Chow Down

A Melanie Travis Mystery

By: Laurien Berenson

Narrated by: Jessica Almasy

If Melanie Travis was planning on a quiet family summer with her Standard Poodle Faith, son Davey, and new husband Sam, her plans are about to turn upside down. An unexpected competition, a trip to New York, and - oh yes, a murder - later, Melanie finds herself in a choke collar of deceit and corruption. When she receives the letter from the Champions Dog Food Company informing her that Faith has been selected as a finalist in the "All Dogs Are Champions" contest, Melanie is mystified - until she discovers it was Davey who entered Faith in the contest. At the reception where they meet the other finalists, Melanie immediately picks up the scent that this pack is a bone's throw away from a major dog fight. And when Larry Kim, one of the finalists, dies in a suspicious fall, something smells rotten to Melanie. With the final decision for a winner drawing near and the competition getting downright ferocious, Melanie and Faith will have to watch their backs - because Melanie's digging may well unearth a barking-mad killer who'll do anything to win.

©2006 Laurien Berenson (P)2014 Audible Inc.

Enjoyable

This is a fun and enjoyable mystery. I enjoyed this book like many others in this series. Melanie is a likeable character who can't help but stumble on to mysteries. I highly recommend this series.

Fun

such an enjoyable mystery. Endings are always a surprise. I love the quirky characters and the unfolding of the plot. pure entertainment.

Great narrator

I love the narrator’s voice for the characters. She makes this series so much better than a mediocre narrator would do

Needs a different narrator

I have read 15 of the Melanie Travis books and it is one of my favorite series despite the boring dog show details. I usually just skim over those details mainly because I don't care about the grooming details of poodles, or any other breeds for that matter. However, I love the characters and the dogs and the mysteries are wonderful.

This might have been the first, second or third time I've listened to an audiobook in the series. I have read the ebooks in the past but wanted to take advantage of the awesome Audible sale had, making some of the book in this series really dirt cheap. Well, now I know why I don't do the audio format of this series. What a mistake on my part! I really, truly, positively, 100% without a doubt TOTALLY dislike this narrator. I would give her ZERO stars. Why? First of all is her narration of the character Aunt Peg. Dammit, she uses a freaking high-pitch, shrieking British accent. Aunt Peg is from NEW England (Connecticut), not England!! Why the fake British accent? I don't get it. I immediately stop the audio whenever there is Aunt Peg dialogue and switch to the ebook, meaning I've wasted my money on the audiobook. Another issue with the narrator is that she seems to be in a race? Barely any pauses between sentences, chapters, etc. I slowed down the audio to 0.85 times just so I could figure out what was happening!

Regrets, regrets, regrets. The sad thing for me is that I bought the next 2 in the series from Audible, unluckily not refundable, but luckily on sale so not a lot of $$ went down the toilet.

Save your credits/sale money and DON'T get the audiobook of this series. Get the ebook instead and use a virtual reader if you need a narration - it's a 100 times better than Jessica Almasy!

P.S. Angie Hickman is the new narrator starting with book #19!! I can't wait until I can get there (reading the ebooks in the meanwhile which is sloooow). Angie Hickman is PERFECTION and thank goodness they got rid of Jessica Almasy who is the ultimate pits.