Susan Conant (1) (1946–)

he new '-Holly Winter' dog mystery - When Dog's Life columnist Holly Winter rejects applicants who want to adopt homeless dogs, she makes a lot of enemies. In dogs Holly trusts, and the dogs she trusts most are her beloved malamutes, Rowdy, Kimi and Sammy. But right now she could use a human friend. Lately, it seems wherever she turns, things go wrong: an anonymous call turns vicious, her husband is keeping secrets, and acquaintances die under mysterious circumstances. Then Holly's own life is threatened. Can the brute strength of Rowdy, Kimi, and Sammy protect her? A Dog Lover's Mystery #19… (mer)

The future looks promising for Holly Winter. Her regular column in Dog's Life magazine is going strong. Her successful new dog-treat cookbook - 101 Ways to Cook Liver - has canine-lovers (and her own Alaskan malamutes) panting in anticipation. And she's about to marry Steve Delaney, her handsome veterinarian (and a Best of Breed himself). More the pity that murder is spoiling the mood. And Holly can't help but take it personally...
The first victim is an anesthesiologist, murdered in a Cambridge hotel only a mile from Holly's home. The second victim is a friend of Holly's who published a canine version of the tarot. The third is an expert who used touch to heal traumatized animals. And the fourth was a fellow dog writer. What's more, they were all female, and each with a connection to Holly. Now, the killer has promised a next victim. Who will it be? Holly fears that she herself fits the profile. How can she stop him from killing again? If she wants to make it to her wedding day, she'd better get a clue. Dog Lover's Mystery #16… (mer)

Holly Winter's malamutes, Rowdy and Kimi, are a delightful a pair of canine companions as anyone could ask for. Less faithful is her ex-lover who left her with a bitter heart and over-priced therapy sessions. Add a bout with amnesia and trepidation over her father's second marriage, and Holly is convinced that things can't get worse. Until a walk in the park pits Rowdy against a vicious golden retriever whose owner is no less so. How odd that such a gentle breed could be so nasty. Not so odd for humans. And not at all surprising when the owner is found murdered .Holly has no choice but step into the fray--for she knows better than anyone that killers are a cunning and clever breed.

Holly Winter's Alaskan malamutes, Rowdy and Kimi, are as sweetly rambunctious as ever, and her cookbook-in-progress - tentatively titled A Hundred and One Ways to Cook Liver - is really coming along. But everything else is a mess. A recent concussion has robbed her of much-needed sleep - and a failed relationship has left her with a bitter, broken heart. And her incredibly overpriced therapy sessions with the improbably named Dr. Vee Foote aren't helping one tiny bit.

It's not long before her friend Ceci stumbles on a seemingly perfect solution - and takes Holly to a park that's literally running over with gorgeous dogs. But the sight of so many leash-less canines makes Holly uneasy - especially after an aggressive golden retriever attacks her beloved Rowdy. And when one of the owners is found murdered, Holly has no choice but to step into the fray - for she knows better than anyone that killers are a cunning, clever breed.… (mer)

A hike in the woods has memorable consequences for dog writer Holly Winter in this latest of Susan Conant's Dog Lover's Mysteries.

When Holly Winter awakens, battered and bruised, clinging to a boulder on the side of a cliff, she doesn't even recognize her own beloved malamutes, Rowdy and Kimi, much less remember their names--or her own. She does, however, realize they're her dogs, and that she is--to put it mildly--a "dog person." And she vaguely remembers hearing a sinister voice from above.

Putting clues together, she discovers that she is in Acadia National Park, on Mount Desert Island, Maine, and that she's the guest of one Gabrielle Beamon, a most attractive and charming woman, whom Holly doesn't recognize at all. When it is discovered that there was another fall, this one fatal, at approximately the same time and close to the same place as Holly's, she begins to fear for her own safety. In fact, she has all she can do to figure out what's going on without giving away her own loss of memory.

You'll be licking your chops with glee as the dog fanciers in Conant's eclectic and eccentric group of characters once more prove themselves smarter and more resourceful in every way than their more anthropocentric counterparts.… (mer)