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. While nosing around for clues, Melanie suspects a dangerous connection between Amanda's disappearance and the homicide case-a hunch that grows as her investigation reveals sketchy secrets about the late artist. Juggling a demanding teaching job, the pressures of the show ring, and a daunting suspect list, Melanie finds herself entangled in a mindboggling murder mystery . . . and hot on the trail of a desperate killer . . .