BLACK RIBBON (Dog Lover's Mysteries) [Hardcover]

Susan Conant (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 1994 | Series: Dog Lover's Mysteries

Holly Winter and her Alaskan Malamute, Rowdy, are spending a week at Waggin' Tail Camp, but Holly receives a sympathy card for the loss of her pet--is it a sick joke or is Kimi, her other Malamute, in jeopardy?

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Not even the most dogged canine fancier is likely to stay the course of Conant's latest dog-world mystery, a disappointing follow-up to her well-received Ruffly Speaking. Here Holly Winter, Dog's Life columnist, heads to the Maine woods with Rowdy, her Alaskan malamute, for fun and games at Waggin' Tail, a week-long camp for the doggie set. The food and activities schedule are disappointing; most disconcerting is the presence of a dog sympathy card and pamphlets advertising pet cemeteries. Another problem is Eva, the thoroughly obnoxious owner of an untrained Labrador. Readers who quickly recognize Eva as the tale's victim will also expect her murder to be resolved and will rightfully object when Conant has the killer observe, while destroying evidence of guilt, "I hope you understand." The author's knowledge of the dog fancy and all things malamute would have been better kept on a tighter lead. As Holly herself warns the reader, "I could go on and on, and, if I'm not stopped, will probably do so at extreme length and in minute detail." Fair warning.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Pets occasionally take center ring in mysteries, but Conant's (Ruffly Speaking, LJ 3/1/94) dogs take the cake! Holly Winter, journalist for Dog's Life magazine and dog trainer par excellence, journeys on assignment-with dog Rowdy-to a luxury canine camp in Maine. Here she treats readers (or subjects them, depending on one's point of view) to descriptions and explanations of every conceivable aspect of obedience training, judging, doggy treats, American Kennel Club rules, training items, and on and on. Not until late in the plot does the "accidental" death of an obnoxious dog owner distract "campers" from their true love. For series fans.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 260 pages
• Publisher: Doubleday; 1st edition (December 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385474156
• ISBN-13: 978-0385474153
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,299,500 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I was born in the Merrimack Valley of Massachusetts. The best friends of my childhood were pointers named Stuffy and Nonny. I had imaginary companions as well: a cat named Thirsty Melirsty Medrinkable, a family of dogs, and parents called Mommy and Daddy Suh. Thirsty and the dog family slowly faded away. The Suhs, however, perished suddenly; they ate fish guts and died. My career as a mystery writer thus began in early childhood: I invented animals, and I killed off fictional human beings.

Now, many decades later, I live just outside Boston. My husband is a clinical psychologist with a private practice in Cambridge. Our daughter, Jessica, who is also my coauthor, lives in New Hampshire with her husband and their young son. My husband and I have an Alaskan malamute, Django (pronounced 'Jango') and two Chartreux cats, Kansas City (K.C.) and Shadow Celeste. The malamutes in my Holly Winter books are composites, but the cats in Scratch the Surface, Edith and Brigitte, are portraits of my own Chartreux.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Dog-Gone Good Doggy Who-Done-Tt!, July 22, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Black Ribbon (Mass Market Paperback)

Finally, Holly winter and her Alaskan Malamute Rowdy examine the dog sport of agility while caught up in a mystery of Great Dane proportions.
Members of the dog fancy will enjoy this story has will dog mystery lovers.
Susan Conant writes with her hand on the pulse of whats going on in the dog world. She proves that it can really be doggy eat doggy. A fetching good mystery!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars She's no Agatha Christie, November 5, 2001

By 

Louann Miller (TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Black Ribbon (Mass Market Paperback)

After seeking out and buying the entire Holly Winter series, this one -- my first hardcover purchase -- was the one that put me off the series for several years. Agatha Christie originally became famous by breaking one of the cardinal rules of the whodunnit (whoever is the murderer, it's NOT the narrator). In this book Conant breaks a different but even more important rule of the genre, which makes the entire novel pointless. I have not been so unhappy with a novel in this genre since Robert Goldsborough's faux 'Nero Wolfe' novel where the killer commits suicide halfway through the book, and the book continues on anyway. Later volumes in the Holly series recover some of the old magic, but this one is almost a total loss.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Keep on writing Ms. Conant!, July 17, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Black Ribbon (Mass Market Paperback)

i really enjoyed this book and have read it many times. Ms. Conant is really doing well on her writing. this has to be my #1 favorite Conant book along with her 1st, A new leash on death. it is well written and has a good topic. the part where Rowdy saved Holly was 1 of my favorite parts.i dont see why anyone wouldn't like it.