Susan Conant, Gaits of Heaven

Gaits of Heaven

Susan Conant

Berkley, Oct 2006, $22.95, 336 pp.

ISBN 0425211878

Ted and Eumie won training lessons for their golden Aussie hiskapoo at the Cambridge Dog Training Club. Holly Winter feels responsible for their good natured but untrained and not housebroken Dolfo since she was the one who convinced the club to offer the free lessons. She volunteers to train the Green's dog but at one of the very first lessons, Holly finds Eumie dead in her bed.

The police believe she was murdered because powerful drugs were found in a health drink that only she imbibed. Eumi's daughter Caprice, who can't stand her stepfather or stepbrother Wyeth, goes to live with Holly, her husband Steve and their five dogs. The remaining Greens are severely dysfunctional and infested by a plethoric of various mental health care needs. Wyeth is perhaps the most troubled of all and his actions lead to a group meeting consisting of anyone connected to the Greens including the killer.

Susan Conant is well known for her colorful and intriguing amateur sleuth mysteries. In addition to telling a great story, she deals with social issues that are relevant today and in Gaits Of Heaven the biggest issue she addresses is the over medication of doctors who don't communicate with their peers so they never fully know what pills their clients are taking. The plot is fast paced, the characters are hot and eccentric, and the dogs stealthily steal the show as is typical in a Ms. Conant tale.

Harriet Klausner