As owner of prize-winning Poodles, Melanie Travis knows how to handle fierce competition. But when a conformation show turns deadly, it'll take every trick in the book to outsmart a murderer who refuses to lose . . . With the excitement of the spring dog show season sweeping Connecticut, Melanie is determined to help her son finally lead his Standard Poodle toward a championship title.

Aunt Peg even skips the judging panel to exhibit a pup of her own, and she's set on standing out from the pack with a handmade leash from Jasmine Crane, a talented canine portrait artist who also crafts stunning accessories for discriminating show-goers. Jasmine's handiwork is to die for--but Aunt Peg didn't expect to discover the woman murdered behind the concession booth, strangled by one of her dazzling custom creations . . . Another shockwave ripples through the close-knit show community when Amanda, Aunt Peg's longtime dog sitter and a renter on Jasmine's property, ominously vanishes that same day.

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