Mastiffs, Mystery, and Murder

A Dog Detective Series Novel, Volume 1

By: Sandra Baublitz

Narrated by: Nancy Bober

It's murder at the dog show!

When amateur sleuth Clarissa Hayes and her trusty Saint Bernard, Paw, enter a dog show, they expect to find dogs, blue ribbons, and trophies. Not dead bodies. Clarissa's boyfriend is tracking a suspect in the death of a dog fancier. It's up to Clarissa and Paw to provide him cover as they compete in the show.

But the competition turns deadly when another dog owner is murdered. Are the deaths connected? Clarissa and Paw must sniff out the clues to solve the crime before the killer collars them.

Will Best in Show become Best in Death?

©2017 Sandra Baublitz (P)2017 Sandra Baublitz

Fun mystery with dogs

Clarissa Hayes and her trusty St. Bernard, Paw, are helping out her PI boyfriend, Bruce Sevor, are at a dog show to investigate the possible murder of a much-disliked former competitor. It's a problem that neither of them knows anything about dog shows, and Clarissa has never done more than the most rudimentary training with Paw, but he is purebred, and a lovely dog. Fortunately, they also get help from friends who are more more interested in the dog show scene, especially Shelbee, who is a pet sitter and dog trainer.

They meet the good, the bad, and the ugly of the dog show scene, which is filled with people who love dogs, and people who are incredibly competitive. At least one looks like a potential murderer, and had clashed with the suspected murder victim in the past. It's a bit inconvenient, as well as unpleasant, when he turns up dead, too, this time obviously murder.

Baublitz clearly knows dogs. Despite two deaths, another owner attacked, and some alarming moments, it's mostly a light, entertaining story where plausibly real dogs, including Paw and the latest murder victim's mastiff, Samuel, get to play plausibly helpful roles in straightening things out.

Some things do work themselves out a bit too simply, but it's a story I was able to relax into, with dogs and dog lovers.

A light, fun read.

I bought this audiobook.

Fun Listen!

Both the author and narrator were new to me with this fun listen. The story is a cozy mystery and has some humor. There were also some unexpected scenes in the book, plus a nice resolution. As a large-breed dog owner, I found some of the scenes very realistic. I would definitely listen to more books by both the author and narrator in the future. I requested this review copy audiobook from the author, narrator and/or publisher and have voluntarily written this review.

Perfect for dog lovers!

If you are a dog lover you will really enjoy this book! There are so many different dog personalities throughout the story, which I loved. The storyline and mystery takes off from the second the book starts. There is no fluff or muted stories that take up any space (which I love). You start the book instantly knowing what the case is about, and all the characters convene at a dog show to go undercover. The entire book takes place at this dog show, and you meet a lot of fun characters there along the way.
This was a fun mystery to follow along with, I appreciated that the story had twists & turns that never felt stale. Something was always happening, and there was little to no romance.
I really enjoyed this book & I hope that more get narrated in this series! I received this complimentary book and gave my honest review.

Very enjoyable

I received this book free from the author or narrator and offer my review of it willingly. If you like dogs and mysteries, then you'll find this an interesting book. Many of the characters are quirky and the story has several fun scenes.

Ok

I haven’t listened to others in the series but I found this to be an ok read but not great. I would have like a little more character development and description. It seemed slow although I did enjoy the scenes when the dogs got loose. I might try the author again. The narrator was also ok but not stellar. Her voice was good but she sounded older than I imagined the character and her tone was a but all over. Overall, not my favorite but not the worst either. I received a free review copy of this book and have voluntarily left this review.

Murder at a Dog Show

In Mastiffs, Mystery, and Murder by Sandra Baublitz, Clarissa Hayes is just relaxing at home when her private investigator boyfriend, Bruce, comes to visit. Bruce asks to borrow Clarissa's purebred St. Bernard, Paw, in his investigation, which has led him to a dog show. Reluctantly, Clarissa allows Bruce to take Paw, but Paw refuses to go without his beloved owner. With the new change of plans, Clarissa poses as Bruce's new wife and handles Paw in the show ring. Completely ignorant of all that goes into preparation for dog show competitions, Bruce gets stuck spending most of his time helping to prepare Paw for the ring as Clarissa and he get to know the other people showing dogs.

Most other showers welcome Clarissa and Paw warmly, but the detective couple learn that certain people have a reputation for playing dirty, especially Lyon Connors, who is suspected of some of the worst tricks. The only problem is that Connors is the man whose suspicious death Bruce has been investigating. The man Bruce suspects the most is mastiff-owner Hoffman, who was strongly suspected of drugging a competitor dog in a previous dog show. But then Hoffman's mastiff, Samuel, along with Paw and the winning chihuahua, leads a large group of people on a wild romp through the hotel in one of the funniest scenes in the book. The dogs even take the elevator to the ground floor in their wild chase, but the fun scene ends abruptly when the dogs lead the people to the body of Hoffman, lying murdered in a pile of dog food samples.

This book is very fun and cleverly written, with lots of delightful scenes involving dogs with lots of real life to them. All the significant characters have depth and strength to them, but this is especially true of the dogs. I also appreciate the fact that the dogs come in various breeds and sizes, with the main dog characters being a St. Bernard, a mastiff, a chihuahua, and a Perkinese. The book contains plenty of other dog characters as well, as we watch the dog show and other dogs all through the hotel. Clarissa, Bruce, and Clarissa's two best friends make a fun investigative team as they work together, along with the dogs on their team.

The mystery plot moves cleverly, with plenty of interesting twists and turns. I found myself guessing first one person and then another to be the murderer. The details of the mystery blend in with the nature of the individual characters in a creative manner with a lot of fun.

I bought the kindle version of this book a year or so ago because its premise and its cover appealed so much to me, but severe, nonstop migraines make it very hard for me to do much regular reading, and I never got very far into the book. So when I saw this book being offered for review on the website Audiobook Boom, I was thrilled to learn that it now is available on audio, and I would have gladly paid the full price to get to listen to this book. Nancy Bober performs the audio edition of Mastiffs, Mystery, and Murder and really brings the book to life. Each character becomes very real, something true of the dogs as well as the people. The audio version did not disappoint my high expectations for it.

I really loved listening to Mastiffs, Mystery, and Murder. The scenes of the dogs coming together to lead the humans to an important clue or murdered person made me laugh heartily. I highly recommend this book to anyone, even (gasp!) dog haters, but especially dog lovers. I give the book five stars!

Disclaimer: I received this book for free through Audiobook Boom, but that had no influence on the content of my review.

Those darn dogs.

Love it. The story line was great. I enjoyed the antics of the dogs. The story is about clarissa who owns a St. Benard named Paws. She enters him in a dog show to help with her private eye boyfriend, Bruce, He is doing under cover work at the dog show looking for he murderer of a dog owner. While they are there another owner is killed. Come along with these two and two of there friends as they look for the killer in spite of the police telling them not to get involved. The killer was a surprise. Did not see it coming. The narration for great. I received this book free in exchange for an honest review.

a good enough story the Narration not so much

a nice story a great sequence but the narrator kind of ruined the enjoyment from the book the book was actually great and I liked it but I didn't enjoyed the book totally because of the narrator

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review."

PI Work Goes to the Dogs

A thoroughly enjoyable romp through a high-stakes dog show as a private investigator and his girlfriend investigate the probable murder of a former dog show competitor with the help of the girlfriend's thoroughly lovable but definitely not show-ready St. Bernard. The story features a wide cast of dog show personalities, but two and 4 legged. They range from charming through eccentric to downright nasty but all are engaging and fun to follow.
The audio version is well read and the fast paced story line lends itself to this kind of presentation.
A story I thoroughly enjoyed and would listen to again, even knowing the eventual whodunit.

Mastiffs mystery and murder

It’s an OK book entertaining funny a pretty good plot. It wasn’t terrible but it wasn’t the best book. I have a red. Definitely something good to read quick and easy.