Thorsday Book Review: Honey Dog Mystery #2!

A couple of months back, Mark and I read an early edition of the second in the Big Honey Dog Mystery series.  These are geared to kids, tweens really, but they are an entertaining, light read.  And since Mark had just passed from "tween" to "teen", he was a good critic for Hsin-Yi.

Then, last week, I received my own personal "pawtographed" copy of this book, and had the opportunity to read it again!

A SECRET IN TIME
by H. Y. Hanna

Honey the Great Dane has gone to a dog show with her person, Olivia, who was the official show photographer; many of her friends from book one are there, too, as spectators, and one, Suka, as a competitor.  Upon arrival, Honey learned that she has a sister, Anja, who looks just like her, but has been trained as a show dog!  So, when Anja fell mysteriously ill on the eve of the first round of competition, Honey quickly learned the rules of the ring and took her place.  Of course, she didn't win, because that would have been cheesy, but she did manage to hold her own in the competition.

There's nothing terribly mysterious in a dog show, of course, except that there had not been a dog show held at this location for 10 years, since the fire in which 2 dogs had perished.  And the grounds were said to be haunted by a Phantom Hound.  So, when other dogs began to fall ill after they had won one round of their competitions, it became clear to Honey, Ruffster, Biscuit and Suka that some nefarious scheme had been plotted.

This really was a fun book, with Honey and company getting to know many different dogs (and Ruffster becoming besotted by Collette the French Poodle).  As the book's cover says, "Haunted dog show.  Jealous rivals.  Serious slobber."  This author has a talent for telling a good, lighthearted story which is good as a read-along for grade school kids, and fun for tweens.  Fans of YA lit would probably enjoy this, too, since there are enough twists to keep the reader guessing as to the identity of the real culprit right to the end.  To paraphrase Ferrari the Cocker Spaniel, Hsin-Yi has proven her "kennel creds" as an author with this book.

This Thorsday Book Review is hosted by Buffy, AKA "Other Cat", who is visiting with us while her humans are gadding about in Europe.  Unlike Winston, Buffy is eager to play with anyone who passes her way, and doesn't ignore us in acknowledgement of our presence.  Plus, she does look somewhat like Honey the Great Dane's kitty sister, Meusli, so Buffy seemed like an appropriate hostess!

You can find this book here at Amazon; Buffy hopes you enjoy it!

Happy Thorsday on Friday, everyone!  Have a great weekend!