I’m always surprised at how many book bloggers (and/or book lovers) primarily read mysteries. Call me snobby (go ahead, I can take it), but they just seem so light and easy. I generally choose books that move me in some way, or open my eyes to a situation or lifestyle that I might otherwise remain ignorant about.
However, as I was reading A Pug’s Tale by Alison Pace, I totally got it. I would classify this as “light fiction,” and one of the plotlines pertains to a mystery. The characters were believable and endearing, and I completely enjoyed the couple of days I spent with this book.
The heroine, Hope, who appears as 1st-person narrator, pretty much had me at hello. For example:
I opened up my bag to find my ID card. It took me a minute to find it. It usually does. I am a person who can often be found looking for something. I have in the past spent a fair amount of time looking for any number of things. Among them: self confidence, poise, a modicum of inner peace, happiness, a pug, a boyfriend. It took me a while to find everything, and my favorite part of the search was that I found pug and boyfriend at the same time (page 14).
and after returning an “Ahoy” to an equally delightful character, the 70-something NYC philanthropist Daphne, who greets everyone with “Ahoy”:
“Or, uh, not ahoy?” I added, feeling, as I sometimes did, a bit like a spaz . . . .
“I just meant that I didn’t mean to say ‘ahoy’ if that’s your thing.” I felt the words coming out of my mouth and felt ridiculous. Of all the ways to start a conversation, this is what I’d chosen (page 116).
Hope first meets Daphne, a fellow pug owner, at a pug party at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, where Hope works in the art restoration department. When a painting goes missing that same night and the fake ends up in the art restoration office, Hope’s boss decides not to go to the authorities and takes matters in his own hands. Hope feels sure that she is a suspect and decides she must figure it out herself.
With her boyfriend Ben in Africa with Lawyers without Borders, Hope doesn’t have anyone to confide in, and after a few random meetings, she ends up confiding in Daphne, who is thrilled with the idea of a mystery that needs to be solved.
Throughout the novel, the reader wonders, as Hope does — will her long-distance relationship with Ben survive? will the painting be found? will Hope be implicated? These plotlines are all resolved naturally and originally, without the sort of quick wrap-up that some novels seem to resort to.
I found out only after reading it, that it’s a sequel of sorts to Pug Hill, but I didn’t feel as if I was missing a thing. However, I did like these characters and Alison Pace’s wry style so much, that I will probably revisit them by reading that first novel.
A Pug’s Tale will appeal to dog lovers, art aficionados, NYC-ophiles, and those who like their fiction light and their mysteries fun. There’s also a discussion guide at the end, so if your bookclub enjoys light fiction, this would be a great one to explore together.
Jennifer Donovan thinks she’s pretty self-aware. She hopes that comes across at her blog Snapshot.