A Hell of a Dog

Someone is killing the great dog trainers of the world, and it's up to former dog trainer and current PI Rachel Alexander and her trusty pitbull, Dashiell, to stop the carnage. Noted trainer Samantha Lewis is organizing a dog-training symposium at a posh New York City hotel. All of the scheduled participants detest one another. Worried that arguments over training methodology could get out of control, Sam hires Rachel to go under cover. When the first trainer is electrocuted in his bathtub, it seems like nothing more than a terrible accident. But the trainers continue to drop, one choking, another jumping off the hotel's roof. At first, Rachel considers this series of deaths a tragic coincidence, but she's been distracted by the presence of her old flame, renowned dog trainer Chip Pressman. When she finally puts her detecting talents to work, the pattern emerges and the plot moves toward a startling denouement. Expertly blending dog-training lore with an excellent and satisfying mystery, Shamus Award winner (in 1997 for Best First PI Novel for This Dog for Hire) Benjamin breaks out of the sophomore slump she fell into with The Dog Who Knew Too Much and makes good on the promise of her debut. (Dec.)