Best in Show: A Melanie Travis Mystery [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Laurien Berenson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 2003

While Melanie is busy showing her Standard Poodle puppy at the Poodle Club of America's National Speciality Dog show, Betty Jean is found dead at the host hotel. Melanie instinctively starts to investigate, and comes up with a compelling cast of suspects.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This is Agatha and Macavity nominee Berenson's 10th charming canine cozy (after 2002's Hot Dog) to feature Melanie Travis, the poodle breeder and devoted "mom" to black Standards Faith and Eve. Melanie leaves her seven-year-old son, Davey, and dog, Faith, with her ex-husband while she travels with Eve to the Poodle Club of America National Specialty dog show in Maryland. Melanie's Aunt Peg, who runs the show, directs her to work with two eccentric sisters from Georgia who look alike, dress alike and finish each other's sentences "like a pair of bickering bookends." When one of them falls on a hotel porch and is fatally injured, it looks like an accident-at first. For all the engaging human characters, including dog handlers, breeders, show officials, trimmers and owners, the dogs, in all sizes, colors and ages, provide the most fun. Carried along by crisp dialogue, the story occasionally bogs down in "doggy" details, but even the uninitiated should find these interesting and informative. The arrival of Melanie's "almost fiance" at the end will leave readers hoping that the two will set up dog breeding together by the next book.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Berenson takes her latest--and best--Melanie Travis tale on the road and into the ring: the entire story takes place at the Poodle Club of America's dog show. With her seven-year old son, Davey, staying with his dad for the week, Melanie hops in the car with her puppy, Eve, forsaking Connecticut to head for Maryland and poodle-lovers' paradise. Familiar characters joining her are the always-demanding Aunt Peg and Bertie, the currently pregnant wife of Melanie's brother. The preshow high jinks are interrupted, however, when an elderly spinster turns up murdered. Melanie investigates, of course, and the offbeat dog owners and trainers make for a fertile field of suspects. Not nearly as farcical as the movie by the same name, the novel offers an affectionate and realistic portrait of the dog-show world. A pleasant mystery and a loving tribute to poodles. Fetching in every way. Jenny McLarin
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 399 pages
• Publisher: Thorndike Press (December 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786260025
• ISBN-13: 978-0786260027
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,909,951 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Murder at the Nationals, September 27, 2003

By 

Moe811 (New York USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Best In Show: A Melanie Travis Mystery (Melanie Travis Mysteries) (Hardcover)

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.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A mystery and dog lovers delight, September 2, 2003

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Best In Show: A Melanie Travis Mystery (Melanie Travis Mysteries) (Hardcover)

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

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Champion, August 20, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Best In Show: A Melanie Travis Mystery (Melanie Travis Mysteries) (Hardcover)

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.