Bite Club By Laurien Berenson: Review/Giveaway

Jul 20, 2019 | 2019 Articles, Mysteryrat's Maze, Pets, Sandra Murphy

by Sandra Murphy

Details at the end of this post on how to enter to win a copy of Bite Club, and a link to purchase it from Amazon, and an indie bookstore where a portion of the sale goes to help support KRL.

Like Melanie Travis doesn’t have enough to do with two sons, thirteen-year-old Davie and four-year-old Kevin. She also has a husband, Sam, an overbearing Aunt Peg, and five black standard Poodles—and Bud, the mixed breed dog found by the side of the road. He was to be a temp but never left. Kev considers Bud to be his dog. Now Melanie has the idea to start a book club. What could go wrong?

First of all, Aunt Peg hijacks the book club and invites a few more people. Alice, Melanie’s former neighbor, brings someone new (Evan), as do other members. In all, seven has grown to thirteen by the time Peg is done.mystery

Evan is a quiet man with a colorful bruise on his jaw. His explanation of a fender bender doesn’t make sense when there’s not a mark on his car and air bags don’t mimic a right hook. After being around all the dog people, Evan decides to get a dog of his own by answering an ad on Craig’s List. He does have the good sense to ask Melanie for help. She’s glad because it’s apparent Evan knows nothing about dogs, especially a bulldog puppy.

When Evan doesn’t answer the door for one of their lessons, Melanie is annoyed. Finding the bulldog puppy wandering around near the street has her seeing red. She’s shocked when a police detective shows up at her door to say Evan has been murdered. In fact, he was probably already dead when Melanie arrived. A neighbor and book club member has pointed the finger at Melanie as a suspect.

Melanie never intends to get involved but after asking a few questions and doing some Google searches, it’s clear that Evan wasn’t the quiet man she’d met. He had a past, one that might have gotten him killed.

This is book twenty-three in the series. Melanie and Sam have a relationship to envy. Terry and Crawford (show dog handlers) play bigger roles this time as Terry confides in Melanie, putting her on the spot to help him. Davie, a beginning handler, is confident enough to stand up for himself with Peg, something Melanie has never mastered. Kev and the dogs are a true delight. While showing dogs looks like a jog around the ring to spectators, the amount of work, money, and time required amounts to more than anyone would expect. Berenson takes readers into prep area and out into the ring before the judges without the information ever getting in the way of the plot. This is a series I always enjoy. The next book never comes fast enough.

To enter to win a copy of Bite Club, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “bite,” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen July 27, 2019. U.S. residents only. If entering via email please include your mailing address (so if you win we can get the book sent right out to you), and if via comment please include your email address. You can read our privacy statement here if you like.

Check out other mystery articles, reviews, book giveaways & mystery short stories in our mystery section. And join our mystery Facebook group to keep up with everything mystery we post, and have a chance at some extra giveaways. Be sure to check out our new mystery podcast too with mystery short stories, and first chapters read by local actors.

Use this link to purchase the book & a portion goes to help support KRL & indie bookstore Mysterious Galaxy:

You can also use this link to purchase the book on Amazon. If you have ad blocker on you may not see the link:

Sandra Murphy lives in the shadow of the Arch in St. Louis Missouri. She writes about eco-friendly topics, pets and wildlife for magazines and reviews mysteries and thrillers for KRL. A collection of her short stories, published by Untreed Reads, From Hay to Eternity: Ten Tales of Crime and Deception can be found at all the usual outlets. Each one is a little weird and all have a twist you won’t see coming.

Disclosure: This post contains links to an affiliate program, for which we receive a few cents if you make purchases using those links. KRL also receives free copies of most of the books that it reviews, that are provided in exchange for an honest review of the book.

24 Comments

  1. Love this story and dogs are my favorite companion.

    Reply
  2. Once again, a fabulous review! Thanks you. This is such a great series….
    Mailing address: Kathleen Bylsma

    5301 East 100th Ave.

    Anchorage AK 99507

    Reply
  3. I would love to win a copy of this book to read/review! Thank you so much! bentleyboy22@comcast.net

    Reply
  4. Would love to read this, sounds like fun!

    Reply
  5. This is my favorite series. Thanks for the contest. ckmbeg (at) gmail (dot) com

    Reply
  6. This sounds comedic. Hijacking a book club? Count me in!

    Reply
  7. Love books featuring dogs. Looking forward to reading.
    diannekc8(at)gmail(dot)com

    Reply
  8. I enjoy this series and would like to win a copy of Bite Club. rebarger(at)bellsouth(dot)net

    Reply
  9. Great cover, that dog just has so much attitude. Thanks for the chance to win a copy of Bite Club! crs(at)codedivasites(dot)com

    Reply
  10. Great cover! Thanks for the chance. JL_Minter (at) hotmail (dot) com

    Reply
  11. Great cover, thanks for sharing. Thanks for the chance to win a copy of Bite Club!
    kckendler at gmail dot com

    Reply
  12. Love this series. Can’t wait to
    read the next installment.
    thanks for the chance.
    txmlhl(at)yahoo(dot)com

    Reply
  13. Wonderful review! I cant believe I havent heard of this series. Thanks for the chance! bernice-kennedy(at)sbcglobal(dot)net

    Reply
  14. I facilitate a mystery book club, and boy would I love it if someone would hijack it with new people. Since we meet at dinnertime, I suspect we are really a dining group.

    Karen94066 at aol dot com

    Reply
  15. Wonderful write-up of Berenson’s new book

    Reply
  16. I have always thought Craig’s List would be the beginning of a good murder. Sounds great.
    Marilyn ewatvess@yahoo.com

    Reply
  17. Is love to read it in New. Thank you for the chance it sounds delightful. Also fun to read.

    Reply
    • I’d love to read it. I’m new to you.

      Reply
  18. Thanks for offering this giveaway! This is a new author to me! lindaherold999(at)gmail(dot)com

    Reply
  19. Thanks for the contest. trwilliams69(at)msn(dot)com

    Reply
  20. We have a winner!

    Reply
  21. Would love to win a copy!

    Reply

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