Gone with the Woof: A Melanie Travis Mystery

In Berenson’s sprightly 16th pooch-packed escapade (after 2008’s Doggie Day Care Murder), stay-at-home mom Melanie Travis accepts Aunt Peg’s push back into the work world. She agrees to help Edward March, a crotchety but highly influential dog-show judge, write his memoirs, but is dismayed to learn that he’s planned a tell-all book about his numerous affairs with well-known women within the dog breeding and show world. Almost immediately, Edward’s son, Andrew, vows to stop the book’s publication, only to become a hit-and-run victim several days later. Edward insists Melanie help find the killer, but this requires combing through the huge pool of suspects created by father and son’s shared philandering ways. Juggling two kids, a husband, and a houseful of poodles, Melanie is one busy lady as she gets on the killer’s trail. With unexpected twists, humor, and a wealth of information about the story’s milieu, Berenson wraps this caper up in a tail-wagging finale. Agent: Meg Ruley, Jane Rotrosen Agency. (Sept.)