May 27, 2019
Set in Greenwich, Conn., Berenson’s pleasing 23rd Melanie Travis mystery (after 2018’s Ruff Justice) opens with Melanie, who owns pedigreed Poodles, inviting several of her fellow dog show exhibitors to join a book club impishly called Bite Club. Newcomer Evan Major asks Melanie for help training his new bulldog puppy, but when she goes to his house the next day, the puppy is running free and Evan is nowhere to be found. Melanie takes the puppy home for safekeeping, but her irritation turns to horror when a police detective shows up at her door to inform her that Evan has been murdered. With the help of her force-of-nature aunt Peg, Melanie discovers that meek Evan was the accountant for an investment company that was no more than a Ponzi scheme. The angry investors, some of whom are members of Bite Club, lost everything. Could one of them have gone looking for revenge? Berenson smoothly blends crime solving with an insider’s look into the world of dog-show competition. This is a win-win for lovers of cozies featuring animals. Agent: Meg Ruley, Jane Rotrosen Agency.