A Christmas Howl

By Laurien Berenson

A special novella that looks back on Christmas past, as a young Melanie Travis teams up with her aunt to solve a family mystery…

Ever wonder what Melanie and Aunt Peg were up to before solving murders? Let’s step back in time, when college-aged Melanie and her indomitable Aunt Peg were little more than strangers…
 
It’s Christmas in Connecticut, and Peg Turnbull can’t wait to spend her favorite holiday cozying up to husband Max and their clan of pedigree Poodles in Greenwich. But Peg’s spirits drop when the family of Max’s estranged brother Michael invites the pair over for Christmas dinner. Could her in-laws want to settle the long-standing feud over Nana’s will? Peg isn’t expecting any miracles, but it’s been ages since Peg last saw her niece and nephew. Little Melanie must be out of pigtails by now…
 
When they arrive at the Turnbulls’, Peg is not just surprised by how much Melanie has grown up. The family has spared no expense in preparing for the festivities—unusual, considering Michael blew his inheritance after years of financial troubles. Peg suspects there’s an awful secret tucked beneath her brother-in-law’s ostentatious good cheer, and she’s determined to get to the bottom of it. Once she does, someone’s ending up in the doghouse…

“If you like dogs, you'll love Laurien Berenson's Melanie Travis mysteries!”—Joanne Fluke, New York Times bestselling author

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kensington Books
• Release date: Nov 1, 2015
• ISBN: 9781496703507

Book preview

Books by Laurien Berenson

A PEDIGREE TO DIE FOR

UNDERDOG

DOG EAT DOG

HAIR OF THE DOG

WATCHDOG

HUSH PUPPY

UNLEASHED

ONCE BITTEN

HOT DOG

BEST IN SHOW

JINGLE BELL BARK

RAINING CATS AND DOGS

CHOW DOWN

HOUNDED TO DEATH

DOGGIE DAY CARE MURDER

GONE WITH THE WOOF

DEATH OF A DOG WHISPERER

THE BARK BEFORE CHRISTMAS

Published by Kensington Publishing Corporation

A Christmas Howl

Laurien Berenson

Kensington Publishing Corp.

http://www.kensingtonbooks.com

All copyrighted material within is Attributor Protected.

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Title Page

Teaser chapter

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Margaret Turnbull was a busy woman. She had a kennel full of Standard Poodles to care for, an article to finish writing for Poodle Variety, a litter of new puppies due after Christmas, and a big, wet, black dog lying on the grooming table in front of her waiting to be blown dry. What she didn’t have was time for needless interruptions.

Unless they came from her husband, Max, whom she adored.

Eileen wants us to do what? she asked. Turning off the switch on the freestanding dryer to silence its loud whine, she tilted the nozzle away and looked up. Peg was quite certain she’d heard Max right the first time. Still, she wanted to hear him say the words again.

Eileen and Michael have invited us to come for Christmas dinner, Max repeated.

Michael was Max’s older brother. Eileen was his wife. The couple had two children, a boy and a girl. Those children had barely been teenagers the last time she’d seen them, Peg realized. Busy with school and friends, and everything else that young people got up to, neither had been present on the infrequent occasions Peg had seen her in-laws recently.

I can’t imagine what prompted them to do something like that. Abruptly her good mood vanished. A vague feeling of disgruntlement took its place.

Christmas, now just a week away, was her favorite holiday. Peg loved everything about the occasion, from the cheery decorations to the sound of Christmas carols to the holiday pastries and sweets. Just the heady scent of evergreen was enough to lift her spirits.

Christmas was supposed to be a time of joy and goodwill. Except, Peg thought unhappily, where her in-laws were concerned.

Christmas dinner with your family, she said with a small frown. What an odd idea. You and Michael are barely on speaking terms. And he and Eileen have never liked me.

Don’t be silly— Max began.

Oh pish. Peg’s exclamation stopped him in his tracks. We’ve been married for twenty-five years. We certainly don’t need to rehash that old discussion. I am well and truly over the fact that your family disapproves of me for any number of reasons, not the least of which is that rather than producing a houseful of children, you and I ended up surrounded by Standard Poodles instead.

You can hardly be held accountable for that outcome, Max replied with a twinkle in his eye. Considering that the wedding present I got for you was the beginning of the Cedar Crest line.

Lovely, lovely Laurel. Peg remembered their first Standard Poodle with enormous fondness. A ten-week-old bundle of fluff and mischief with a shiny, black nose, beguiling eyes, and an old soul. I took one look and fell madly in love.

You weren’t the only one who was madly in love, Max said.

Peg slanted her husband a look. Her memories of their courtship were decidedly different. She recalled pursuing Max ardently—right up until the day she had let him catch her.

Don’t go mushy on me now, she said. At this late date, I refuse to believe that you’re really an old softie at heart.

Max just grinned. He knew full well that no one ever convinced his wife of anything that hadn’t started out as her own idea.

It’s amazing how far we’ve come since then, said Peg. And that here we are, so many years later, surrounded by Laurel’s descendants.

She gazed around the tidy kennel with satisfaction. The area in which they were standing was part grooming space and part sitting room. Two walls were covered with win photos, eight-by-ten pictures taken at the variety of dog shows over the years where she and Max had handled numerous Cedar Crest Standard Poodles to their championships. A third wall contained an overflowing trophy cabinet. The fourth had floor-to-ceiling shelves, filled with the assortment of equipment needed to keep their dogs’ coats in top condition.

Through a wide arched doorway, Peg could see the Poodles themselves. Two or three were sitting up and watching the activity in the grooming room. The rest were stretched out comfortably in their indoor runs. Currently she and Max had ten Standard Poodles, including Targa, the black male waiting patiently on the grooming table for her to resume his blow-dry, and Bonnie, who

Reviews for A Christmas Howl

[cathyskye · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I've run across this series several times over the years, and the covers-- which usually have adorable dogs on them-- always catch my eye. When I saw this digital holiday short story, I decided to give it a try to see if the series might be something I want to read. I also liked the idea that it was a prequel; I wouldn't feel as though I were walking in at the tail end of a joke and not understanding the punch line.I enjoyed "A Christmas Howl." Peg Turnbull is a character whom I would like to get to know better, and it certainly would be interesting to see how Melanie changes from uninteresting college student to Peg's sleuthing partner. Dog lovers like me are also going to like the canine aspect of the story. If you're put off because Peg raises Poodles, shame on you. Look past the silly haircuts! Poodles are second only to Border Collies in intelligence. They just haven't been able to train all their owners to stop the frou-frou business.As a prequel to a long-running mystery series, there isn't much of a mystery, but it's a good introduction to what's in store. I've learned over the past couple of years that these digital short stories are excellent for letting me "test the waters" of a new-to-me series. Berenson's "A Christmas Howl" has convinced me to spend more time with her characters.

[cbl_tn · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Just before Christmas I learned about Laurien Berenson's cozy mysteries about dog trainer Melanie Travis. I discovered that one of the Christmas stories is a prequel to the series and I thought it might be a good introduction to the series. I was wrong. A Christmas Howl is not really a mystery. It's just the revelation of the family dysfunctions that resulted in a rift between Melanie's father and his brother. None of the characters in this story are likeable – not even the college-aged Melanie. I'm going to give this series one more shot with one of the novel-length mysteries, hoping that my first impression of the series will be proved wrong.