This book, 14th in the Holly Winter series, carries over many of the characters from her previous books--Holly, her vet and love interest, Steve; her friends Rita (tenant and psychotherapist) and Kevin (the cop next door); her courtesy aunts Ceci and Althea; the Massachusetts cities of Cambridge and Newton; and last but not least the well drawn Malamutes Rowdy and Kimi. The identity of the killer is genuinely mysterious and the victim's life is explored in detail. Much intelligent information about dogs, dog shows, and dog obedience is imparted but the book is never preachy-Holly is just completely obsessed and shares her obsessions with the reader.
I believe that a reader who hadn't read any of the preceding books would enjoy this as much as those of us who have read all fourteen.