Hair of the Dog

May 4, 2015
Weak, inconsistent characterization mars Slater’s third Dan Mahoney mystery (after 2014’s Rollover), which takes the insurance investigator to Daytona Beach, Fla., after a racetrack fire leaves a man and five valuable greyhounds dead. When one of the allegedly dead dogs later wins a Miami race, Dan suspects fraud by the track’s co-owner, a high-powered woman whose deceased husband had Mafia ties. Meanwhile, Dan’s fiancée, Elaine Linden, decides to train as a PI. Her first client is Dan’s mother, who’s thinking of moving to Florida with a new flame, but wants the man checked out first. Elaine unearths a possible Mafia connection, while her new boss, an ex-FBI agent, investigates a mob money-laundering scheme. Their cases and Dan’s converge in an unlikely resolution hinging on a series of improbable coincidences and problematic chronology. The dogs add an endearing element, however, and readers will enjoy the behind-the-scenes look at greyhound racing and retired-greyhound adoption.

May 1, 2015
Insurance investigator Dan Mahoney (Rollover, 2014, etc.) checks out monkey business at a Florida greyhound track. Dixie Halifax, owner of the Daytona Beach Kennel Club and Poker Room, wants United Life and Casualty to pay her for five racers she lost in a fire at the local track. But Fucher Crumm, who cared for the dogs, swears that the five weren't in their cages the night of the fire. Since Fucher, despite his intellectual challenges, managed to save all the other greyhounds that night, Dan believes his story. But it's hard for Dan to sell that story, since the dog handler is currently in the Volusia County Correctional Center, charged with the death of trainer Jackson Sanchez, who also perished the night of the blaze. While Dan's fiancee, Elaine Linden, looks after Sadie, Fucher's pet greyhound, Dan noses around. When vet Kevin Elliott tells him that he cremated all five dogs the night of the fire, Dan's radar begins to ping. It pings even louder when Pete Ellis admits that he "corrected" the identifying ear tattoos of several dogs. Meanwhile, Elaine, hoping to qualify for her private investigator's license, asks PI Scott Ramsey to supervise her in a case commissioned by none other than her prospective mother-in-law, Maggie Mahoney, who wants to find out if her new boyfriend, Stanley Evers, is legit. Dan may be at the dog track, but Elaine is in even deeper doo-doo, as she finds out more about Stanley than anyone should know. Dan's third appearance starts out strong but fades in the back stretch as complications pile on and coincidences pile up.

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June 1, 2015
Insurance investigator Dan Mahoney (Rollover, 2014) thinks his latest assignment will be at least a partial vacation. The company sends him to Florida to check out the deaths of five valuable racing greyhounds in a fire at the Daytona dog track. He brings his fiancee, Elaine, along for the fun. It appears to be a simple case. The dogs died of smoke inhalation, and a track employee, Fucher Crumm, has been arrested and charged with setting the fire and murdering kennel owner Jackson Sanchez, whose body was found at the scene. Crumm managed to save all of the other dogs and swears he did not commit either crime. Dan believes him and goes to work to find the guilty party. Meanwhile, Dan and Elaine also have to deal with Dan's mother, Maggie, who has moved into a nearby senior-citizen community with her boyfriend, who may be laundering money for the Mafia. Fans of offbeat crime capers will enjoy this jaunty tale, which offers a bit of romance, plenty of humor, and, of course, dogs to go with the mystery.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)