I loved reading all the Melanie Travis mysteries, and I enjoyed this one too! It's Christmas time on Connecticut, and Melanie's brother has, out of the blue, bought a Christmas tree farm.
When Melanie, her family and her poodles go over to see the property, Melanie and her Aunt Peg hear a whining noise in the woods. They investigate and find a small dog with his dead owner, a well-known drunken homeless man named Pete. The police rule his death an accident, but Melanie isn't so sure after a friend of Pete's shows up at the farm and tells her that Pete has been sober for months.

Melanie follows the trail to Pete's hometown and starts investigating. She won't stop until she finds out who murdered him with the help of her poodles and her Aunt Peg.

The book is well written and the plot well thought out. The characters are delightful. Melanie and her family are fun to read about. This is a great cozy mystery read perfect for Christmas!

I highly recommend this book. Thanks to Kensington Books and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Once again Melanie's brother Frank has gotten himself in a tight spot. His impulsive purchase of a Christmas tree farm turns out to have more problems than just the dilapidated condition of the property.

This is a well written cozy mystery but what gives it an added edge is Melanie's wit and .sarcastic humor.

This is the 21st Melanie Travis Mystery! I have read them all and enjoy the interesting cast of characters both human and canine.

An easy to read and follow mystery. Love the characters and can't wait until her next book. Another whodunit that keeps you guessing.

I had an opportunity to read this new Melanie Travis mystery as an ARC on Netgalley, as I've always enjoyed her dog-show based mysteries. However, I was a bit irritated to discover that they want full price for this story when it's really only a novella.

Thanksgiving has barely concluded when Melanie's brother Frank, once a bit of a sad sack, but now a successful business owner, husband, and father, arrives at the Driver home with exciting news: he has taken the profits from his business (a coffee shop called the Bean Counter) and invested in a new business, a Christmas tree farm. Trouble is, he hasn't told his partner (Melanie's ex-husband) he did so and wants Melanie to tell him. Understandably, Bob Travis is a bit irritated, so Melanie and her family (and redoubtable Aunt Peg) accompany Frank and Bob when they go to check out the property, which is run-down but promising. Unfortunately, they also find a body in the woods, an alcoholic homeless man named Pete. Everyone thinks it's an accident—until a friend of Pete's appears and says Pete had stopped drinking and there's no way he walked into that "accident." So once again Melanie is sleuthing as she tries to shop, bake, decorate, and listen to gift hints from her two sons.

This is a quick, festive read, with the reclamation of the Christmas tree farm almost more interesting than the mystery. I loved being with Melanie and her family for Christmas, but the mystery is almost too slight. Another subplot and a full book's worth of story would have helped.

Getting ready for Christmas and working at an elite academy is hard enough for Melanie Travis without the additional problems that her brother Frank and ex-husband Bob decide to bring to her door when they buy a Christmas tree farm only a few weeks before Christmas. The tree farm is a bit run down, but that is not the real problem. The real problem is that a dead body is found there, along with a full-bred Maltese. So Melanie is busy chasing clues, along with her beautiful standard poodle companion Faith, until she finally solves the mystery, with a little help from Santa. This is a cozy mystery with a yummy cookie recipe at the end!

This is a short but rather well done cozy holiday mystery. Melanie Travis is busy working on things for her teaching job at the elite Howard Academy, while her poodle menagerie sits at her feet, when her brother Frank comes in to announce that he and his partner, Melanie’s ex, Bob, have bought a dilapidated Christmas Tree farm in the nearby town. Soon Melanie, her two young sons and her husband, along with Frank, Bob and Aunt Peg are off to check out the tree farm. During their visit to the farm, Melanie uncovers the dead body of a homeless man, known as Pete, frozen to death in the woods, after being hit by a large tree branch while inebriated. The police, who are called to the scene, conclude this has been an unfortunate accident, but something does not rig true to Melanie and Aunt Peg, who begin looking into Pete’s background to see what might have caused the “accident”. After the autopsy reveals that Pete was sober at the time of his death, the police accident ruling changes. In the story, however, there is almost no involvement of the police in this book’s investigation, but focuses on Melanie’s and Aunt Peg’s efforts. Melanie finds, through questioning of people she tracks down that Pete knew, that Pete’s life was not what anyone thought it was. Melanie, with sometimes help from Aunt Peg, ferrets through a myriad of clues to figure out and solve this mystery.

Once again, the author has provided a wonderful but interesting cozy mystery, set during the holidays. The story includes but is not limited to, mentions and incidents with the family’s adorable poodles. Melanie’s family, to include her two young sons, is present in full force. The youngest, Kevin, is the adorable toddler he always is. The older on, Davy, has grown into a serious, mature pre-teen/teen, who cares for his younger brother while interjecting words of advice and wisdom, that sometimes belie his age. Then, there is Aunt Peg, feisty and overbearing as usual, but who manages to save the day in the final pages of the book. As with the others in the series, this is a short but well-done book that can and will brighten any reader’s day by reading it—as well as bring a bit of holiday cheer during the Christmas season. I loved it as much as the others. I am not sure it is a novella, mostly because it does cross the 200 plus page mark, though not by much. It is an easy, enjoyable read, which will put anyone in the holiday spirit, while bringing some smiles to the reader’s face. I highly recommend it and easily gave it five stars. I received this from NetGalley to read and review.

Wonderful Christmas Cozy
Wagging through the Snow is the 21st book in Laurien Berenson’s Melanie Travis Mystery series and is a wonderful book. The author provides great background information and the characters’ histories and relationships are easy to understand. The storyline is well plotted and flows at a steady, relaxed pace, and the well-developed characters are relatable. I find Ms. Berenson’s writing style to be smooth and calming, with witty statements and she sends a strong message of caring and compassion in her books. I highly recommend this series to anyone who enjoys reading a well-crafted cozy mystery,

Melanie Travis lives in Stamford, Connecticut with her husband, Sam, and two sons, Davey and Kevin, five Standard Poodles, and a mutt they recently took in. Melanie’s brother, Frank, and her ex-husband, Bob, own a successful country café and Frank thinks they should try their hand at a second business venture. Without informing his business partner, he stops at an auction and successfully bids on a rundown Christmas tree farm. Frank is thrilled with his purchase and convinces everyone to come out and look at the property. While the adults are inside a falling down building, Davey and Kevin wander around looking at all the trees. The boys rush back saying they heard someone crying. They discover a body among the trees, and learn the crying is from a purebred Maltese who is underneath the body. The local authorities identify the man as a homeless alcoholic known only as Pete and believe he was drunk, stumbled, and grabbed a tree branch that hit him in the head, knocked him out, and he froze to death. Melanie’s Aunt Peg takes charge of the Maltese. A man visits the Christmas tree farm, looking for Pete and plants a seed of doubt about what happened to him. Aunt Peg strongly suggests that Melanie look into who Pete really is and what happened to him.

I received an Advance Reader Copy of this book from NetGalley and voluntarily reviewed it.

This is a series that I've read since the first book and this one did not let me down. Ms. Berenson truly understands the world of AKC dog shows and trials as well as being an owner-handler. Once again, the story reads well, the characters are like old friends and Aunt Peg, is, well Aunt Peg. Twists and turns that kept me guessing and reading until the end. I stayed up way too late to finish this one. I'm already ready for the next one!