Summer means two things to Melanie Travis: a break from her teaching duties at Connecticutโs elite Howard Academy and a chance to plan the perfect wedding to her fiancรฉ, Sam. She certainly doesnโt need the unwelcome arrival of a dinner invitation โpeace offeringโ from Samโs ex-wife, Sheila Vaughn. And dinner proves to be only the beginning of her problems. Sheilaโs new man turns out to be Brian Endicott, an old buddy-turned-enemy of Samโs. To make matters worse, Sheila announces her temporary stay in town is now permanent: sheโs accepted a job as co-publisher of Woof!, a new gossip rag for the dog show world. But before the first issue is even out, a hotter story breaks when Sheila is found dead, strangled with a leather dog leash. As far as Melanieโs concerned, the woman should have been on a leash long ago. And it seems she isnโt alone in her dislike of Sheila. Some of Woof!โs salacious stories threatened to expose the dirty paws of quite a few important exhibitors, and someone on Sheilaโs staff may have found her high-handed attitude worth silencing. Then thereโs the question of the life insurance policy Brian took out only days before Sheilaโs death.
Even more troubling to Melanie is her faltering relationship with Sam, whoโs hiding secretsโsecrets that put him more deeply under Sheilaโs spell in death than in life. Now, it will take the instincts of a bloodhound to sniff out a killer whoโs bent on putting an end to Melanieโs amateur sleuthing...
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