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Raining Cats & Dogs (A Melanie Travis Mystery)
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Manufacturer: Kensington
Author: Laurien Berenson
Publisher: Kensington
Average Customer Rating:
Our Price: $6.99
You Save: $ ( % )
Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Kensington
Author: Laurien Berenson
Publisher: Kensington
Average Customer Rating:
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Raining Cats & Dogs (A Melanie Travis Mystery) Description
Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780758208149
ISBN: 0758208146
Label: Kensington
Manufacturer: Kensington
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 320
Publication Date: 2006-08-01
Publisher: Kensington
Studio: Kensington
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780758208149
ISBN: 0758208146
Label: Kensington
Manufacturer: Kensington
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 320
Publication Date: 2006-08-01
Publisher: Kensington
Studio: Kensington
Editorial Review of Raining Cats & Dogs (A Melanie Travis Mystery)
Melanie Travis's house was never meant to hold two adults, one active little boy, and five Standard Poodles. Moving into a bigger place is right at the top of her to-do list . . . along with adjusting to married life. The advanced obedience training class for her dog, Faith, is a welcome respite from the stresses of house hunting - until murder forces Melanie to the head of the class.
Available only in Mystery 4 & 5.
Customer Reviews of Raining Cats & Dogs (A Melanie Travis Mystery)
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Great find!
Review: I was looking for a mystery book and came across this book. I like how Berenson keeps you guessing until the end. You think you know who committed the crime, but she leaves you with a little doubt. Berenson adds humor with the antics of her son and Aunt Peg and a little romance with Sam. This book has a little of everything. I like her mystery books, because they are not gruesome as some mysteries are.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: New Characters Replace the Old Standbys
Review: Not being a cat-lover, I was unimpressed with Berenson's play to capture a corner of the cat-mystery market. And I couldn't help but wonder if one of the new characters introduced in this book--an underdressed but overly endowed (with misbehaving cats) neighbor with a curiously absent husband--will reappear. Perhaps as a love interest or tormentor for Melanie's ex-husband, who now lives in Melanie's old house.
This book--like so many of Kensington Press's--suffers from lazy editing. On page 122, for example, one minor character, a habitue of the posh nursing home that figures in the mystery, mourns the loss of her large ("big as a grape") ruby ring. But by page 283, readers wonder if Melanie's hanging around with old people throughout the book has affected HER memory, because she refers to the character's missing "ruby brooch." I know, I know, this is nitpicking and not germane to the mystery. But the truth is, when I read this kind of ephemera (and I do all the time), the most fun of all is not the light-weight mysteries, but the search for these kind of hidden gems. Unfortunately, Kensington makes this game almost too easy for the reader. I wish this press would better serve its writers and spend a little more time, effort and cash on proper editing. But then I'd be out a game!
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Too many characters, too little time
Review: I have always really enjoyed the books in this series. That made my disappointment w/this one all the more--well, disappointing. The obedience class members were thrown in and never really developed. The "old" people at the nursing home were treated in much the same way. The new characters were static and two-dimensional. Add to that what seems to have been the obligatory sexual innuendoes and I just did not find this book as enjoyable as the previous ones. If this book were the first one read, I doubt that I would have bought another. As it is, I'll hope this was just a glitch.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Enjoyable story--but a bit light on mystery
Review: Seeking a way to escape the influence of her dominating aunt, Melanie Travis, and her champion poodle Faith, sign up for dog obedience classes. The class is a hotbed of rumor and past affairs, but they do one good thing--they visit a senior housing center weekly to let the residents visit with their dogs. Meanwhile, Melanie's life is getting very complicated with a new husband, her seven-year-old son, and five poodles living in a very small house, plus a job where one of her fellow teachers seems unduely interested in a well developed, but still 12-year-old seventh grader. Then there's the sexy neighbor with cats and a permanently missing husband.
On her first visit to the senior housing campus, one of the guests dies--and the police discover it is murder. Recognizing Melanie's history of solving mysteries, her fellow obedience school members urge her to discover the killer. With a bit of pressure, and some help, from her aunt, Melanie sets off to do just that.
Author Laurien Berenson maintains a light tone, provides lots of information about dog training and showing, if not so much about the mysteries she's solving, and recognizes the importance of personal life in her sleuth. Indeed, half the fun is watching Melanie solve mysteries between running around with her dogs, trying to keep her son entertained, exploring the sexy side of her new marriage, and dealing with an overcrowded life.
RAINING CATS AND DOGS is an enjoyable story. I would have liked to see a bit more sleuthing and mystery mixed in with the 'life of Melanie Travis,' but that didn't keep RAINING from being an enjoyable story. Dog-lovers, in particular, will appreciate Berenson's attention to the interaction between dogs and their human-companions.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Another great read!
Review: I love this series and look forward to every new book - my sister and I both read the Melanie Travis books and love them! We both show dogs (not poodles) so can relate to all the dog show references - most of which are accurate! This is a very entertaining series and I hope Ms.Berenson writes lots more Melanie Travis mysteries.
Review Summary: Great find!
Review: I was looking for a mystery book and came across this book. I like how Berenson keeps you guessing until the end. You think you know who committed the crime, but she leaves you with a little doubt. Berenson adds humor with the antics of her son and Aunt Peg and a little romance with Sam. This book has a little of everything. I like her mystery books, because they are not gruesome as some mysteries are.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: New Characters Replace the Old Standbys
Review: Not being a cat-lover, I was unimpressed with Berenson's play to capture a corner of the cat-mystery market. And I couldn't help but wonder if one of the new characters introduced in this book--an underdressed but overly endowed (with misbehaving cats) neighbor with a curiously absent husband--will reappear. Perhaps as a love interest or tormentor for Melanie's ex-husband, who now lives in Melanie's old house.
This book--like so many of Kensington Press's--suffers from lazy editing. On page 122, for example, one minor character, a habitue of the posh nursing home that figures in the mystery, mourns the loss of her large ("big as a grape") ruby ring. But by page 283, readers wonder if Melanie's hanging around with old people throughout the book has affected HER memory, because she refers to the character's missing "ruby brooch." I know, I know, this is nitpicking and not germane to the mystery. But the truth is, when I read this kind of ephemera (and I do all the time), the most fun of all is not the light-weight mysteries, but the search for these kind of hidden gems. Unfortunately, Kensington makes this game almost too easy for the reader. I wish this press would better serve its writers and spend a little more time, effort and cash on proper editing. But then I'd be out a game!
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Too many characters, too little time
Review: I have always really enjoyed the books in this series. That made my disappointment w/this one all the more--well, disappointing. The obedience class members were thrown in and never really developed. The "old" people at the nursing home were treated in much the same way. The new characters were static and two-dimensional. Add to that what seems to have been the obligatory sexual innuendoes and I just did not find this book as enjoyable as the previous ones. If this book were the first one read, I doubt that I would have bought another. As it is, I'll hope this was just a glitch.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Enjoyable story--but a bit light on mystery
Review: Seeking a way to escape the influence of her dominating aunt, Melanie Travis, and her champion poodle Faith, sign up for dog obedience classes. The class is a hotbed of rumor and past affairs, but they do one good thing--they visit a senior housing center weekly to let the residents visit with their dogs. Meanwhile, Melanie's life is getting very complicated with a new husband, her seven-year-old son, and five poodles living in a very small house, plus a job where one of her fellow teachers seems unduely interested in a well developed, but still 12-year-old seventh grader. Then there's the sexy neighbor with cats and a permanently missing husband.
On her first visit to the senior housing campus, one of the guests dies--and the police discover it is murder. Recognizing Melanie's history of solving mysteries, her fellow obedience school members urge her to discover the killer. With a bit of pressure, and some help, from her aunt, Melanie sets off to do just that.
Author Laurien Berenson maintains a light tone, provides lots of information about dog training and showing, if not so much about the mysteries she's solving, and recognizes the importance of personal life in her sleuth. Indeed, half the fun is watching Melanie solve mysteries between running around with her dogs, trying to keep her son entertained, exploring the sexy side of her new marriage, and dealing with an overcrowded life.
RAINING CATS AND DOGS is an enjoyable story. I would have liked to see a bit more sleuthing and mystery mixed in with the 'life of Melanie Travis,' but that didn't keep RAINING from being an enjoyable story. Dog-lovers, in particular, will appreciate Berenson's attention to the interaction between dogs and their human-companions.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Another great read!
Review: I love this series and look forward to every new book - my sister and I both read the Melanie Travis books and love them! We both show dogs (not poodles) so can relate to all the dog show references - most of which are accurate! This is a very entertaining series and I hope Ms.Berenson writes lots more Melanie Travis mysteries.