Best in Show

This is the story of what a dog show dedicated to one single breed is like from the point of view of a participant: i.e. a dog owner/breeder/exhibitor who is also becoming part of the family of people who run the national organization in support of that breed. Oh, it is also a story about the death of a woman and the solution to the mystery of who did it, why, and what are all the mysteries surrounding it. For those who have read the previous Melanie Travis mysteries, this is no surprise. However, for the benefit of those who might consider picking up this book as their first foray into the series, here is some of the background you should know: Melanie Travis is a single mom in her early 30's who is kinda engaged to Sam Driver. While Melanie's day job is to be a special education counselor in a private school, her after work hours are consumed by her son - Davey; her dogs; her lover; and her unfortunate predilection to get involved in - and solve - murder mysteries. In this novel, Melanie is out of her element in a sense. She decides to take a vacation and participate in the week long poodle show that is the apex of the poodle showing world. She has her own puppy to show - a standard poodle puppy that she bred named Eve; but the main point of her foray is to get away from her normal environment and kid and enjoy a week's "vacation" at the dog show. Sam comes to join her mid-week and their romance is part of the storyline as well. While at the dog show, Melanie is put to work helping out two elderly sisters who run the annual raffle that raises much money for the club. On the very first day of the show, one of the two sisters is killed in a suspicious way and Melanie spends the rest of the show splitting her time between helping the surviving sister; prepping and showing her dog; and getting involved in a whole bunch of storylines that inevitably lead her to the killer and their motive. However, the real meat of this book is the annual poodle show. Around 90 to 95 percent of the story is really a description of what this event is like. Since Melanie is Peg's niece, and Peg is on the board of directors of the Poodle club of America (PCA), we get an insider view of what takes place at such events and what takes place behind the scenes to make these kinds of events work and succeed. The author is clearly very much in love with the whole dog show scene and lovingly describes each activity and event. I did find it funny to notice the semi-derogatory mentions of obedience and agility events as well as the hyper focus on the conformation parts of the show - but that is a minor nit. The author clearly prefers the pageantry of the conformation circuit where the Champion titles are won and very accurately describes these kinds of events. To those of us who are not quite as accomplished at understanding what happens, she gives very nice descriptions of what the judges are doing; why they are doing these things; and even throws in some descriptions of s

I loved the book. It's a great mystery, with colorful characters. I love the whole series. It's also a fun book, and it's not full of dark or gruesome scenes like some murder mysteries. I would recommend to anybody who likes mysteries.

The PCA (Poodle Club of America) is having their annual dog show in Maryland. A national specialty is a huge event that draws people from all over the country. Naturally Aunt Peg is involved in the planning and Melanie is drafted into helping out with the raffle. The two odd sisters that run the raffle are interesting, they have a dog that is a contender for the best in show prize, although another exhibitor will do anything to stop them. One of the sisters is found dead on the grounds of the hotel, and whether or not it is murder is up to the police, and Melanie to decide and solve.This latest in the Melanie Travis series was alot of fun. The descriptions of a large dog show are right on, down to the snobbish attitude of the breed exhibitors towards the obedience competitors (Terry makes a particularly nasty and inappropriate remark here, but some breed people are like that, thank goodness not all). Melanie and Sam's relationship is touched on, nice to see it back on track. The solution to the mystery is not readily apparent, lots of red herrings. All in all, another great mystery.

Melanie is leaving her son behind in Connecticut with his father while she and her Aunt Peg travel to Maryland to attend the annual Poodle Club of America event. Melanie is going to show her puppy Eve while her aunt is going to make sure everyone knows their job. Melanie's lover Sam Driver is also going to be at the dog show and Melanie hopes to have some quality time alone with him.Aunt Peg ropes her niece into helping the Boone Sisters, Edith Jean and Betty Jean into selling raffles. Although the sisters are eleven months apart in age, they look like identical twins. When Melanie walks Eve in the designated area of the hotel, she hears a scream and when she and others look to see what happened they find Betty Jean lying dead on the ground. When the police start investigating, they discover she was murdered but this time Melanie vows not to get involved, a promise that doesn't last the full week of the conference.There are plenty of suspects who could have wanted the victim dead but readers won't be able to figure out this complex, multi-layered who done it until the author is ready to reveal the identity of the killer. Members of the audience may have fragments of the solution but Laurien Berenson holds back one shocking, unbelievable fact that changes the whole picture and the best part is that the clue is hidden in plain sight. BEST IN SHOW is a mystery and dog lover's delight.Harriet Klausner

The latest installment of Laurien Berenson's Melanie Travis series takes place at PCA, what the cognoscenti of the purebred dog world call the Poodle Club of America's National Specialty. This is arguably the ultimate breed specialty show, and I was thrilled to see the similarities to my own club's version and to see PCA as the setting. If you're a dog show insider, you will recognize some of the prominent people and sympathize with Melanie as she survives the week at the National (at least I do, our National is beginning to take up 9 days). If you're not, Laurien Berenson gives you enough information to clue you in on the inner workings of a breed club, AKC shows and dog people without turning the book into a primer on the subject. The mystery is a bit simplified, but that's just a quibble because the rest of the story is very engaging.I'm looking forward to the further adventures of Melanie, Sam, Aunt Peg, et al.