The Dog Park Club: A Mystery

Great fun by a edgy and crazy writer. The cast of characters, and I mean CHARACTERS, are a cross-section of SF Bay Area types that could have been on the Muni bus I caught last Thursday night. Great local color. There's never been an anti-sleuth like Max Bravo. What would Dashiell Hammett think?

Mid-rung opera singer Max Bravo's to-do list certainly has lots of variety, practice, practice, practice, of course. Be a babysitter/confidante to frequently hysterical best friend Claudia. Solve her marital/romantic crises, which are numerous. Solve his own romantic crises, which are not as numerous as Claudia's, but still...chat with his long-dead grandmother, Baba the gypsy. Hang out with Claudia's dog, Asta at the local dog park. And, oh, yeah, find missing dog owner, the lovely Amy, who seems to have dropped off the face of the earth. In her debut novel, "The Dog Park Club", San Francisco author Cynthia Robinson gives us a wacky cast of characters who frequent the dog park along with Max and Claudia. A bunch of misfits who are not what they seem to be (one of them turns out to be a multi-millionaire, but dresses like a street person and sleeps in his van), they bond over beer and, incidentally, their love of dogs. The most normal member of the group is Amy, and when she vanishes--did I mention she's nine months pregnant?--and the husband is suspected of doing her in, they go all out to try to find the about-to-give-birth mother. But, once again, things are not what they seem to be...even the lovely Amy. Bravo, Max Bravo and Cynthia Robinson. I look forward with eager anticipation to your next adventure. Reviewed by: Susan Santangelo, Author of "Retirement can be Murder" for Suspense Magazine

The Dog Park Club grabs you and doesn't let go. I started reading on my commute on a Thursday morning, and couldn't wait for the weekend to finish it. I read all day Saturday and couldn't put it down until the end. They only problem was I wanted to keep reading after the ending (that always happens with good books!). I found this book laugh-out-loud funny, but also full of suspense and a little scary. The lead character, Max Bravo, is hysterical and intelligent, and I want to hear more from him. All of the characters in this book are so well developed, I could imagine them exactly, from Max to the tweaker with the pit bull ( I won't give anything away, but it's a great scene). Part 2 was dark and intriguing and kept me glued to the pages. The clever, unexpected ending really caught me off guard, which I thoroughly enjoyed! I do think the title is a bit mis-leading and doesn't convey the sophisticated, black comedy style of the book. The story takes place in the San Francisco Bay Area, and the characters reflect that city's attitudes and lifestyles. It has nothing to do with cute, charming dogs, though dogs are critical to the story, as they are the common denominator for the characters. I heard there's a 2nd Max Bravo mystery in development and I can't wait to read that one, too!

They say you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover, but you know that's practically impossible. I mean, it's really a matter of once you've judged something by the way it looks, can you move past it and go deeper? For me the cover of this book says kitschy and cozy, not as I found it, intelligent and unpredictable. Once in, it's hard to get out. In fact, when I wasn't reading it, I was contemplating what the characters might be thinking, as if I was as real to them as they became to me. The writing style is refreshing. And, the subtle irony and sometimes sarcastic tone makes it uniquely realistic, and a pleasure to read.

Cynthia Robinson's debut novel is a great read. Her writing style is fresh, imaginative and accessible. She has created a cast of characters that will remain with you. The mystery plot and setting keep the reader fully engaged and woven throughout the book are some wonderful comic moments and insights. I look forward to her next novel.