It all started with a walking holiday with Merle and her Bennett sisters, plus friend Gillian Sargeant, around Merle's holiday home in Malcouziac, Dordogne. Then the dog was found and the trouble began.
An enjoyable well-written mystery with these likeable Bennett sisters. ( )

The five Bennett sisters, New York lawyers all, are on vacation in France. Using Merle's house in the Dordogne region in southwest France as their base, they're doing walking tours to see the beautiful landscape. Unfortunately, from the viewpoint of most of them, one of the sisters, Francie, has brought along a friend from the law firm where she works, Gillian Sargent. And Gillian annoys everyone, including, it seems, Francie.

Then Gillian finds an injured dog, a small, fluffy, sweet dog with no ID. Gillian is determined to rescue and care for this dog. When he meets her, so is Merle's teenage son, Tristan. It gets more disturbing when the veterinarian they take the dog to tells them that the injury is due to, not a bullet as he originally thought, but the rough, amateur removal of a microchip. This dog was apparently stolen, and then escaped.

What follows is the tale of, on the one hand, the thieves hunting the dog so that they can collect their pay from their employer, conflicts among the women, Merle reuniting with her lover, Pascal, from last summer while coping with the uninvited arrival of her American boyfriend, James Silvers III, Gillian taking off with the dog leaving a note saying she's "keeping her safe"....

Oh, and Gillian steals their rental car to make off with the dog. Someone kidnaps Francie, with a ransom demand for the dog, which the thieves assume Merle has...

It's crazy, and yet real and dangerous.

Initially, I found all the women hard to warm up to. As the story continued, with Merle as the main viewpoint character, I grew to like her and, slowly, her sisters. Of her two boyfriends, Pascal is the clear keeper, if Merle wants to make a permanent commitment. (She may not.)

It's interesting, engaging, not going to be a favorite of mine, but I bet it will be for some readers. There's nothing weak or sloppy about the writing; these characters were just hard for me to warm up to, and not because of McClendon's writing, just because of what she wrote.

Oh, very important note: The dog does not die.

I bought this audiobook. ( )

Lise McClendon's characters are diverse and unique...but there are simply too many to concentrate on in ' The Girl in the Empty Dress'. I am not a girl with an empty brain, but the constant switching back and forth between the plethora of characters, their personalities and relationships had me disoriented in trying to keep them catalogued, and I lost the gist of the novel in the meantime. Perhaps a few different books out of these characters would be the better route, but this was a multi-car wreck that has me shaking my head! ( )

3 STARS

This was a nice story. I did not read the first book Blackbirds Fly at times I felt a little lost. It can stand alone though. Lots of charactes, lots of lawyers. lot of drama, some action, cute dog, lot of wine drinking, charming country side. Some strong language.

The plot at first is mostly 5 Bennett sisters on vacation together plus another friend. Lots of drama with getting along with each other. The second half of the book is more drama of a kidnapping, police. and desperate search to find the missing friend and the dog to trade to the kidnappers.

The characters were hard to keep track of. All five Bennett sisters were lawyers working in different areas of law. Even the extra woman on the vacation was a woman lawyer too.

Merle Bennett has a house in a small village in France. She spent last year their as well. This year she came back with her 15 year old son and her four sisters. They plan to hike around France. Merle has a friend she has been dating James plans to come visit while she is their. Last year she had a lover Pascal. She did not tell him that she was coming back and when.

Gillian is not getting along with any of the Bennett sisters. They tried to draw her out but she ignored them. Would break out in songs while they were walking. She found a hurt dog and planned to get him some medical help.

I was surprised at letting a 15 year old drink so much wine at dinners. I am not a drinker.

The pace was slow steady.

I would read another book by Lise McClendon in the future.

I was given this ebook to read and agreed to give honest review of it by Net Galley in return. ( )