HUSH PUPPY
by Laurien Berenson
Hush Puppy ($20.00; Oct.; 304 pp.; 1-57566469-0) It’s back to school for Melanie Travis and her Standard Poodle Faith, as Melanie (Watchdog, 1998, etc.) signs on as Howard Academy’s new drama coach just in time to rub cantankerous caretaker Eugene Krebbs the wrong way before he’s rubbed out for real. She then goes to the head of the class—way ahead of a mysterious young Jane Doe and Melanie’s unhappy sweetie Sam Driver—when she and her Aunt Peg nail his killer. (Author tour)