Review: More Dog Than Mystery
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 04 15, 2014
Susan Conant is known to mystery lovers and dog lovers as the Award-Winning author of a series of mysteries whose human protagonist, Holly Winter, is a writer for a (fictitious) dog magazine. The canine protagonists began with the malamute,Rowdy,in the first book and, as happens to many dog lovers, have grown in number. In the books, Conant has room to explain the world of dog showing, obedience training and other particulars in a way that seems perfectly natural.In the early '90's, the (non-fictitious) magazine "Dog World" comissioned Conant to write two 'puzzle stories'. In a preface, Conant explains this and goes on to say that she had decided not to bring them forward to 2010 when they were published as a book in order to offer "little glimpses through a window into the past".They do, in fact, have a somewhat dated charm and the reader doesn't have to wonder why they didn't just use their cell phones and why the FBI didn't just email to the dog clubs, instead of wasting time and paper with a mailing.Considering the magazine they were written for, it isn't surprising that there are a number of in-jokes and references. The very short story form of these puzzles doesn't allow for explanations and I doubt that anyone who is not part of that audience would care for them. And, as stand-alone mystery stories, any judge would disqualify them and banish them from his ring.As one who was involved in the dog showing world of that (and the present) time, I enjoyed them. My rating reflects a compromise between my personal view and the view of the non-dog-obsessed.