Ruffly Speaking

THE CRITICS LOVE SUSAN CONANT’S DOG LOVER’S MYSTERIES!
     
    “CONANT MIGHT BE THE DOG LOVER’S ANSWER TO LILIAN JACKSON BRAUN’S THE CAT WHO SERIES.”
    —Rocky Mountain News
     
    “TOSS MS. CONANT A BISCUIT. IF THERE’S A CLASS CALLED ‘DOG MYSTERIES,’ SHE’S GOT A BEST OF BREED.”
    —Rendezvous
     
    “COME. SIT. STAY.”
    —Kirkus Reviews
     
    “PUREBRED ENTERTAINMENT.WITH PAPERS.”
    — Clarion-Ledger, Jackson
     
    “IF YOU’VE SUSPECTED MYSTERIES ARE GOING TO THE DOGS, SUSAN CONANT’S LATEST COULD WELL CONFIRM THAT THEORY.”
    —Greenwich Time/Stamford Advocate
     
    “THE PERFECT GIFT FOR THE DOG-LOVER WITH EVERYTHING.”
    —The Globe and Mail, Toronto
     
    “PAWS FOR A MOMENT, IF YOU LIKE DOGS.”
    —Cox News Service
     
    RUFFLY SPEAKING “A REAL TAIL-WAGGER.”
    —The Washington Post
     
    “YOU’D BETTER GO FETCH THIS.”
    —Kirkus Reviews
    “A FINE READ, A STORY THAT IS AS FASCINATING FOR ITS DOG LORE AS FOR ITS MYSTERY PLOT.”
    —Romantic Times
     
    “Ms. Conant has the ability to make her characters (both canine and human) come alive.”
    —Mystery News
    BLOODLINES “Conant’s dog-centered mystery is LIVELY, FUNNY, AND ABSOLUTE PREMIUM.”
    —Kirkus Reviews
    “IF YOU’RE A ‘DOG PERSON’... THIS BOOK IS DEFINITELY FOR YOU.”
    —Rendezvous
    “Susan Conant gives new meaning to the phrase ‘sniffing out clues.’ ”
    —Dog Fancy magazine
    “HIGHLY RECOMMENDED FOR LOVERS OF DOGS, PEOPLE, AND ALL-AROUND GOOD STORYTELLING!”
    —Mystery News
     
    “Engrossing... unique!”
    —Mystery Forum
     
    GONE TO THE DOGS
    “AN ABSOLUTELY FIRST-RATE MYSTERY... and a fascinating look at the world of dogs... I loved it.”
    —Diane Mott Davidson, author of
    The Cereal Murders and The Last Suppers
     
    “Conant’s dogs are real, true, and recognizable. BOTH DOG AND MYSTERY LOVERS KNOW A CHAMPION WHEN THEY SEE ONE. GONE TO THE DOGS DEFINITELY WINS BEST OF BREED.”
    —Carolyn G. Hart, award-winning author of Dead Man’s Island
     
    “Conant infuses her writing with a healthy dose of humor about Holly’s Fido-loving friends and other Cambridge clichés; the target of her considerable wit clearly emerges as human nature.”
    —Publishers Weekly
     
    “AN ENJOYABLE READ FOR ANIMAL LOVERS OF ALL KINDS.”
    —Mystery Lovers Bookshop News
     
    “Holly Winter is a friendly, funny, salty, boundlessly enthusiastic guide to the noble and nefarious in the world of dogs. And the dogs are real enough to pat!”
    —P. M. Carlson, author of Bad Blood
     

ALSO BY SUSAN CONANT
     
    *Bloodlines
    *Gone to the Dogs
    Paws Before Dying
    A Bite of Death
    Dead and Doggone
    A New Leash on Death
    *Black Ribbon
     
    * Available from Bantam Books
     
    Coming soon in paperback from Bantam Books:
     
    Stud Rites
     

 

All of the characters in this book are fictitious, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
     
    This edition contains the complete text of the original hardcover edition.
    NOT ONE WORD HAS BEEN OMITTED.
     
    RUFFLY SPEAKING
    A Bantam Book / published in association with Doubleday
     
    PUBLISHING HISTORY
    Doubleday hardcover edition / April 1994
    Bantam paperback edition / November 1994
     
     
     
    All rights reserved.
    Copyright © 1994 by Susan Conant.
    Cover art copyright © 1994 by Daniel Craig.
    Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 93-11380.
    No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieved system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
    For information address: Bantam Books.
     
If you purchased this book without a cover you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the publisher and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”
     
    ISBN 0-553-29484'9
     
    Published simultaneously in the United States and Canada
     
    Bantam Books are published by Bantam Books, a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc. Its trademark, consisting of the words “Bantam Books” and the portrayal of a rooster, is Registered in U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries. Marca Registrada. Bantam Books, 1540 Broadway, New York, New York 10036.
     
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