Funny as The Wounded Buzzard on Christmas Eve is, I have to feel sorry for poor Slim. Don't know where he's going to come up with the money to fix his truck. Sure hope that Miss Viola and Sally May like their Christmas gifts. Wallace the ungrateful buzzard's song, 'A Pox, A Pox, on Emily Post,' was my favorite part of the book, but... well, I enjoyed what Drover got to do to him for his own good. The way Wallace acted after he regained consciousness showed an inflated opinion of himself worthy of our doggy hero.

Little Alfred had a pretty good role in this one. We get to see Buster and Muggsy again, those two wild dogs met in book four, Murder in the Middle Pasture. Neither their characters nor their manners have improved. Guess who they want to eat for dinner? Hank has his usual amusing delusions about himself. I enjoyed his scene with that nasty poodle, even though seven of the eleven dogs my family has had were poodles. (We did NOT get their toenails painted!) The old-time background music included 'Beethoven's Fifth' (I think), 'Hail to the Chief', 'Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1,' When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again,' and the 'William Tell Overture' (also known as 'The Lone Ranger' theme). We're also treated to some well-known Christmas carols either sung or instrumental: 'Deck the Halls,' 'God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen;' 'Joy to the World,' 'O Little Town of Bethlehem' (sung by Little Alfred), 'O Tannenbaum,' and 'Silent Night'. All in all, it's another good entry for family entertainment. ( )