Customer Reviews

Bloodlines

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

S. S. van Dine, once wrote, roughy, "A detective story must have a detective, and a detective is not a detective unless he detects. It is his job to run down the clues that lead to the identity of the guilty person, and if he does not identify the killer based on said clues, he has no more solved the case then the schoolboy who gets the answers out of the back of the arithmetic." At first, I thought this rule was completely obvious, but, this book illustrates why such a rule is important.

If you view this as a mystery about illegal dog breeding, then Ms. Winters actually does a decent job investigating and the book does satisfy the above rule.

Unfortunately, Ms. Conant found it necessary to add in two murders. They add nothing to the story; in fact, they get solved because Ms. Winters, in blundering around, happens to stumble upon the answer. Even worse, after the killer is caught, her final explanation makes little sense, and nearly matches _The Five Red Herrings_ and _The Cat who Read Backwards_ in terms of total incoherence of any mystery solution.

In short, if you want to read about dogs being mistreated, read it, but if you want a good mystery, stay far away.

I started on the Susan Conant books because I was checking the liberary for some malamute books, but this time, other than the ordinary books I've read thousands of times, I found a different book! And a mystery too! I'd never read the series, let alone heard of them, I started reading this book, never reading the previous ones.

Although the previous books had information on the characters from reading a later book, the characters were well developed from the start, not always refering to a book before.

Reading this book first, it spoiled me. I finished this book thinking, man there's gotta be another one or I'll blow up this is soooo good. I came onto Amazon and found there was a series, I imediately bought the first 4. Like I said, Bloodlines spoiled me, I expected somthing and great and breathtaking as this book, but there is none. In the first books I found myself scanning over chapters not even suffering from not getting the information. None so far have lived up to the greatness of Bloodlines.

Another thing that struck me was that Holly was actually getting physical with getting info for her column in this book, usually she would call around or walk around getting info, but this time she snuck around the mills and the pet stores with suspense of getting caught. This book has the real truth about puppy mills, and after reading this book I have done many research and helping to close down Pupppy mills

Also this book had lots on the malamute my all time favorite animal in the world, Holly was working on rescue.

I will keep on reading the books waiting for one that can match this one.

I completely agree with the reviewer who deemed this novel "overkill" with regards to the puppy mill preaching. Those of us interested enough in dogs to pick up this book and read it are already well aware of the puppy mill industry. This choir member did not appreciate being preached at for 45 pages of a novel that would have been better spent with more plot development. Also, I got a little weary of all the explanations of dog training and AKC show terms and slang. Again, those of us interested enough in dogs to pick up this novel already know what UDX, CDX and OFA stand for. Readers interested enough in dogs to pick up this book but do not know what BOB stands for, what "finishing" a dog means, or what an Open class is would probably take the time to find out. I would have preferred a Patrick O'Brian appraoch in regards to the terms and slang. Just throw 'em out there for those of us who know, and pique the interest of those that don't. The way it turned out, however, is that one hundred and fifty pages of a 256 page novel were all either dog show terms explained, or extolling the evils of the puppy mill industry. I am a bit amazed that Ms. Conant does not say anything at all about the average "backyard breeder" who knows nothing of breeding dogs and wants to do it simply because his dog has papers, who do just as much damage to a breed as puppy mills, if not more. Go figure. I have two other Susan Conant Dog Lover's Mysteries to read, and after this first, I am a little leery of even opening the covers.

A friend introduced me to this series of books and I love them. If you're into dogs, showing and obedience, these are the books for you. The characters are well developed, the plots well laid out and the suspense continues until the end. I've never been 100% convinced that I know "who dunnit" until the end - another aspect I really appreciate when it comes to mysteries. Well worth the read - and the money...

Ms. Conant continues to entertain those of us "in dogs" with her delightful tales (or is that TAILS?) of canine who-done-it's. I have read them all and hope she writes many more. A great read.

This is the novel that made me leery of Susan Conant's novels to come. Not that the mystery wasn't good...it was as good as any of her previous ones. I also understand that alot of dog lovers are unaware of where those cute little puppies in the window come from and how truly appalling and criminal the condition of true puppy mills are (although in my tiny part of the world, the pet stores get their pets from local, reputable, small time -- sort of hobby--breeders).

So she describes the vile puppy mills once. Cool. Another time to impart more info. Okay. But before it was all over, I had a headache from being hit over the head again and again and again and again about the wretched dogs in the mills and the even more wretched people running them. This subject seems to be one of Susan Conant's BIG buttons, which I understannd, but she needn't push it so much. Either that or put on a warning of the cover when an obession is going to take over the book.

Holly Winter is obsessed with dogs. In this novel, she is on a cursade to stop a puppy mill dealing in her favorite breed.

If you like dogs, you'll love this book. It will also give you a new perspective on professional dog breeders whose greed often causes endless suffering for the dogs they exploit.

Bloodlines was an absolute pleasure to read. What a fantastic job of research into the dark side of dog breeding. Susan Conant is one of my very favorite authors. If you love dogs this book is a must read!

This is a great book for dog and mystery lovers! It show the horrible, sickening reality of puppy mills and how peace can begin with us. How? you ask. By shutting down the puppy mills!!!!

I've enjoyed the other books in this series, but not this one. I'm fat (212 pounds) and I really didn't appreciate the way Holly Winter reacted to having the fat female malamute breeder touching her. Although the puppy mill owner wasn't fat, whenever Ms. Winter imagined one, she always saw the villain as a fat man. She even used the term "pig" in one description of his face. For an author who has tried to combat other forms of prejudice in her novels to display the stereotype that fat people are physically and morally repulsive was very disappointing. I hope that someday she realizes that fat people deserve to be treated with courtesy and respect, too.