Watchdog (©1998)

Melanie Travis Series #5
by Laurien Berenson

It's autumn in Connecticut. Melanie Travis has just started a new job, and with the added excitement of showing her standard poodle, Faith, in the fall shows, the last thing she wants is to become embroiled in yet another of her brother Frank's moneymaking schemes. His current brainstorm - remaking an old store in stylish suburban Fairfield County into a trendy coffee bar - already has the neighbors snarling. Worse, wealthy Marcus Rattigan, who's bankrolling the project, is found murdered on the premises, and the police think Frank did it. Faced with her brother's imminent arrest, Melanie, always the family watchdog, has no choice but to take on the investigation. To her surprise, she discovers that Rattigan had once been co-owner of a legendary show dog. Drawing on her connections in the dog world, Melanie is soon successfully unmuzzling the dead man's nearest and dearest, including a bitter ex-wife, a spurned mistress, and an

ambitious second in command, all of whom have plenty to say about the man who worked hard, played to win, and lived by his own rules. But Melanie is about to learn that being a watchdog can sometimes be dangerous - especially when every clue she uncovers leads her one step closer to a murderer who is desperate enough to kill again...