Whowonnit?

     

     Here at Bayswater Books, we love a good mystery, and our latest find of the week on the used floor gave us a double dose of the genre, as both the discovery and the book it was found in qualified as a whodunnit (or, in this case, who "won" it).

     A 1987 copy of Agatha Christie's classic mystery novel, "Appointment with Death" was the scene of our crime, so to speak, and in it we found the most intriguing clue.  A lipstick stained, typewritten note or a napkin from a bar or hotel, you might ask?  No, ours is much better and far less of a cliche.  Are you ready for this?  We found a first place ribbon indicating "Best of Breed/Variety" from an American Kennel Club dog show that took place at the South Dade Kennel Club in Miami, Florida on June 4, 2006.  Not exactly reason to call Scotland Yard?  Ok, that may be true, but this ribbon launched a whole new mystery for us to investigate.

     Of course, we wanted to know more about who (meaning, what dog) won best in breed/variety.  If you have read any of our previous entries, you know this means that we’ll pull out all of the stops to find the answers we seek.  So, after scouring the internet and coming up short, we decided to call a top official of the South Dade Kennel Club in Miami and ask her what she knows.  Why not, we thought?

     First, let’s just say that Paula (that is her name) was just a wee bit surprised to hear from us.  As a matter of fact, we could hear her excitedly exclaiming to individuals in the background that “a store in New Hampshire found a Best of Breed ribbon of ours in a book, sort of like finding a message in a bottle!  How great is that?”  She then proceeded to teach us a little about the world of AKC dog shows in an effort to narrow our search.

     We learned that over 190 AKC registered breeds are entered into an average show and each breed is also classified into a group that represents the characteristics and function of all dogs (Terrier, Toy, Working, Sporting, Non-Sporting, Herding, and Hound).  Once a dog has won Best in Breed/Variety, it is then entered into the next round, or the group level, to compete against the other breed winners in its grouping.  The seven winners of each grouping then compete for Best in Show.  That is a tough climb to the top, we say.

     Paula told us that because our ribbon did not state what breed our winner was, we do not know if he/she won Best in Group in the next round or, better yet, if he/she were able to capture the Best in Show title.  Could it have been a Chihuahua?  What about a Bluetick Coonhound?  Maybe a Mexican Hairless dog?  We will never know, but on behalf of the staff here at Bayswater, we would like to congratulate Fido (or Max, Fluffy, Buddy, Lucky, Princess, etc.) on his/her Best of Breed/Variety win and hope that he/she went on to dog show greatness (and a life of endless treats and companionship, of course). 

      

     The 1987 copy of Agatha Christie’s “Appointment with Death” (with the winning ribbon) can be purchased here at Bayswater for the price of $6.99.  You can catch up with our previous finds of the week from the used book floor at bayswaterbooks.com and on facebook.  Better yet, stop by our store in Center Harbor and check out the used book floor for yourself!