CREATURE DISCOMFORTS [Paperback]

Susan Conant (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Brodway Books (2000)
• ASIN: B000RAY4T6
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,081,888 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

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best yet in this beloved mystery series, April 19, 2000

By 

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

This review is from: Creature Discomforts: A Dog Lover's Mystery (Hardcover)

When she regains consciousness, Holly Winter has no time to worry about not knowing who she is or the names of the two malamutes standing nearby that she knows is hers. Her first concern is to find a way back up from the side of the mountain that she apparently fell from. After escaping her harrowing situation, Holly learns that she is in Maine's Acadia National Park as the guest of Gabrielle Beamon.

Holly finds out that another guest Norman Axelrod also fell off the same cliff at around the same time she did, but he died. Holly knows that the killer will want to complete the job by murdering her. As she struggles to regain her memories, Holly and her two canines Kimi and Rowdy begin to investigate the accidents.

CREATURE DISCOMFORTS is an engaging canine mystery that focuses on the charcaters. The story line clearly has GONE TO THE DOGS and Holly as they investigate the two accidents while hiding her amnesia from everyone. Susan Conant does not clutter her tale with litter as she concentrates on her stars and their relationships with other characters. RUFFLY SPEAKING, amateur sleuth fans and canine lovers will relish this tale and trace the BLOODLINES of the Dog Lover,s mysteries.

Harriet Klausner

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Conant's best yet!, June 4, 2000

By 

Melissa Hunter-Kilmer (Mayland, VA, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Creature Discomforts: A Dog Lover's Mystery (Hardcover)

How does she do it? How does Susan Conant keep turning out such entertaining mysteries with great characterizations? I don't know, but thank you, Ms. Conant! These books are a boon to dog lovers and mystery lovers, especially those who are both!

This book kept me on the edge of my seat. I couldn't wait to see how the mystery came out -- and I *really* couldn't wait to see how the relationship part came out. No, I'm not going to spoil the surprise. Let me just say that I hope the next book comes out very soon!

When Booklist says "It's easy to find faults with Conant: her stilted descriptions of Maine's Acadia National Park sound as though they were lifted from an old Fodor. Likewise, the indigestible trivia about breeds and training she drops into the text land like stale dog biscuits on the basement floor," well, the heck with that publication. I liked the descriptions and I **loved** the bits on dogs, because they ring of truth -- and great love for all dogs.

It's a delight to read this stuff. It's also given me some obedience ideas. Hmmmm . . . Katie, come!

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars I love the dogs but what's Holly's deal?, May 10, 2000

By 

Christi (Fairfield, Ohio USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Creature Discomforts: A Dog Lover's Mystery (Hardcover)

I have read every one of Susan Conant's books in the last two weeks, so maybe that's why I am so disappointed with her latest effort. Rowdy and Kimi are as intelligent and beautiful as ever but what happened to Holly? I understand that she's had head trauma but what's with the bitterance she seems to be displaying? I miss her old dog absorbed happy self. I also miss the old Steve. That whole Steve storyline just isn't believable, it's too farfetched for his in control character. I found myself wanting to reread her first book so I could remember the good times.