Putting on the Dog (Reigning Cats & Dogs Mysteries, No. 2) [Mass Market Paperback]

Cynthia Baxter (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 31, 2004

A charity dog show has Jessica hitting the road with her faithful one-eyed Dalmatian, Lou, and her tailless Westie, Max, for the palatial summer estates of Long Island's fabled East End. When she arrives, the posh seaside community is crawling with stars eager to take best in show for their beloved pooches. But it's murder most tacky when a celebrity photographer is felled by a giant ice sculpture at a $500-a-plate fund-raiser.

Unable to resis the scent of the hunt, Jess is soon investigating a casting director's dream of potential suspects. But if Jess isn't careful, she just might become the next victim of a killer determined to prove she's barking up the wrong tree.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Dog lovers rejoice! Baxter is back with a frisky sequel to Dead Canaries Don't Sing, her debut Reigning Cats and Dogs mystery. This time around, amateur sleuth Jessica Popper, D.V.M, is manning the "Ask the Vet" booth for a week at a high-profile SPCA fund-raiser in the Long Island Bromptons (think Hamptons). Her first night there, Devon Barnett, a sleazy tabloid photographer, is killed when an enormous ice sculpture falls on him as he lurks in the shrubbery at a swank dinner party. The police and celebrity residents of the Bromptons seem content to write off his death as an accident, but Jess thinks otherwise. Snooping, however, is a little tough when her boyfriend, Nick, shows up with romance in mind, and her host, hunky film star Shawn Elliot, is determined to sweep her off her feet. Jess has a sneaking suspicion the answer to Devon's murder lies in his locked photo studio, but according to his gay lover, Chess, the studio is off-limits to everybody. The tale moves smoothly as Jess mingles with the film industry's hottest stars, tracking down clues, but readers will derive the most pleasure from the antics of Jess's canine companions, Max and Lou, the author's behind-the-scenes look at dog shows and the sprinkling of information she provides on each breed.
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From the Inside Flap

A charity dog show has Jessica hitting the road with her faithful one-eyed Dalmatian, Lou, and her tailless Westie, Max, for the palatial summer estates of Long Island's fabled East End. When she arrives, the posh seaside community is crawling with stars eager to take best in show for their beloved pooches. But it's murder most tacky when a celebrity photographer is felled by a giant ice sculpture at a $500-a-plate fund-raiser.

Unable to resis the scent of the hunt, Jess is soon investigating a casting director's dream of potential suspects. But if Jess isn't careful, she just might become the next victim of a killer determined to prove she's barking up the wrong tree.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Bantam (August 31, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553586424
• ISBN-13: 978-0553586428
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1 x 6.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #172,738 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Cynthia Baxter is a native of Long Island, New York. She is the author of the Reigning Cats & Dogs mystery series, featuring vet-turned-sleuth Jessie Popper, and the Murder Packs a Suitcase mystery series, featuring travel writer Mallory Marlowe. Baxter currently resides on the North Shore, where she is at work on her next mysteries in both series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Think before you Put on the Dog, September 28, 2004

By 

Karen Bader "It's a Mystery" (Modesto) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Putting on the Dog (Reigning Cats & Dogs Mysteries, No. 2) (Mass Market Paperback)

I read Cynthia Baxter's first book in the series,"Dead Canaries Don't Sing" and found it enjoyable. I liked Dr. Jessica Popper, her rescue dogs and boyfriend, Nick. In "Putting on the Dog," some of the jokes from the first book returned and just sounded stale. How many times do we have to hear people making softdrink jokes about Dr. Pepper/Dr. Popper? Jessica's on again--off again relationship with her boyfriend is once again at one extreme or another, both in love and in detection. I guess what bothered me the most is that, in constantly trying to justify her reasons for investigating the mureder, Jessica impressed me as being just plain nosy. I didn't like her as much as I did in the first book. That said, I did enjoy Jessica's love for her animals, in fact, just about all animals. The plot also had some fun charectors. Not a bad read, but I hope the next one is better.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Better Plotting, Same Old Characters..., March 28, 2005

By 

Mackie "mackie3745" (Lancaster, CA USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Putting on the Dog (Reigning Cats & Dogs Mysteries, No. 2) (Mass Market Paperback)

Cynthia Baxter's second book is certainly far better than her first. Her plot is more complex, and her cast of supporting characters better evolved. However, I still have trouble with her two main characters, Jessie and Nick. Jessie is naive and self-centered to the point where the reader has to resist a temptation to shred pages from the book, while Nick remains something of an unknown. At least this book is enough of an improvement to have me looking forward to the next installment.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant Sophomore Effort, October 7, 2004

By 

Erika Sorocco (Southern California, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Putting on the Dog (Reigning Cats & Dogs Mysteries, No. 2) (Mass Market Paperback)

Amateur sleuth, and full-time Veterinarian, Dr. Jessica Popper, is somewhat reluctant when she is asked to fill in for a fellow Veterinarian, Dr. Marcus Scruggs, at a charity dog show, where she will be manning the "Ask the Vet" booth. However, the lure of Long Island's East End quickly draws her in, and has her hitting the road with her faithful pooches, the one-eyed Dalmation, Lou, and the rambunctious, tailless Westie, Max. When she arrives, she is greeted by movie stars galore who are eager for their pups to take home many blue ribbons at the dog show, as well as luxurious mansions that would make anyone's jaw drop. However, on the first night, while attending a $500-a-plate fund-raiser, a celebrity photographer, Devon Barnett, is killed when a giant ice sculpture depicting LADY AND THE TRAMP falls on him. Soon Jessica is investigating the hated paparazzo's death, and finding it hard to narrow her suspect's down. As if that weren't enough, she's dealing with the affections of a gorgeous Hollywood heartthrob, as well as attitude from her on-again off-again PI boyfriend, Nick Burby. Not to mention that her investigations are quickly leading her to become the killer's next victim.

Cynthia Baxter has done it once again, and created an extremely enjoyable, laugh-out-loud funny mystery that would please anyone. PUTTING ON THE DOG is uttery unstoppable, and hard to put down, while the characters are all filled with crazy quirks, leading you to think that absolutely anyone could be the killer. Loaded with tons of pop culture references, as well as an exclusive peek at how the rich live, this is sure to be an absolute hit with all.

Erika Sorocco
Book Review Columnist for The Community Bugle Newspaper