it’s to find Steve Pine murdered. Between Alice and the desolation on Candy’s face, Melanie agrees to investigate.
All this and then Melanie finds out that Aunt Peg and Davey have cooked up their own surprise for Davey carrying on the family tradition.
The Characters
Melanie Travis has a bit of a reputation with friends, family . . . and the police for investigating. But with her marriage to game developer, Sam Driver, and the kids — 9-year-old Davey from her marriage to Bob and 3-month-old Kevin, Mel is done. Really. No more.
It took Sam Driver four years to talk Melanie into marrying him and when they did finally do the deed, they ended up with a family of five black Standard Poodles: Faith, Eve, Raven, Casey, and Tar — seems Sam used to show dogs as well. Oh yeah, and Davey.
Alice is Melanie’s best friend. New moms together who bonded over all the mommy activities some nine years ago. Married to Joe Brickman, Alice and Joe have two kids: nine-year-old Joey (yeah Davey and Joey are friends) and seven-year-old Carly along with the introduction to the murder scene, Brinkley.
Aunt Peg is Melanie’s aunt by marriage and she and her husband, Max, had raised a nationally known line of Standard Poodles, the Cedar Crest line. With Max’s death, Margaret scaled operations back and now judges dog shows contenting herself with just six Standard Poodles. A gift of a Standard Poodle puppy five years ago along with Aunt Peg’s relentlessness saw Melanie doing quite well as a dog handler.
Bob, Melanie’s ex-husband, is an accountant as well as partners with Melanie’s younger brother, Frank, in a very popular coffee house, the Bean Counter. Mel, Sam, and Bob have a very cordial relationship.
Steve and Candy Pine are brother and sister who have opened the Pine Ridge Canine Care Center — the ideal doggie daycare. Theirs is an ideal partnership with Steve handling the accounts and other paperwork as well as the ladies while Candy handles operations. Bailey is their fabulous dog groomer and Jason is a summer employee working towards an MBA in Business. Jason has lots of ideas for improving PRCCC but he’s a very low man on the totem pole.
Roger Cavanaugh is a silent partner in PRCCC as well as a client with his dog, Logan.
The Cover and Title
Oh, too cute!! Three corgis, a spaniel, and a terrier happily playing on a doggie obstacle course.
The title is not particularly imaginative but it certainly is appropriate as it is all about a Doggie Day Care Murder.
