Bloodlines

Normally Holly winter wouldn't be caught dead in a place like Puppy Luv -- a mall pet shop that's no doubt an outlet for the puppy mill industry and a hotbed of forged papers, broken promises and mistreated animals.  But a hot tip on a malamute pup suddenly has Holly charging to the rescue and panting to put the owner out of business.  Trouble is, she's not the only one who has a bone to pick with Diane Sweet.  in a matter of hours the puupy love proprietess is gruesomely murdered.
When Holly links the killing with the disappearance of another malamute -- an adorable live wire named Missy -- she digs up startling evidence that soon leads her into the fiercely competitive and deadly underworld of dog breeding.  A place where her biggest fears are realized.  And where her animal instincts are all that can save her.
*From the Paperback edition.*
### From Publishers Weekly
Conant ( Gone to the Dogs ) turns crusader in her energetic sixth dog-lover's mystery. Dog expert Holly Winter, the winsome narrator, can't resist passing along advice to dog lovers, whether on choosing an appropriate breed or on purchasing L. L. Bean Wellingtons ("the world's only genuinely waterproof boots . . . the best two-footed friend a dog walker ever had"). This missionary spirit is quickly kindled when a fellow dog lover tells her that a local pet shop is selling a malamute that appears to have been obtained from a puppy mill. Through Holly, Conant decries the cruel and inhumane treatment dogs receive at such breeding factories and urges readers to boycott retailers that do business with them. To Holly, animal abuse is tantamount to a capital offense, so she wastes no time mourning when the pet-shop owner is murdered, but she investigates the crime for the sake of the affected animals. Mafia bosses, animal rights activists, apparently reputable breeders and still more puppy mills figure in her detection. Suspense is tighter here than in many previous Conant mysteries, and her polemics add a welcome bite. Paws up.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
### From the Publisher
Normally Holly winter wouldn't be caught dead in a place like Puppy Luv -- a mall pet shop that's no doubt an outlet for the puppy mill industry and a hotbed of forged papers, broken promises and mistreated animals. But a hot tip on a malamute pup suddenly has Holly charging to the rescue and panting to put the owner out of business. Trouble is, she's not the only one who has a bone to pick with Diane Sweet. in a matter of hours the puupy love proprietess is gruesomely murdered.
When Holly links the killing with the disappearance of another malamute -- an adorable live wire named Missy -- she digs up startling evidence that soon leads her into the fiercely competitive and deadly underworld of dog breeding. A place where her biggest fears are realized. And where her animal instincts are all that can save her.