Creature Discomforts

Praise for Susan Conant’s Dog Lover’s Mysteries
     
    EVIL BREEDING
    “Conant may have invented a new genre: the canine historical mystery.” — Kirkus Reviews
    “A tail-thumping good read.” — Rocky Mountain News
    ‘[A] tale that fans of Gothic, amateur detectives, and pet lovers will cherish.” — Book Browser
     
    THE BARKER STREET REGULARS
    “Sherlockians especially will enjoy Conant’s latest dog mystery featuring journalist Holly Winter in her most intricate case yet.” — Publishers Weekly
    ‘Dog lore and Sherlockiana will keep Conant’s audience interested.... Recommended.” — Deadly Pleasures
     
    STUD RITES
    “An intimate knowledge of Alaskan malamutes isn’t necessary to appreciate Susan Conant’s Stud Rites....
    Conant’s characterizations are dead-on and her descriptions of doggy kitsch—most notably a malamute-shaped lamp trimmed with a dead champion’s fur— are hilarious.” — Los Angeles Times
    “Conant’s doggy tales... are head and shoulders above many of the other series in which various domestic pets aid or abet in the solving of crimes.... Should appeal to everyone who is on the right end of a leash.” —The Purloined Letter
     
    BLACK RIBBON
    “A fascinating murder mystery and a very, very funny book... written with a fairness that even Dorothy Sayers or Agatha Christie would admire.” - Mobile Register
     
    RUFFLY SPEAKING
    “Conant’s dog lover’s series, starring Cambridge freelance dog-magazine reporter Holly Winter and her two malamutes, Rowdy and Kimi, is a real tail-wagger.” —The Washington Post
     
    BLOODLINES
    “Highly recommended for lovers of dogs, people, and all-around good storytelling.” —Mystery News
    “Lively, funny, and absolutely premium, Conant’s readers—with ears up and alert eyes—eagerly await her next.” - Kirkiis Reviews
     
    GONE TO THE DOGS
    “Conant infuses her writing with a healthy dose of humor about Holly’s fido-loving friends and other Cambridge clichés. The target of her considerable wit clearly emerges as human nature.” —Publishers Weekly
     
    ANIMAL APPETITE
    “Swift and engrossing.” —Publishers Weekly
    “Invigorating... Conant gives us a cool, merry, and informative look at academic Cambridge.” - Kirkus Reviews
     

ALSO BY SUSAN CONANT
     
    Evil Breeding
    The Barker Street Regulars
    Animal Appetite
    Stud Rites
    Black Ribbon
    Ruffly Speaking
    Bloodlines
    Gone to the Dogs
    Paws Before Dying
    A Bite of Death
    Dead and Doggone
    A New Leash on Death
     

 
This edition contains the complete text of the original hardcover edition.
NOT ONE WORD HAS BEEN OMITTED.
 
CREATURE DISCOMFORTS
A Bantam Book / published by arrangement with Doubleday
 
PUBLISHING HISTORY
Doubleday hardcover edition published May 2000
Bantam mass market edition / March 2001
 
The words to “I Love to Tell the Story” were written by Katherine Hankey in 1866.
 
All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2000 by Susan Conant.
Cover art copyright © 2000 by Tristan Elwell.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 99-36817.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. For information address: Bantam Books.
 
If you purchased this book without a cover you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the publisher and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”
 
ISBN 0-553-58059-0
 
Published simultaneously in the United States and Canada
 
Bantam Books are published by Bantam Books, a division of Random House, Inc. Its trademark, consisting of the words “Bantam Books” and the portrayal of a rooster, is Registered in U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries. Marca Registrada. Bantam Books, 1540 Broadway, New York, New York 10036.
 
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
 
OPM 10 9 8 76 5 4 3 2 1
     

 
     
     
To Carter, Rowdy, and Kobi,
my hiking partners
on the trails of Acadia
     

Acknowledgments
     
    I hope that readers who share my love for the novels of Margery Allingham will take pleasure in recognizing in this story a small tribute to my favorite mystery writer. Dog lovers will certainly find countless unbridled tributes to my own dogs, Frostfield Firestar’s Kobuk, C.G.C., and Frostfield