“Underdog,” by Laurien Berenson

FM's ratings:

1.      Premise 7

2.      Prose 7

3.      Plot 8

4.      Characters 8

5.      Overall 7

Comments (optional - but try to keep it under 3000 words!)

This is a good, solid murder mystery, one in which the “sleuthing” is done by an amateur rather than a pro.  It’s part of a series centered on dog shows and the dog breeders and handlers that frequent those shows.  That works for me just fine, but the descriptions and details might be tedious for some.  The pieces of the “puzzle” that is the murder are presented very cleverly and there is a lot of original thought that went into this novel.  So why the “7’ rating?  It’s not a boring story, that’s not it.  Partly it’s the fact that there are so many mystery writers out there who do it better.  It’s hard to recommend one that is merely “solid,” lacking the Wow Factor that so many other Mysteries have.   As I’ve stated before about books given a “7” rating by me;  I’m glad I read it, but I don’t necessarily recommend it.  Will I read more by this author?  Yeah, I think so, just maybe not any time soon.  An author who writes this well deserves a greater spotlight.  Maybe she should write Suspense, Fantasy, or Horror?   (And maybe her other mystery novels are a lot better than this one; I don’t know!)  The first one in the series is “A Pedigree to Die For.”  I’ll keep that one in mind and give it a try some day.

Here’s the February line-up! 

“They Came to Baghdad,” by Agatha Christie [2-6]

“Espresso Tales,” by Alexander McCall Smith [2-13]

“The Queen is Dead,” by Kate Locke [2-20]

“Terrorist,” by John Updike [2-27] 

(As always, if there are any books you’d like to recommend for the next month, please do so.  Also, if you have already read one on our previous lists, you are invited to give your ratings/comments for that book!)