The House on Bloodhound Lane [Hardcover]

Virginia Lanier (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1996

Upon learning that her abusive ex-husband is out on parole, Jo Beth Sidden, who breeds and trains bloodhounds, tries to cope as best she can. To take her mind off the situation, Jo Beth is drawn into the rescue attempt of a high profile kidnapping victim, who is believed to be buried alive somewhere in the deep woods of Southeast Georgia.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The episodic sequel to Death in Bloodhound Red finds Georgia dog trainer Jo Beth Sidden coping with an enlarged staff and an upcoming week-long training seminar. Before the seminar begins, the sheriff asks her to check out a deputy he suspects of growing and selling marijuana. He also tells her about a local kidnapping that's pulled in the FBI and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Jo Beth hears that her abusive ex-husband, Bubba, who has vowed to harm her, has been paroled. While trying to keep herself and her students safe from him, she helps a friend's fiance retrieve buried money and gets a boyfriend of her own. An old friend, the security guard of the kidnapped man's firm, involves her in that case, too. While juggling responsibilities both large and small, Jo Beth recounts past triumphs of her 87 dogs and thoroughly describes the raising and training of bloodhounds. The fragmented story line here lacks the focused punch of the Lanier's debut, but Jo Beth's brash ingenuity and a wry sense of humor are intact.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

As if turning 30 isn't traumatic enough, feisty Jo Beth Sidden of Basla City, Georgia, has invested the $70,000 she inherited from her father into the business of putting 57 bloodhounds through six months of rigorous training. Six of those well-prepared hounds will go to work for law-enforcement masters. Meanwhile, Jo Beth has enough on her plate for a veritable smorgasbord during the nine eventful days of this serial-like novel. First and worst, her brutal wife-beating ex-husband Bubba has been released from prison. She was in the hospital for six months after his last rampage, which is why Jo Beth has security gates around her compound. Next, she helps her friend Sheri find a buried treasure of $100,000, left by Sheri's would-be father-in-law. And in between the pieces of Jo Beth's tell-all first-person narration there's the story of a man who's been kidnapped by his three sons and stuffed into a large container. You can figure that Jo Beth and her very talented if blind hound Bobby Lee will sniff out that man. She'll also rescue Mary Ann, a young woman who's been kidnapped by religious nutcase Preston Little; persuade a deputy not to grow and sell marijuana; and meet up with Chief Jonathan Webber of the Eppley Police Department, who takes a real shine to Jo Beth--and vice versa. A meandering, episodic second from Lanier (Death in Bloodhound Red, not reviewed), with an amiable Brett Butlerlike narrator and a cliffhanger of an ending. -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 341 pages
• Publisher: Harper Prism; First Edition edition (June 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 006101088X
• ISBN-13: 978-0061010880
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #522,806 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A lovable canine hero, June 29, 2000

By 

Sheila L. Beaumont (South Pasadena, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: The House on Bloodhound Lane (Mass Market Paperback)

In this, the second of Virginia Lanier's suspenseful and entertaining series, we're treated to more adventures of Jo Beth Sidden, feminist, good ol' girl and woman of much guile. Her cleverness and resourcefulness rise to the occasion in a number of subplots, but the main mystery concerns the search for a man who's been buried alive. Old friends from "Death in Bloodhound Red" return, and we meet new ones, including a love interest for Jo Beth (a relationship that starts off most inauspiciously and hilariously). The real hero, however, is a blind-from-birth bloodhound puppy of exceptional brilliance named Bobby Lee. He's a truly lovable character, delightfully portrayed. Dog people and readers who like a Southern setting and/or a strong female protagonist should not miss this series.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lanier Has Done it Again, January 17, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The House on Bloodhound Lane (Mass Market Paperback)

As Lanier did in her first book, she grabs you and pulls you into the swamp with feminist Jo Beth. Her description is remarkable making you feel a dog leash yanking on your arm, or a mosquito biting you. This book has everything you could ask for, action, romance, mystery, and deception.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very enjoyable,lots of humor and suspense., June 21, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: The House on Bloodhound Lane (Mass Market Paperback)

I picked up this book at the grocery store because I was desperate[nothing to read!],what a pleasant surprise!Since I had never heard of the author or this series of 'bloodhound'books,I gambled 6 bucks and I won!

The heroine,Jo Beth Sidden,has a bloodhound training complex with assorted interesting employees and different plot lines make the book interesting from beginning to end.

I will be definitly be reading the rest of the books in this series!

Kim Vei