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Review
The Last Song Dogs
The Last Song Dogs by
Sinclair Browning
Bantam Books
Paperback - 272 pages, 1999
ISBN 0553579401
Reviewed by PJ Nunn

Read our review of The Sporting Club
Read our interview with the author



We all know high school reunions can be murder, right?

Trade Ellis, alumnus and owner of a laid back, Arizona ranch, isn't even invited until a former cheerleader seeks her private investigation skills to find out who's killing the other cheerleaders.

Can the culprit be Charlene, who's grown older and wider, but not necessarily wiser? Or Buffy, rich and snobbish, with more than one secret to keep. Then there's Charlene's husband, Binky, who hasn't abandoned his philandering ways since high school, or maybe Daggett who keeps a shrunken head in his curio cabinet. What about Bobette, a former Song Dog who has just finished serving time for stabbing someone to death?

All the kind of folks you just can't wait to see again after twenty- five years. With a yearbook full of suspects and virtually no experience investigating a homicide, much less several of them, Trade better get sharp and fast, before the killer decides the Song Dogs aren't the only ones who need to die.

In Trade Ellis, author Sinclair Browning creates a wonderful protagonist who loves twinkies, has a passion for her home and for her rich, Apache heritage, and who is completely believable in her quest. The supporting characters come to life on the page, keeping the reader guessing who is behind the despicable acts of vengeance and brutality.

The Last Song Dogs is a marvelous first novel that doesn't fit neatly into any particular category. I stayed up late to finish reading it. What will Sinclair deliver next?



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