[.ca] Black Ribbon (ISBN 0553762257)

She's no Agatha Christie:
After seeking out and buying the entire Holly Winter series, this one -- my first hardcover purchase -- was the one that put me off the series for several years. Agatha Christie originally became famous by breaking one of the cardinal rules of the whodunnit (whoever is the murderer, it's NOT the narrator). In this book Conant breaks a different but even more important rule of the genre, which makes the entire novel pointless. I have not been so unhappy with a novel in this genre since Robert Goldsborough's faux 'Nero Wolfe' novel where the killer commits suicide halfway through the book, and the book continues on anyway. Later volumes in the Holly series recover some of the old magic, but this one is almost a total loss.

A Big Whiner:
I have enjoyed several of the books in this series, but found this one to be very slow going. All the protagonist seems to do is whine and complain about the other characters -- that is, when she's not launching into long digressions. The latter are, perhaps, meant to be informative about dogdom and humorous, but in this book Holly's usual digressive monologues left me cold. Try some of the other books in the series instead.

Let's NOT get to the point:
It's kinda funny how I was introduced to Holly. My girlfriend, Kimmie, really enjoys reading and she would read to me on our one and a half hour trip to work each day. We stared with Susans first Malamute book and proceeded in order. I finished "Black Ribbon" this week and was extrememly dissapointed. All Holly did was complain about camp Waggin' Tail. Basically all of the characters were made out to be a thorn in her side. None of the "regular" characters had any significant roles. It took me a long time to finish the book, because it just did not keep my attention. I just ordered "Evil Breeding". If it is as boring as "Black Ribbon", I won't be buying anymore "Holly" books.

Keep on writing Ms. Conant!:
i really enjoyed this book and have read it many times. Ms. Conant is really doing well on her writing. this has to be my #1 favorite Conant book along with her 1st, A new leash on death. it is well written and has a good topic. the part where Rowdy saved Holly was 1 of my favorite parts.i dont see why anyone wouldn't like it.

A little dissappointing:
I've read many of the Susan Conant books, but this one I could barely finish, it was sort of boring actually. It seems to me that Holly Winter seems sort of like a lazy like character. Whenever someone insults her, she does nothing. She doesn't seem to show any affection or teddy bear love for her two malamutes. She feeds them and makes sure they don't fight, but other than that she does nothing. I don't think that I've ever read a Susan Conant book where Holly sits down, praises her dogs, and tells them that she loves them. She does a lot with the dogs, but shows little or no "loving care" for her dogs. A dog is not an object that can be dissmissed as Holly does. This book is very slow going.