Gaits of Heaven: A Dog Lover's Mystery

Susan Conant has done it again another great adventure that dog lovers everywhere will enjoy. I couldn't put it down.

I am not sure why there are so many negative reviews of this entry in the Holly Winters dog mystery series. I have read all of them and this is one of my all time favorites. I found it very funny. During the past few months I have read "Gaits of Heaven" and "All Shots". "Gaits of Heaven" is far superior to All Shots. I am a cat person. My parents only owned one stray dog (a purebred pekingese whose owners never claimed her) for a short while (she died after 3 years from heart disease caused by bad breeding practices) so I am not an expert on dogs. Nevertheless, I enjoy reading stories about dogs. As a cat person, I have noticed that all of the Holly Winter books contain tips about dog care and training (cat stories, since cats are almost impossible to train, contain no tips). Contrary to the opinion of some of the other reviewers, I did not find this one short on the dog training tips. Are some people reading the books only for their training tips and feel short-changed if there are not enough "free" tips? As fans of the Holly Winters series know, Holly's upstairs neighbor is a pyschologist. There are always "psychology" tips in addition to dog training tips in each entry in the series. This book is a satire on modern psychology. In this book, Holly donates a free set of training lessons given by her Cambridge training club to a benefit auction. The people who win it are a extremely dysfunctional family with a extremely dysfunctional dog. Each member of the family has their own psychologist/psychiatrist. During the first free group training lesson, it becomes clear that Dolfo is going to be a disruptive influence in the group lessons at the training club, so Holly offers to train Dolfo privately instead. While attempting to train Dolfo at the family's home, Holly becomes well acquainted with each of the dysfunctional members of the family. After Eumie, the mother in the dysfunctional family, dies of what appears to be an accidental overdose Holly takes home Eumie's overweight & dysfunctional daughter (from Eumie's first marriage) to get her away from the toxic atmosphere left in the wake of Eumie's death. There are numerous digs at various brands of psychological practices in this story. As someone who, 25 years ago, visited various different types of psychologists and psychiatrists in attempting to find the right one to treat bouts of depression, I found the descriptions of the different practioners extremely amusing and very apropos. This is probably one of the funniest satires of psychological treatment I have ever read! This is not a really a book about Cambridge psychology (as some reviewers have claimed); this is a book about psychological practices everywhere. This book also pokes fun of naive intellectuals who pay big money for a special exclusive breed of dog that is really just a mutt. Some reviewers have complained about the cover art: yes, the dog is funny looking but if you read the book, it is a fair depiction of the g

If you like her other books, you'll like this one. A fun light read, full of funny, off topic asides and dogs. What else does one ask of a Conant book?

I have always enjoyed this series by Susan Conant. I was not disapointed in the least by the newest instalment. I love dogs, and find the characters to be vasstly entertaining. This book was no exception, I think everyone knows or has known a badly behaived dog. I em waiting to read the next book by Susan Conant!

Ted and Eumie won training lessons for their golden Aussie hiskapoo at the Cambridge Dog Training Club. Holly Winter feels responsible for their good natured but untrained and not housebroken Dolfo since she was the one who convinced the club to offer the free lessons. She volunteers to train the Green's dog but at one of the very first lessons, Holly finds Eumie dead in her bed. The police believe she was murdered because powerful drugs were found in a health drink that only she imbibed. Eumi's daughter Caprice, who can't stand her stepfather or stepbrother Wyeth, goes to live with Holly, her husband Steve and their five dogs. The remaining Greens are severely dysfunctional and infested by a plethoric of various mental health care needs. Wyeth is perhaps the most troubled of all and his actions lead to a group meeting consisting of anyone connected to the Greens including the killer. Susan Conant is well known for her colorful and intriguing amateur sleuth mysteries. In addition to telling a great story, she deals with social issues that are relevant today and in GAITS OF HEAVEN the biggest issue she addresses is the over medication of doctors who don't communicate with their peers so they never fully know what pills their clients are taking. The plot is fast paced, the characters are hot and eccentric, and the dogs stealthily steal the show as is typical in a Ms. Conant tale. Harriet Klausner