Barb's Book Reviews: Review of "Murder at the Puppy Fest: A Melanie Travis Cozy Mystery" by Laurien Berenson

Saturday, May 5, 2018

Review of "Murder at the Puppy Fest: A Melanie Travis Cozy Mystery" by Laurien Berenson

In this 20th book in the 'Melanie Travis' series, the amateur sleuth investigates the suspicious death of a millionaire. The book can be read as a standalone.

*****

Melanie Travis is a wife, mother, and teacher whose family raises and shows standard poodles.

Melanie, her husband Sam, her sons Davey (12) and Kevin (3), and the family's five beautiful black standard poodles live in a big, sprawling house in Stamford, Connecticut.....where the dogs can run free in the backyard and the folks can fire up the grill to make dinner.

+9

As the book opens, Melanie and her son Davey are driving home with their groceries when they find an abandoned dog on the side of the road. Davey promptly names the spotted mutt 'Bud', and the pup soon becomes a member of the family - romping with the poodles and cuddling with young Kevin at night.

More canine adventures are in store for Melanie since she's been recruited to assist at Puppy Fest (akin to the Puppy Super Bowl), an annual televised event staged by the Puppy Posse Foundation - a dog shelter/dog adoption agency. Puppy Fest is always held at the mansion of Leo Brody, a wealthy businessman and philanthropist.

Brody is well known for his charitable donations AND colorful history: he's been married three times, has nine adult children, and a batch of spoiled teenage grandkids. Most of Brody's family shows up at Puppy Fest: a few to actually help out and most to ingratiate themselves with the head of the family.....who's been making noises about a new will.

Melanie is run ragged at Puppy Fest, because Brody's daughter Jane - who runs the Puppy Posse Foundation - sends her on errand after errand: find Caroline - who has to kiss the puppies for good luck; go the kitchen for bottled water; clean the dogs' exercise pens; carry the pups to the show arena; and so on.

When the games start - and Leo Brody is unexpectedly absent - Melanie is sent to look for the millionaire in his office.

Shockingly, Melanie finds Leo's dead body - with his 'friend' Becca Montague bending over him. The police discover that Leo died of anaphylactic shock after eating cookies containing peanuts, to which he's severely allergic. No one seems to know who brought the cookies or how Leo came to eat them.....as he's VERY CAREFUL about his food.

I understand the concept of cozy mysteries in which the police are incompetent and the amateur sleuth has to solve the crime. This book overdoes it though. It's completely unbelievable that, when a FAMOUS MILLIONAIRE dies from eating mysterious cookies - AND his EpiPen is missing from the desk drawer - the cops brush it off as an accident. REALLY? ARE THESE DETECTIVES BRAIN DEAD?

In any case, Brody's daughter, Libby - with the connivance of Melanie's pushy, overbearing Aunt Peg - gets Melanie to look into Leo's death. Melanie does this by visiting each of Brody's children in turn, and asking a few questions. That's the SUM TOTAL of the amateur detective's investigation. In the end the crime is solved.....but in a very unconvincing manner.

To be fair, this series centers more around dog shows than detective work. So, in the book Melanie's family attends two dog shows, where Davey is trying to accumulate points for his standard poodle Augie - so the dog can get a championship. Thus the reader gets a treatise about dog competitions and a description of Davey grooming Augie for the shows. This is a rather complicated business because standard poodles have elaborate 'hairstyles.' It was fun to read about the dog shows and the entertaining attendees.

The story has a large array of ancillary characters, including the many members of Leo Brody's extended family. The recurring characters are the most fun though. Three-year-old Kevin is adorable and funny.....and Aunt Peg is her usual annoying, A-type personality. Peg, who's a poodle expert and respected dog show judge, wants to send foundling Bud to the Puppy Posse Foundation (gasp!!).

While reading the book I was inspired to 'Google' standard poodles, so I could study how to achieve the 'look' that's appropriate for dog shows. This requires lots of combs, rubber bands, and hairspray!

I liked the side plots in the story, but this is supposed to be a cozy mystery - and it fails on that score. Nevertheless, readers looking for a few hours of light reading might enjoy the book.

Rating: 2.5 stars

4 comments:

JacquiMay 6, 2018 at 12:21 PM
I read one of her books and enjoyed it. Maybe 3/5 or 4/5. Anything about puppies gets my attention.
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Barb SafferMay 6, 2018 at 12:49 PM
Kali, I liked the previous one "Live and Let Growl Better." But I'm with you on liking anything with cute puppies or dogs. 😊💚
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Carla Loves to ReadMay 6, 2018 at 1:08 PM
I read the first book in this series a few years ago when it was the Library Big Reads selection. I remember thinking the same thing at the time but wanted to give the series another try. I have a couple on my tablet so will have to see. Nice review Barb.
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Barb SafferMay 6, 2018 at 9:26 PM
Thank you Carla. I hope the books on your tablet are good ones. 😊💚
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Barb's Book Reviews

Saturday, May 5, 2018

Review of "Murder at the Puppy Fest: A Melanie Travis Cozy Mystery" by Laurien Berenson

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