I've enjoyed the Melanie
Travis series of dog-related crime stories for
years, and now it's a pleasure to read what must be at
least the third Christmas instalment. Melanie has two
growing sons, a few large Poodles and a happy relationship
by this point. So on with book 21, WAGGING THROUGH THE SNOW.
Go on, it's not a long book and you deserve a treat.
Set in Stamford, New England, the story gets briskly under
way just after Thanksgiving. Meg's scatty younger brother
Frank Turnbull arrives to tell her that he bought ten acres
of neglected land, as an impulse purchase, which turns out
to be a Christmas tree farm. Frank reckons they can call it
an investment and the family can all help him harvest the
grown trees. Just Frank's luck, though, on their first
inspection trip the family discovers a dead man lying in the
snowy wood, reeking of gin. A small dog is curled up with
him, whining pitifully. There's no indication of foul play,
but how did the man come to be here in the first place?
Typically the author Laurien Berenson takes a different
approach to a seasonal story, this time reminding us that
not all families are happy, and some people who graduate
with promising futures fall by the wayside. A wandering man
with a drinking problem has a sad past but Melanie and her
redoubtable Aunt Peg believe that this unfortunate is just
as deserving of respect as anyone. And his little Maltese
Terrier needs a good home. There seems no reason to suspect
foul play, until a man arrives who claims he was the dead
man's supporter in a drink rehab programme. If Pete really
had cleaned up his lifestyle, his death now seems
suspicious. Melanie just isn't able to let matters rest.
There's not much more to say except that if you already
love the series you'll be quite right in thinking you want
to grab this book too. At the end is a quick recipe for
cinnamon cookies. I really like the Christmas tree farm
location and WAGGING THROUGH THE SNOW contains the usual fun
and games as well as cute dogs, so it would make a perfect
stocking filler. Go fetch!
Melanie Travis needs a little peace from her busy life
this Christmas. But the usual holiday hubbub is a joy
compared to the killer surprise she finds tucked underneath
the tree . . .
With a demanding teaching job at Connecticut’s elite Howard
Academy and five poodles scampering around the house,
Melanie barely has energy for the upcoming Christmas rush.
But she unwraps an unexpected challenge when her brother and
ex-husband, elated by the recent success of their country
café, make a spontaneous bid on a dilapidated pine tree
farm. Although the ten-acre lot had been a popular seasonal
destination while the original owner was still alive, it’ll
take some sprucing up—and a small miracle or two—before the
neglected place is in shape for December.
Unfortunately, the impromptu business venture goes cold when
the group discovers a purebred Maltese whimpering in the
snow-covered grove—right beside a dead body. Pete, a
squatter who camped out on the land, apparently met his end
after a fallen fir tree branch knocked him on the head. But
as Melanie and Aunt Peg investigate Pete’s history and the
terrible habit that cost him everything, it’s clear his
death was no accident. Now, Melanie must run through a
flurry of likely suspects and muzzle a dogged murderer in
time—or she’ll be next on someone’s deadly list.
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