The disappearance of veterinarian Oscar Patterson leads Holly Winter, her veterinarian lover Steve, and her two malamutes, Rowdi and Kim, on an investigation into deceit and murder

Gone to the Dogs

Literature & Fiction

Conant, Susan

United States

DOUBLEDAY

The murder of Puppy Luv Pet Store's owner, Diane Sweet, and then a second murder, lead Holly Winter and her veterinarian lover Steve on the trail of a criminal in a tale of chicanery, deceit, and homicide.

Bloodlines

The bizarre behavior of a hearing guide dog and the accidental poisoning death of a local bookseller embroil "Dog's Life" writer Holly Winter and her two Alaskan malamutes in a mystery

Ruffly Speaking

Holly Winter and her Alaskan Malamute, Rowdy, are spending a week at Waggin' Tail Camp, but when Holly receives a sympathy card for the loss of her pet, she wonders if it is a sick joke or if Kimi, her other Malamute, is in jeopardy

BLACK RIBBON

Set during an Alaskan Malamute National Specialty Show, Conant's latest foray into the competitive world of purebred dogs proves lethal for the judge, who is found bludgeoned to death by a blunt object as tasteless as the murder itself. And who might benefit from the judge's death? Many, as it turns out--from the woman who has inherited his job to the organizer of the show, and the handler whose dog now has a good chance of winning. Dog's Life writer Holly Winter is on the scene with two dogs entered in the show. She know who has access to the murder weapon, but it is a former lover, now working for a firm that specializes in canine reproductive technology, who unwittingly puts her on the trail of the killer. From the Paperback edition.

Stud Rites

When Holly Winter accepts her friend's challenge to write about something other than dogs, her presumed subject is the story of Hannah Duston, an early settler of Massachusetts who was captured by Native Americans, escaped, and lived to tell the tale. Soon enough, however, Holly is diverted by the much more contemporary death of one Jack Winter Andrews (no relation, as it turns out), who was purportedly poisoned in the office of his small publishing company eighteen years before--while his pet golden retriever, chained to his desk, looked on. Whether drawn by the coincidence of Andrews's middle name, or the siren call of a dog's involvement (however peripheral), Holly is compelled to find out more about the publisher's demise. Was it suicide, as the police had determined? Or murder, as his widow--and many others--insist? In the end, Holly is unable to unravel all the threads of Hannah Duston's life, but she does manage to solve the mystery of Jack Andrews's death. Though not before the murderer succeeds in killing again, and almost sends Holly, along with her two beloved Alaskan malamutes, Rowdy and Kimi, to the same horrible fate. And, of course, interwoven with Holly's sleuthing are the delightful tidbits of canine lore, purebred dog-fancy gossip, and training tips that Susan Conant's many fans have come to expect and love. In fact, as Holly discovers, the late Jack Andrews's second, secret life centered around--what else--showing dogs!

Animal Appetite

Susan Conant continues to surprise--this time by involving dog writer Holly Winter in a wickedly amusing tale full of dastardly deeds and delightful eccentrics. An avid devotion to the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and an equally avid devotion to dogs, combine to draw Holly Winter and her two beloved malamutes, Rowdy and Kimi, into one of Conant's most original and entertaining mysteries to date. Rowdy has finished his training as a therapy dog and now accompanies Holly on weekly visits to the Gateway Nursing Home, where they meet Althea Battlefield, still formidable at the age of ninety, and her two elderly, admiring cohorts, Hugh and Robert--all fanatic devotees of the Master (as they call Sherlock Holmes). When Althea's grandnephew is murdered at the home of her younger sister, Ceci, everyone is horrified, but it's the plight of Ceci herself--who is being victimized by an unscrupulous animal psychic--that finally unites this unlikely group in a crime-stopping spree that requires not only the finely tuned ratiocination of the Holmes admirers but the eager cooperation of an outraged Holly and the very particular talents of her willing canine accomplices. No special knowledge of the Sherlockian canon is required for the utmost enjoyment of this engaging romp, and Conant's own devoted followers will be delighted to find her dog-loving alter ego, Holly Winter, still poking fun at the world of Cambridge eccentrics and dog fancy fanatics, but also expanding her horizons into the world of literary trivia and--yes--feline rescue, however initially reluctant.

The Barker Street Regulars

When dog writer Holly Winter receives her first book contract, her research leads to some surprising--and deadly--discoveries. Holly Winter has a contract to write the text for a book of photographs commemorating the legendary Morris and Essex Dog Shows, canine extravaganzas produced by the fabulously wealthy and famously dog-obsessed Geraldine Rockefeller Dodge in the years leading up to World War II. Needless to say, Holly is delighted with the assignment, and immediately sets out to interview one of the few remaining people who actually attended one of the shows--B. Robert Motherway, a Princeton classmate of the Dodges' late son. It only takes one visit for Holly to realize that there is something strange going on in the Motherway household: a wife dying painfully in an upstairs bedroom, a daughter-in-law acting as a maid, a sullen son playing the role of kennel man, and--most distressing of all--a German shepherd that growls menacingly. Soon Holly begins to receive mysterious anonymous packages in the mail: a leaflet describing a popular dog medication, cryptic letters written in German, a couple of old photographs. Who could be sending them, and what do they mean? When Motherway's disagreeable son is found garroted in Mount Auburn Cemetery, the circumstances convince Holly that she must find the answers before she herself becomes the next victim. Evil Breeding presents an intriguingly complex puzzle and provides a wealth of fascinating information about a larger-than-life, legendary dog fancier.

Evil Breeding: A Dog Lover's Mystery

A hike in the woods has memorable consequences for dog writer Holly Winter in this latest of Susan Conant's Dog Lover's Mysteries. When Holly Winter awakens, battered and bruised, clinging to a boulder on the side of a cliff, she doesn't even recognize her own beloved malamutes, Rowdy and Kimi, much less remember their names--or her own. She does, however, realize they're her dogs, and that she is--to put it mildly--a "dog person." And she vaguely remembers hearing a sinister voice from above. Putting clues together, she discovers that she is in Acadia National Park, on Mount Desert Island, Maine, and that she's the guest of one Gabrielle Beamon, a most attractive and charming woman, whom Holly doesn't recognize at all. When it is discovered that there was another fall, this one fatal, at approximately the same time and close to the same place as Holly's, she begins to fear for her own safety. In fact, she has all she can do to figure out what's going on without giving away her own loss of memory. You'll be licking your chops with glee as the dog fanciers in Conant's eclectic and eccentric group of characters once more prove themselves smarter and more resourceful in every way than their more anthropocentric counterparts.

Creature Discomforts: A Dog Lover's Mystery

Dead and Doggone

Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Mystery

Berkley_Pub Group

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