leasummer's review against another edition
3.0
An art heist mystery involving an intuitive pug. There were a lot of great quotes in this book. The plot was a little slow but it was a very easy read.
wardegus's review against another edition
2.0
Meh, I read this on vacation...Hope is an idiot. I found her to be oblivious and was annoyed by her naivety. .
tellemonstar's review against another edition
4.0
Cross-posted at Book Reviews With The Blogmonstar
A Pug’s Tale was a fun read. Hope was a real sweetheart, and it was fun to read about her adventures trying to solve the mystery of the painting with Max, her boyfriend’s pug.
The mystery was well written, especially because it had you guessing as to who did it and how was it done in the first place. I enjoyed the fact that pretty much everyone involved in discovering the crime was a suspect – and they were all quite capable of having committed the theft, and that it really could have been any of the three people who were tied together, including Hope.
Since the book is called A Pug’s Tale, there was plenty of info about pugs, but just shared in conversations between Hope and one or two other characters, instead of major info dumps. This gave it a very natural feel, and obviously Alison Pace knows a lot about pugs, and showed that through Hope’s love of the breed and her absolute adoration of Max. That said, it didn’t over take the main plot of the book – the art theft, but helped to give Hope something else to focus on when she got a bit freaked out once or twice.
Daphne is your typical slightly-batty rich older woman, who is definitely not used to not getting whatever she is after. So I kind of pity the fool who does one day tell her she can’t have what she wants. Madeline is her somewhat spoiled, but well-behaved pug. She is the reason for the Pug Night party, and takes Hope under the wing a little bit when they meet again later in the book.
A Pug’s Tale is part love-song to pugs, part mystery, and a great summer/weekend read. If you love dogs or even if you just like dogs, this is a fun one to read.
A Pug’s Tale was a fun read. Hope was a real sweetheart, and it was fun to read about her adventures trying to solve the mystery of the painting with Max, her boyfriend’s pug.
The mystery was well written, especially because it had you guessing as to who did it and how was it done in the first place. I enjoyed the fact that pretty much everyone involved in discovering the crime was a suspect – and they were all quite capable of having committed the theft, and that it really could have been any of the three people who were tied together, including Hope.
Since the book is called A Pug’s Tale, there was plenty of info about pugs, but just shared in conversations between Hope and one or two other characters, instead of major info dumps. This gave it a very natural feel, and obviously Alison Pace knows a lot about pugs, and showed that through Hope’s love of the breed and her absolute adoration of Max. That said, it didn’t over take the main plot of the book – the art theft, but helped to give Hope something else to focus on when she got a bit freaked out once or twice.
Daphne is your typical slightly-batty rich older woman, who is definitely not used to not getting whatever she is after. So I kind of pity the fool who does one day tell her she can’t have what she wants. Madeline is her somewhat spoiled, but well-behaved pug. She is the reason for the Pug Night party, and takes Hope under the wing a little bit when they meet again later in the book.
A Pug’s Tale is part love-song to pugs, part mystery, and a great summer/weekend read. If you love dogs or even if you just like dogs, this is a fun one to read.
bosoxamy's review against another edition
4.0
A Pug’s Tale by Alison Pace (Berkley Trade, 2011) follows Hope McNeill who works in the Conservation Studio at the Metropolitan museum of Art. When a valuable painting comes up missing (mysteriously, with a fake left behind) Hope and her colleagues decide to try to find it on their own. They hire a detective but do not go to the police. Hope suspects everyone and feels like everyone suspects her as well.
This all happens at a time when her boyfriend, Ben, is living out of the country and she is left to care for his pug, Max. Max is all Hope has at the moment and she feels very alone with no one to confide in. Without Max, however, Hope would never be able to piece together the clues that lead to the person responsible.
Ms. Pace does a beautiful job of setting the various scenes. Having never been to New York, let alone Central Park or the Met, I am given a picture of words that allows me to experience it as if it were my own backyard. She develops a likable character that I can relate to in Hope. I can sense her anxiety and her obsession with the mystery. Of course, when you add in a lovable, snorting Pug, that’s a bonus!
A Pug’s Tale was a fun read and a page turner. Many times I didn’t want to put the book down but was forced to. I always looked forward to being able to get back to it and read some more. Ms. Pace has written several other books with dogs playing prominent roles, I suspect that I’ll be picking those up as well!
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher after winning it from Goodreads.com. This in no way influenced my review of the book. My thoughts here are my honest review.
This all happens at a time when her boyfriend, Ben, is living out of the country and she is left to care for his pug, Max. Max is all Hope has at the moment and she feels very alone with no one to confide in. Without Max, however, Hope would never be able to piece together the clues that lead to the person responsible.
Ms. Pace does a beautiful job of setting the various scenes. Having never been to New York, let alone Central Park or the Met, I am given a picture of words that allows me to experience it as if it were my own backyard. She develops a likable character that I can relate to in Hope. I can sense her anxiety and her obsession with the mystery. Of course, when you add in a lovable, snorting Pug, that’s a bonus!
A Pug’s Tale was a fun read and a page turner. Many times I didn’t want to put the book down but was forced to. I always looked forward to being able to get back to it and read some more. Ms. Pace has written several other books with dogs playing prominent roles, I suspect that I’ll be picking those up as well!
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher after winning it from Goodreads.com. This in no way influenced my review of the book. My thoughts here are my honest review.
gingerfoot's review against another edition
2.0
Better than Pug Hill, in that our protagonist now owns a pug rather than just sitting around wishing she had a pug. And Lord love a psychic, mystery-solving pug!
Pug lovers will chuckle at the charming descriptions of pug interactions and of our enthusiastic Max; mystery lovers will perhaps be puzzled by the plodding plot and the infuriating ending.
Also: the Hootie & the Blowfish and AOL instant messenger shout-outs are replaced with the Skype. Progress!
Pug lovers will chuckle at the charming descriptions of pug interactions and of our enthusiastic Max; mystery lovers will perhaps be puzzled by the plodding plot and the infuriating ending.
Also: the Hootie & the Blowfish and AOL instant messenger shout-outs are replaced with the Skype. Progress!
severina2001's review against another edition
1.0
An art restorer and her pug set out to solve the mystery of a missing painting.
This is not particularly the type of book I would normally read. I was searching for books to meet some reading prompts, and this one fit prompts for "about art" and "to celebrate the grand museum." It seemed cute, and how could a story with a pug as an assistant amateur detective go wrong?
Alas, the author is going for a light and breezy, dare I say quirky, tone. But the heroine, Hope, merely seems incredibly dense. Written in the first person, there's a break after practically every sentence in every conversation for Hope to internally muse over something. It takes a full page to get through a conversation that consists essentially of Hello / Hello / How are you. The conversations she does have are insipid and repetitive. The secondary characters are uninteresting and bland. I mean, the bones are there. She's got an eccentric philanthropist, a boss who she used to crush on, the strange private investigator. But literally *nothing happens*. And there's not even a twisty plot to fall back on, because the clues are not exactly difficult to crack.
*sigh* Maybe the next mystery I try will be better.
This is not particularly the type of book I would normally read. I was searching for books to meet some reading prompts, and this one fit prompts for "about art" and "to celebrate the grand museum." It seemed cute, and how could a story with a pug as an assistant amateur detective go wrong?
Alas, the author is going for a light and breezy, dare I say quirky, tone. But the heroine, Hope, merely seems incredibly dense. Written in the first person, there's a break after practically every sentence in every conversation for Hope to internally muse over something. It takes a full page to get through a conversation that consists essentially of Hello / Hello / How are you. The conversations she does have are insipid and repetitive. The secondary characters are uninteresting and bland. I mean, the bones are there. She's got an eccentric philanthropist, a boss who she used to crush on, the strange private investigator. But literally *nothing happens*. And there's not even a twisty plot to fall back on, because the clues are not exactly difficult to crack.
*sigh* Maybe the next mystery I try will be better.
pussreboots's review against another edition
4.0
I wish there were more of these books.
http://pussreboots.com/blog/2018/comments_01/pugs_tale.html
http://pussreboots.com/blog/2018/comments_01/pugs_tale.html
mcipher's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed this, but I did feel like Hope could get kind of annoying - I guess that was kind of realistic, though, because that is probably a lot how I would come off if someone were writing a book from inside my head (all wishy-washy and unsure). The mystery was cute and I did enjoy Daphne's character a lot, though. Ahoy! The pugs do get over-the-top at some points, but you have to kind of expect that, I guess, and if you just kind of go with it, it is a lot of fun. I definitely wish I worked at the Met now - I imagine going to work every day would actually be less dread and more excitement if you worked at such an awesome museum.
alee's review against another edition
4.0
This book is about a young woman who is a restorer at the MET. She brings her pug to a benefit (where other donors have brought their pugs) and chaos ensues when her pug chases after the honoree's pug. From there a forgery is discovered and the mystery takes off.
Initially, I thought this would be just a cute dog's tale but the mystery was quite good. While I was able to guess who did it, the ending still held a surprise. This is a great summer read.
Initially, I thought this would be just a cute dog's tale but the mystery was quite good. While I was able to guess who did it, the ending still held a surprise. This is a great summer read.