14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Enjoyable story--but a bit light on mystery, October 7, 2005
Seeking a way to escape the influence of her dominating aunt, Melanie Travis, and her champion poodle Faith, sign up for dog obedience classes. The class is a hotbed of rumor and past affairs, but they do one good thing--they visit a senior housing center weekly to let the residents visit with their dogs. Meanwhile, Melanie's life is getting very complicated with a new husband, her seven-year-old son, and five poodles living in a very small house, plus a job where one of her fellow teachers seems unduely interested in a well developed, but still 12-year-old seventh grader. Then there's the sexy neighbor with cats and a permanently missing husband.
On her first visit to the senior housing campus, one of the guests dies--and the police discover it is murder. Recognizing Melanie's history of solving mysteries, her fellow obedience school members urge her to discover the killer. With a bit of pressure, and some help, from her aunt, Melanie sets off to do just that.
Author Laurien Berenson maintains a light tone, provides lots of information about dog training and showing, if not so much about the mysteries she's solving, and recognizes the importance of personal life in her sleuth. Indeed, half the fun is watching Melanie solve mysteries between running around with her dogs, trying to keep her son entertained, exploring the sexy side of her new marriage, and dealing with an overcrowded life.
RAINING CATS AND DOGS is an enjoyable story. I would have liked to see a bit more sleuthing and mystery mixed in with the 'life of Melanie Travis,' but that didn't keep RAINING from being an enjoyable story. Dog-lovers, in particular, will appreciate Berenson's attention to the interaction between dogs and their human-companions.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
enjoyable who-done-it, August 26, 2005
For a woman who likes order and routine, Melanie Travis' life has dissolved into chaos ever since she married Sam because he moved into her home so that her son wouldn't have to change schools and neighborhoods. Unfortunately her six room house was not big enough to hold two adults, one active boy, and five standard poodles. While they are looking for a bigger house, Melanie escapes one night a week to the South Avenue Obedience Club with her dog Faith.
The club members bring their dogs to the Winston Pumpernill Nursing Home in Greenwich so the residents can play with the canines. One of the members of the club Paul Livingston has his great-aunt living there and he loves her dearly. Melanie can understand why when she meets her but that initial introduction is their last meeting because someone murdered her while the canine club was there. The leader of the club challenges Melanie to find the murderer knowing that she solved other homicides so once again she takes up the mantle of a sleuth.
Laurien Berenson can always be counted on to write a thoroughly enjoyable who-done-it. RAINING CATS AND DOGS is more humorous than some of the other books in the series as Melanie tries to deal with too many people and dogs in a small house, a new sexy neighbor whose husband is always on the road, and looking for a house that will meet everyone needs especially her canine caper crew while trying to find a murderer. The characters in this series continue to change and evolve making it impossible for fans to grow bored.
Harriet Klausner
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7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another great read!, September 26, 2005
I love this series and look forward to every new book - my sister and I both read the Melanie Travis books and love them! We both show dogs (not poodles) so can relate to all the dog show references - most of which are accurate! This is a very entertaining series and I hope Ms.Berenson writes lots more Melanie Travis mysteries.
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