Once Bitten
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3.9 • 9 Ratings
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- $2.99
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- $2.99
Publisher Description
A dog handler disappears in this “entertaining mystery” by the Agatha and Macavity Award finalist (Publishers Weekly).
With her former fiancé off finding himself, Melanie Travis figures the only ring she’ll be seeing in the near future is one where she’s showing her prized poodles. But love is still in the air for her brother Frank, who is about to tie the knot with his sweetheart, Bertie Kennedy. With scant knowledge of tulle, favors, or cocktail hors d’oeuvres, Melanie happily leaves the nuptial arrangements to Sara Bentley, a fellow dog handler moonlighting as a wedding coordinator. But when Sara suddenly vanishes, a panicked Bertie gives Melanie a choice: either pinch-hit for Sara—or find out where she is.
Opting for the latter, Melanie begins sniffing around into Sara's past—and unearths big trouble when Sara’s cottage burns to the ground and a woman’s body is found in the rubble. There are plenty of people with grudges against Sara—from a disgruntled dog groomer to a competitor whose dog was poisoned a decade ago to an embittered ex-boyfriend. Even Sara’s own family seems oddly unconcerned about her disappearance…but are the blue-blooded Bentleys cold-blooded enough to kill one of their own?
“Totally satisfying.”—I Love A Mystery
“Beware! Pick up Once Bitten and it will sink its fangs into your imagination. You’ll read straight through to the end.”—Rita Mae Brown and Sneaky Pie Brown
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In her eighth doggedly endearing adventure in sleuthing, Melanie Travis is anticipating her brother Frank's impending nuptials to beautiful dog-handler Bertie Kennedy while reflecting over the defection of her fianc , Sam, who (in last year's Unleashed) suddenly announced he wasn't ready for marriage and went off to find himself. Bertie has hired an old friend, Sara Bentley, to plan her wedding, despite Sara's dubious reputation as a poor little rich girl who flits from one job to another. When Sara disappears soon after taking on the job, Bertie insists that Melanie help find her. As if Melanie doesn't have enough headaches, her ex-husband, Bob Travis, has suddenly reappeared, without his young wife, and is acting like he wants Melanie back. As Melanie delves into Sara's background, she realizes that most of Sara's friends and family aren't that concerned about her. Then a dead body turns up in a fire in the guest cottage where Sara lived on her mother's estate. Is it Sara? If not, then who is it, and where is Sara? The plot takes some surprising twists as Melanie digs deeper into Sara's life, trying to unearth the truth. Balancing an entertaining mystery puzzle with Melanie's attempt to resolve her feelings for her ex-husband and her decamped fianc , Berenson rounds out the story with the lore of the dog-show world her readers expect. FYI:With this title, the publisher has initiated a brighter, bolder jacket design for the series that can only help sales.
Customer Reviews
Witty and Fun
Great murder mystery. The author's use of editorial comments from Melanie's PoV add spice and fun. Her description of Faith's last show in class reminded me of my Mini boy Howie's finish at 9 months. Her description of the torn coat also brought back memories from when Howie was hunting while in coat. Brava on inspiring such fun memories!!