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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9781575667843
ISBN: 1575667843
Label: Kensington
Manufacturer: Kensington
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 304
Publication Date: 2004-08-01
Publisher: Kensington
Studio: Kensington

Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Fun and Entertaining
Review: This is my first Laurien Bereson Book and I know I'm starting in the middle of the series. However, I have read reviews of the first ones to know enough of what the characters are about. I made a choice to start where Sam and Melanie are back together. I perferred not to go through all the previous books to get to this point. I will continue on now with the series. I enjoyed all the characters in the book from Aunt Peg to all the enjoyable canine characters. I did get a little bored with the dog show and found myself skimming some of that. I have 2 dogs and enjoy the books with a mystery and the dogs a part of it but am not real interested to all the goings on at the PCA. However, that didn't really distract me from what was going on. I would reccomend this book if you want a light fun read. There is humor, some mystery, a little romance and lots of dogs. The writing flows right along and yet not one you can't lay down and come back to. There are some so suspenseful that you just can't quit reading. This one is a change of pace for me and I did enjoy it. I just finished a whole series by Lee Charles Kelley (dog trainer/detective)and that was a fun series if you're looking for more dog mystery books. His has lots of humor and dog training tips (though I don't fully understand his technique). I just find all of the books with man's best friend in them delightful. Even some of your more suspenseful writers (Nora Roberts, Karen Robards, Linda Lael Miller) have learned that you can lighten the book some by including a dog or cat. I'm looking forward to more of LB's books and reading of Melanie, Sam and Davy and of course all the canine friends. _

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Customer Rating:
Review Summary: A great book
Review: I loved the book. It's a great mystery, with colorful characters. I love the whole series. It's also a fun book, and it's not full of dark or gruesome scenes like some murder mysteries. I would recommend to anybody who likes mysteries.

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Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Murder at the Nationals
Review: The PCA (Poodle Club of America) is having their annual dog show in Maryland. A national specialty is a huge event that draws people from all over the country. Naturally Aunt Peg is involved in the planning and Melanie is drafted into helping out with the raffle. The two odd sisters that run the raffle are interesting, they have a dog that is a contender for the best in show prize, although another exhibitor will do anything to stop them. One of the sisters is found dead on the grounds of the hotel, and whether or not it is murder is up to the police, and Melanie to decide and solve.

This latest in the Melanie Travis series was alot of fun. The descriptions of a large dog show are right on, down to the snobbish attitude of the breed exhibitors towards the obedience competitors (Terry makes a particularly nasty and inappropriate remark here, but some breed people are like that, thank goodness not all). Melanie and Sam's relationship is touched on, nice to see it back on track. The solution to the mystery is not readily apparent, lots of red herrings. All in all, another great mystery.

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Customer Rating:
Review Summary: A mystery and dog lover�s delight
Review: Melanie is leaving her son behind in Connecticut with his father while she and her Aunt Peg travel to Maryland to attend the annual Poodle Club of America event. Melanie is going to show her puppy Eve while her aunt is going to make sure everyone knows their job. Melanie's lover Sam Driver is also going to be at the dog show and Melanie hopes to have some quality time alone with him.

Aunt Peg ropes her niece into helping the Boone Sisters, Edith Jean and Betty Jean into selling raffles. Although the sisters are eleven months apart in age, they look like identical twins. When Melanie walks Eve in the designated area of the hotel, she hears a scream and when she and others look to see what happened they find Betty Jean lying dead on the ground. When the police start investigating, they discover she was murdered but this time Melanie vows not to get involved, a promise that doesn't last the full week of the conference.

There are plenty of suspects who could have wanted the victim dead but readers won't be able to figure out this complex, multi-layered who done it until the author is ready to reveal the identity of the killer. Members of the audience may have fragments of the solution but Laurien Berenson holds back one shocking, unbelievable fact that changes the whole picture and the best part is that the clue is hidden in plain sight. BEST IN SHOW is a mystery and dog lover's delight.

Harriet Klausner

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Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Another Champion
Review: The latest installment of Laurien Berenson's Melanie Travis series takes place at PCA, what the cognoscenti of the purebred dog world call the Poodle Club of America's National Specialty. This is arguably the ultimate breed specialty show, and I was thrilled to see the similarities to my own club's version and to see PCA as the setting.

If you're a dog show insider, you will recognize some of the prominent people and sympathize with Melanie as she survives the week at the National (at least I do, our National is beginning to take up 9 days). If you're not, Laurien Berenson gives you enough information to clue you in on the inner workings of a breed club, AKC shows and dog people without turning the book into a primer on the subject. The mystery is a bit simplified, but that's just a quibble because the rest of the story is very engaging.

I'm looking forward to the further adventures of Melanie, Sam, Aunt Peg, et al.

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