A diva fond of put-downs who owns an Afghan Hound film
star, turns out to be living a fictional lifestyle - but
this only emerges after she is found murdered in her home.
Afterwards the beautiful but high-maintenance dog, Fluffy,
turns out to have more money than her late owner, and a
race is on to see who gets Fluffy.
Melinda Langston owns a pet boutique in exclusive Laguna
Beach. A former beauty queen, she appears to see no issue
in selling designer coats, pet beds, sunglasses and tiaras
worth tens of thousand of dollars to pet owners. At the
start of the story Mel, a cousin of Caro from the previous
book in the series (Desperate Housedogs), is
attending a charity ball in aid of abandoned pets. She
causes a fracas and another pet owner accuses her of
spreading fleas via her shop.
Mona Michaels, also attending, is outwardly wealthy and
fond of put-downs, flaunting her beautiful Afghan Hound
Fluffy. When Mel finds Fluffy loose in her shop, she goes
to Mona's home - a mansion in a gated community - and finds
the door unlocked and Mona dead. As happens in earlier
books in the series, Detective Malone turns up and bawls out
Mel for stealing an item from the house.
Suspects for Mona's murder include: an abandoned daughter
who has kept the relationship secret, a drunken, gambling
ex-husband who owes money to the mob, a pet
psychic who has no real motive but argues with everyone,
and so-called friends of Mona who were having flings with
her loser ex or would have dropped her if they'd known she
was bankrupt.
GET FLUFFY is a readable mystery that will keep Afghan Hound
owners well entertained. The real star of the book was the
aristocratic Fluffy, well
contrasted with Mel's waddling drooling English bulldog
Missy. Not only has Mel taken Fluffy home temporarily, she
begins to teach Fluffy how to be a real dog, including
letting her play in the dog-park where she can run up to
38mph with two Salukis to race, and teaches her not to get
her own way all the time.
I had a few issues with the story. I felt that too much was
left unexplained - why was Fluffy left loose when
she was so valuable and her owner had a chauffeur? Why is
Mel named guardian to Fluffy when it's acknowledged that
she and Mona didn't get along? Since Fluffy wore a real
diamond collar and had her own millions, why didn't Mona
use that money? The authors, experienced mystery
writers Anita Carter and Mary Lee Woods, seemed to be trying
to cram too much into this tale. While they give
us better animal focus than in the first book, I
found some of the characters one dimensional and that a
subplot involving the theft of a brooch was unnecessary .
Disgraced Texas beauty queen, Melinda (Mel) Langston, owns
Laguna Beach's Bow Wow Boutique. Mona Michaels, Mel's most
despised client, owns a star dog, Fluffy, who's worth
millions. When Mona is found whacked in the head with
Fluffy's Daytime Emmy, everyone wants Fluffy, but someone
won't stop at murder to get the pooch.
Secrets. Blackmail. Mel tackles the case like a dog with a
bone. But can she dig up the truth before the killer buries her?
I stumbled through the doorway into a mini-palace fit for a
movie star. Fluffy's palace. A white sheepskin rug in front
of her personal fireplace, a king-sized sleigh bed and a
dressing screen (why a dog needed a dressing screen was
beyond me). Fresh, filtered water dripped into her Wedgewood
doggie bowl.
The room looked like it had been ransacked.
Mona was sprawled on the floor as if posing for a men's
magazine. It was almost picture-perfect, except for the
blood matting her five-hundred-dollar haircut and the gold
statue stuck in her head.
I hesitantly moved closer. Fluffy nuzzled Mona's cheek. When
she didn't move, Fluffy pawed her shoulder, still whining.
"I don't think she's getting up, girl," I said softly.
Mona was deader than a stuffed Poodle.
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