A PUG'S TALE is a charming mystery that will delight dog lovers and art lovers alike. Alison Pace's follow-up to Pug Hill, brings back Hope McNeill, art conservator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Max, the black pug Hope is caring for while her boyfriend Ben is in Kinshasa saving the world one legal problem at a time. Hope and Max crash "Pug Night" at the Met, an event for large donors and their dogs, particularly Daphne Markham and her pug Madeline. After Max creates unexpected doggie drama, Hope escapes to her office only to discover that a valuable painting has gone missing. Now she and Max, with the help (or lack thereof) of an odd cast a characters, must uncover the truth and recover the painting.

Many of the things I find particularly interesting and/or fun are central to A PUG'S TALE— dogs, museums, art theft, and New York— giving me lots of reasons to like this story. The pugs are cute and dog-like and New York landmarks provide a nice backdrop for the unfolding mystery. Hope is likable and makes a nice focal point for the story. I suspect, however, that Hope is smarter than Ms. Pace gives her credit for. This book will not satisfy readers looking for a traditional mystery as the search for the missing painting is the weakest aspect of the plot. Hope's unraveling of the mystery does not require much investigative skill or problem solving on her part. For me, however, this limitation was off-set by the characters (human and canine) and an opportunity to re-visit New York, if only through Hope's eyes.