Susan Slater

Set in a New Mexico pueblo, this novel gives an interesting view of Native American customs and beliefs. I picked it up largely because of the recommendation by Tony Hillerman whose Navaho stories I find totally fascinating.

The plot focuses on a series of sudden deaths among elderly members of the tribe, including the grandmother of the leading character, Ben Pecos. Ben is a psychologist serving an internship at the local Indian health centre, returning after many years to the place of his show more birth, and uncertain whether he wants to stay there. He becomes involved in the search for the source of the deaths. I’m not clear how a psychologist fits into the situation - that part of his background doesn’t enter into the story at all.

I found it interesting, but not gripping, The characters did not come to life for me, except for one minor character, a very old man who is unable to communicate verbally, but is nevertheless endearing. show less

I'm not really sure why this mystery fell flat for me. The plot(s) are intricate and twisty, and I generally love that!

I think it was the tone. Even the exciting parts were written in a very plain, matter-of-fact way with almost no tension.

Similarly, all the characters are ciphers, or maybe puppets going through the motions. Even in highly emotional passages, their actions and reactions fall flat. I think Slater probably did see all these characters as vibrant individuals, but did not show more communicate this to the reader, which meant that many of their actions and choices seemed random.

It could have used a good editor, both to point out these problems and to correct many of the errors in grammar (and sometimes in sense). Plus, there were some interesting threads that were not followed, and these might have been advantageously excised.

I doubt I will read more by this author. show less

Hair of the Dog by Susan Slater is a cozy mystery that is not quite so cozy. If you are a dog lover, this one is for you. It has a cast of characters that will have you sifting through the evidence in search of the guilty party. Susan did not make it easy for me to find the answers I was looking for, but she did make the journey enjoyable.

Fucher Crumm most always has his faithful dog, Sadie, at his side, until now. She has been missing since the murder of one of Daytona’s biggest kennel show more owners and the fire at the Daytona track. Aww no. I don’t want anything to happen to her.

Fucher had won a settlement against the city when he was hit by one of their trucks. He is a bit slow, friendly and generous with his money, but his main love is the dogs at the kennel. He loves working with them and went above and beyond to save them during the fire. Now he is accused of causing the fire and murdering Sanchez. Is he an easy target for a frame-up or is he guilty?

Dan was on his honeymoon with Elaine in Daytona. When his boss, United Life and Casualty called about the fire and the missing dogs, he figured he could mix business with pleasure. Elaine was game, in fact she was ready to make a career change and thought now was the perfect time. She was going to train to become a private investigator and they could team up. Her job is snooping and she thought that quite funny.

I loved Dan’s description of his dog’s, Simon’s, doggy resort. A bed, a pool and plenty of toys for the pushy Rottweiler.

Susan Slater mentioned that Elaine was surprised at all the pine trees in Florida. I thought that was funny, because I marveled at the same when I moved here. Florida is so much more than sand and palm trees.

Dan went to the track and Elaine went for a walk, thus we meet Sadie and the picture on the cover delivers a clue.

The treatment of Fucher by the guard in the jail really pissed me off. It is deplorable and mean and I would like to reach into the pages and punch him. The warden seems okay, or is he just covering his butt?

Dixie Halifax is a co-owner of the track and has five of her dogs kenneled there. Now they are missing. Bit suspicious don’t you think? I love Susan Slater’s description of Dixie, she has the characteristics of a greyhound. Isn’t it a common theme that owners take on the looks of the critters they own? What about if you own a lizard? LOL

Susan Slater proves she is a talented author by including so many plots and subplots into a Hair of the Dog, her latest cozy mystery. The cast of characters are interesting and the murderer…well, Susan had a surprise or two for me. I enjoyed the humorous writing and lively banter that comes with a cozy mystery, making it easy to relate to the characters. I look forward to reading more of her work.

I received an ARC of Hair of the Dog by Susan Slater in return for and honest and unbiased review. show less

Psychologist Ben Pecos has just returned to his birthplace, the Tewa Pueblo in New Mexico, to intern with the Indian Health Service. He was adopted as a young child, growing up outside the Pueblo. Unfortunately, just as he returns, Tribal elders begin dying from a mysterious illness that kills quickly. Ten tribal members, including Pecos' grandmother, die from the virus. The IHS and an investigative reporter from Albuquerque work together to discover the source of the upper respiratory show more illness and how to stop it. During their investigation, they discover that the outbreak might not be accidental and that land fraud, murder and greed are behind the deaths.

I enjoyed the descriptions of life in the Pueblo and Tewa traditions. But, the mystery portion of the plot just seemed a bit too contrived. The virus is spread with tainted pumpkin seeds by men who want to build a casino in the Pueblo. The whole time I was reading I kept thinking to myself that in real life if a tribal elder stood in the way of major criminals there would be an easier way to murder him than to give him a packet of pumpkin seeds tainted with manufactured hantavirus. The plot wound around and became unnecessarily convoluted because the murder plot itself was ridiculously melodramatic. People with greedy, evil intent don't cook up devious plans to kill people with a virus....they just kill the person outright, or make it look like a simple accident. An over-done murder plan with too many people involved just increases the chances of something going wrong.....and in this case, that's the very thing that happens. Instead of killing only the one tribal elder they wanted dead....they killed 10 people. Then they had to kill more people to cover up the fact that they had killed people. That does help an author round out a 250 page book, but it's obviously fiction and not something that would realistically happen. I almost stopped reading the book when someone with the IHS called Ben Pecos to tell him that she had found micro-punctures at the base of the pumpkin seeds where something had been injected. It was like bad CSI-style pseudo-science.

The romance angle between Ben Pecos and Julie Conlin, a reporter from Albuquerque, seemed a bit forced to me. It was a bit like the author knew she needed to have some romance in the book so just conveniently dropped in a cute, anglo female reporter and *poof*.... insta-romance! Bit meh on the lovey-dovey portion of the plot, too.

There are two more Ben Pecos mystery novels by Susan Slater. I like the tribal lore and descriptions enough to read the next book. I hope the mystery element is better in the remaining books. That portion of the plot really fell flat for me in this first book. If the second book, Yellow Lies, is as overly melodramatic as this one, I won't read the third and final book of the series.

All in all, this book was ok. I much prefer Tony Hillerman.

My rating: 5/10
Ages: 13 show less