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Title: Once Bitten: A Melanie Travis Mystery by Laurien Berenson ISBN: 0-7582-0182-6 Publisher: Kensington Mass Market Pub. Date: August, 2002 Format: Mass Market Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $6.50 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.2 (5 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: Is Melanie going to the dogs?
Comment: If you read the previous Melanie Travis mystery, Unleashed, and you are like me, you were likely disappointed to see Melanie's fiance Sam take off for an undetermined time following his ex-wife's murder for reflection and what-not. Berenson, however, appeases us in Once Bitten by fulfilling the promise of a wedding -- that of Melanie's brother Frank.
While she is happy to see her brother maturing into a responsible businessman and committing himself to dog trainer/knockout Bertie Kennedy, Melanie is still nursing the wounds of her breakup. When Bertie's flighty wedding planner, part-time trainer Sara, mysteriously disappears, Melanie finds there is no time left to cry over spilt engagements when Bertie pleads with her to find Sara...and help plan a wedding while she's doing that.
Berenson injects quite a dose of romance in this installment when in the midst of all this chaos, ex-husband Bob returns to town, clearly bitten by the reconciliation bug. I have to admit, Melanie's divided loyalties between maintaining a stable home life for son Davey (who is ecstatic to have his father so close) and yearning for her missing true love made for better suspense than the actual mystery, the disappearance and even more bizarre reappearance of Sara, a character I came to like less and less as the story progressed.
I have enjoyed the Melanie Travis series since its inception, but with Once Bitten I fear Berenson may be hitting her stride. However, the weaknesses detected in the actual mystery (the aforementioned Sara and her conflicts with her even less likable parents...Melanie herself admits she can't stand them) are bolstered by the compelling subplot. I certainly hope for the next book the mystery will be a bit meatier (no pun intended).
Rating: 4
Summary: Good but not her best
Comment: ONCE BITTEN brings back most of the familiar characters from previous Berenson tales (with a puzzling omission -- what happened to Aunt Peg's Douglas? He's missing in action here), and moves their relationships along nicely. However, there's so much going on -- the impending marriage of main character Melanie's brother and ravishing trainer Bertie (short for Alberta), the reappearance of Melanie's ex-husband, the move into judging for Aunt Peg, "finishing" Melanie's poodle's championship -- that the mystery seems more of an afterthought than the main event. Also, there's not much mystery -- the pointers to the guilty parties are pretty pointed. As always, the dog show segments are the most realistic, but the Christmas Eve chapter at the end is well worth the price of admission.
Rating: 4
Summary: The dogs are back---so Melanie, wake up
Comment: Melanie Travis tries to deal with her disappearing fiance when her future sister-in-law's wedding planner, Sara, also disappears and Melanie's ex-husband suddenly reappears and wants to play in Melanie's life. Melanie settles for sleuthing to find the missing Sara--only to discover that plenty of people want her to stay missing. They just might get their wish when Sara's house burns down and a woman's body is found inside.
What's best about this novel is the dogs. Melanie shows her standard poodle Faith and is working on 'finishing' her, i.e., achieving champion rank. When Melanie goes to the dogs, ONCE BITTEN goes well indeed. When Melanie fixates on men, I was tempted to roll my eyes--I mean, get on with it.
The mystery plays a third fiddle to Melanie's dog problems and her men problems. Fortunately, she doesn't have to do much to solve it.
Author Laurien Berenson's light tone, her wonderful descriptions of the dog shows and of dog people, and of the relationship between Melanie, her son, her aunt, her dogs, and her future sister-in-law make ONCE BITTEN a pleasure to read despite its flaws.
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Title: Unleashed: A Melanie Travis Mystery by Laurien Berenson ISBN: 1575666804 Publisher: Kensington Mass Market Pub. Date: August, 2001 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
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Title: Hair of the Dog: A Melanie Travis Mystery by Laurien Berenson ISBN: 1575663562 Publisher: Kensington Mass Market Pub. Date: November, 1998 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
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Title: Hush Puppy: A Melanie Travis Mystery by Laurien Berenson ISBN: 1575666006 Publisher: Kensington Mass Market Pub. Date: September, 2000 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
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Title: Watchdog by Laurien Berenson ISBN: 1575664720 Publisher: Kensington Mass Market Pub. Date: October, 1999 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
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Title: Dog Eat Dog: A Melanie Travis Mystery by Laurien Berenson ISBN: 1575662272 Publisher: Kensington Mass Market Pub. Date: November, 1997 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
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