Karen Harbert

I have really exciting news! Yesterday, December 6, 2018, the Dog Writers Association of America announced the results of the annual writing contest. Two of my books, Maritime Summer and Medium Rare are among the four finalists in the Fiction category. The winners in each category will be announced at the annual banquet in New York in February, during Westminster. I also had the privilege of judging the contest again this year, and we have some very talented authors out there. Now that the contest is over I can write reviews for the ones I considered winners.

Many of you have asked about recipes appearing in the series. With the help of Marilyn Boissonneault and Pat Nelson I've put together a companion volume for any of you who want to duplicate and sample Jennifer's cooking. This project has taken over a year as we cooked every one of them and then took pictures. And then, when I tried to compile the whole thing, it had become so massive it crashed my word processor. The solution was to put it on a CD, so I can mail one to anyone interested. The cover is another stunning Jean Clifford creation: three Cardigans imitating the witches from Macbeth, stirring a cauldron filled with octopus, eyeballs, cabbages and things that will curdle your appetite.

I'm a long time breeder and exhibitor of Cardigan Welsh Corgis. My mystery series sprang from my travel diary of dog show trips with a very dear friend. There were triumphs, there were disasters; such as the time we started a multi-day show circuit with five dogs in a sea of mud and had to find a place to clean them before the next show. Or the time that same friend turned my van and trailer rubber-side-up on the way to The Oregon Death March. My friend finally challenged me to turn our adventures into fiction and the 'Murder at the Dog Show' series was born.

My professional background was in management in mental health, child protective services and other programs.

I've served as board member of our national club and president of two regional clubs and judged national and regional sweepstakes. I'm presently on the Board of Directors of the Dog Writers Association of America and have served as a judge for their annual writing contest.

I've traveled extensively in the US and Canada; join me on the journey to some of the interesting places I've visited in the pages of these books.

I hope I don't really know any murderers, but there's a great deal of truth in many of these stories. Some from personal experience, some contributed by friends. We can't make this stuff up, you know!