Dog Lover's Mysteries Books in Order
Part ofSusan Conant Books in OrderBrowse the Dog Lover's Mysteries by Susan Conant in order, with Holly Winter summaries, series background, and help choosing the best place to start.
Last updated: July 5, 2026
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Dog Lover's Mysteries books in publication order
20 books
A New Leash on Death
by Susan Conant
1990
In Holly Winter's first case, a murder at an obedience event turns a dog columnist and trainer into an amateur sleuth. With Rowdy, a stray malamute, newly in her life, Holly starts following the clues.
Dead and Doggone
by Susan Conant
1990
A missing wolf-dog, a murdered trainer, and a cruel scam pull Holly into the rougher side of the pet world. The deeper she digs into Cambridge's dog scene, the more dangerous the case becomes.
A Bite of Death
by Susan Conant
1991
Holly is called in to help with Kimi, a fierce Alaskan malamute whose owners keep dying under suspicious circumstances. Taking the dog into her own home means solving the case before the danger follows her there.
Paws Before Dying
by Susan Conant
1991
A top obedience handler dies during a thunderstorm, and everyone assumes it was a terrible accident. Holly, helped by Rowdy, Kimi, and cousin Leah, suspects the training world is hiding something uglier.
Bloodlines
by Susan Conant
1992
A tip about a malamute puppy sends Holly into a mall pet shop she already distrusts. After the owner is murdered and another dog vanishes, Holly uncovers cruelty, fraud, and dangerous breeding secrets.
Gone to the Dogs
by Susan Conant
1992
When a local veterinarian and a pampered pet disappear, Holly and Steve Delaney start digging through the Cambridge dog scene. The case leads from training-club politics to a crime that feels alarmingly personal.
Black Ribbon
by Susan Conant
1994
A week at a fancy dog camp in Maine sounds like heaven for Holly and Rowdy. Then backstabbing, a threatening condolence card, and a suspicious death turn the retreat into a canine summer from hell.
Ruffly Speaking
by Susan Conant
1994
Holly meets Ruffly, a hearing dog with a sharp mind and a worried owner, while questions still linger around an earlier death. When the dog begins reacting to something no one else notices, Holly follows the lead.
Stud Rites
by Susan Conant
1996
At the Alaskan Malamute National Specialty Show, Holly expects competition, gossip, and nerves, not murder. When an elderly judge is killed, the close-knit dog-show world becomes a very tight circle of suspects.
Animal Appetite
by Susan Conant
1997
A bet to write about something other than dogs sends Holly into an old death that may never have been suicide. Her new subject quickly turns into a live mystery with fresh reasons for someone to stay quiet.
Evil Breeding
by Susan Conant
1999
Holly's new book project on the grand old Geraldine Rockefeller Dodge dog shows opens doors to buried grudges and fresh danger. What starts as research soon becomes a murder investigation with a very long memory.
The Barker Street Regulars
by Susan Conant
1999
Rowdy's work as a therapy dog leads Holly to a Cambridge nursing home and a trio of sharp elderly Sherlock Holmes fans. When a relative of one resident is murdered, the group takes up the case.
Creature Discomforts
by Susan Conant
2000
After a fall on a mountain in Acadia leaves her with amnesia, Holly has to figure out who she is before she can solve anything else. A suspicious death nearby suggests her accident was no accident at all.
The Wicked Flea
by Susan Conant
2002
Still recovering from a serious head injury, Holly tries to settle back into ordinary life with her dogs. Then a difficult local dog owner is found dead, and Holly is pulled into another case she can't ignore.
The Dogfather
by Susan Conant
2003
Mob boss Enzio Guarini hires Holly to train his new elkhound puppy, a job that sounds risky before anyone dies. Once his right-hand man turns up dead, Holly is trapped between a vendetta and a very dangerous family.
Bride & Groom
by Susan Conant
2005
Days before her wedding to veterinarian Steve Delaney, Holly gets drawn into a murder case involving women in the dog world. Juggling nerves, danger, and a possible serial killer makes this no ordinary trip to the altar.
Gaits of Heaven
by Susan Conant
2006
Holly agrees to train Dolfo, an unruly designer dog owned by a pair of quirky therapists. When one of them dies in what looks like an overdose, Holly gets pulled into a messy family mystery.
All Shots
by Susan Conant
2007
Asked to help find Strike, a missing Siberian husky, Holly instead stumbles into a stranger case involving a dead woman who shares her name. The trail leads through identity theft, drugs, and the darker edges of the dog world.
Brute Strength
by Susan Conant
2011
Holly makes enemies when she turns away people who want to adopt rescued dogs. Anonymous threats, suspicious deaths, and trouble close to home force her to lean on Rowdy, Kimi, and Sammy.
Sire and Damn
by Susan Conant
2015
Holly helps her pregnant friend Rita through a chaotic Cambridge wedding as feuding, secretive relatives crowd the house. When a break-in turns deadly, Holly trusts the dogs more than the people and starts sorting lies from facts.
Dog Lover's Mysteries books in chronological order

A New Leash on Death
by Susan Conant
1990Dog Lover's Mysteries, Book 1
Dead and Doggone
by Susan Conant
1990Dog Lover's Mysteries, Book 2
A Bite of Death
by Susan Conant
1991Dog Lover's Mysteries, Book 3
Paws Before Dying
by Susan Conant
1991Dog Lover's Mysteries, Book 4
Gone to the Dogs
by Susan Conant
1992Dog Lover's Mysteries, Book 5
Bloodlines
by Susan Conant
1992Dog Lover's Mysteries, Book 6
Ruffly Speaking
by Susan Conant
1994Dog Lover's Mysteries, Book 7
Black Ribbon
by Susan Conant
1994Dog Lover's Mysteries, Book 8
Stud Rites
by Susan Conant
1996Dog Lover's Mysteries, Book 9
Animal Appetite
by Susan Conant
1997Dog Lover's Mysteries, Book 10
Evil Breeding
by Susan Conant
1999Dog Lover's Mysteries, Book 11
The Barker Street Regulars
by Susan Conant
1999Dog Lover's Mysteries, Book 12
Creature Discomforts
by Susan Conant
2000Dog Lover's Mysteries, Book 13
The Wicked Flea
by Susan Conant
2002Dog Lover's Mysteries, Book 14
The Dogfather
by Susan Conant
2003Dog Lover's Mysteries, Book 15
Bride & Groom
by Susan Conant
2005Dog Lover's Mysteries, Book 16
Gaits of Heaven
by Susan Conant
2006Dog Lover's Mysteries, Book 17
All Shots
by Susan Conant
2007Dog Lover's Mysteries, Book 18
Brute Strength
by Susan Conant
2011Dog Lover's Mysteries, Book 19
Sire and Damn
by Susan Conant
2015Dog Lover's Mysteries, Book 20
Series background & context
At the center of the Dog Lover's Mysteries is Holly Winter, a Cambridge, Massachusetts, dog trainer and magazine columnist who knows canine behavior down to the last twitch of an ear. In A New Leash on Death, what starts as everyday life in the obedience world turns into murder, and that setup tells you a lot about the series. These books begin with dogs, dog people, and dog routines, then show how quickly those worlds can go sideways.
Holly's closest companions are her Alaskan malamutes, especially Rowdy and Kimi, and later Sammy. They are not cartoon sidekicks, and they do not solve cases by magic. What they do is even better. They behave like real dogs, with their own habits, loyalties, frustrations, and sudden flashes of instinct, and Holly is good at noticing what their behavior says about the humans around them.
The setting matters a lot. Conant uses Cambridge and the wider Boston area as a lived-in map of training clubs, veterinary offices, cramped apartments, dog shows, rescue networks, parks, and intensely opinionated households. Some books head farther afield, to Maine camps, national breed shows, or wealthy summer communities, but the series always feels anchored in a very specific dog world. If you like stories that know the details of a subculture from the inside, this series does that well.
These are real dog books.
A big part of the appeal is Holly herself. She is funny, stubborn, nosy, and deeply serious about animal welfare. Her relationship with veterinarian Steve Delaney develops across the books, and recurring figures like cousin Leah, her father Buck, and a rotating cast of breeders, handlers, and clients make the series feel cumulative. The murders are usually self-contained, but the personal story moves forward, which is one good reason to read in order.
People lie. Dogs usually don't.
That makes the tone interesting. The series is cozy in the sense that it stays close to community, conversation, and amateur detection, but Conant is also interested in rescue work, bad breeding practices, vanity, money, and the ways people use animals to show off or hide. Books like Gone to the Dogs, Stud Rites, The Barker Street Regulars, and All Shots all spring from different corners of that world, yet they share the same core pleasure, Holly reading human trouble through canine eyes. If you want the fullest payoff, start with A New Leash on Death and keep going from there.
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