Dead Men Don’t Play Fetch
DETAILS: Series: Andy Carpenter, #32 Publisher: Minotaur Books Publication Date: July 7, 2026 Format: eARC Length: 288 pg. Read Date: June 26, 2026
What’s Dead Men Don’t Play Fetch About?
Andy gets called by an old acquaintance—one he feels indebted to. Lou Campanelli runs a rehab center, and one of the homeless gentlemen served there has been arrested for the murder of an eccentric billionaire. He’s in need of a defense attorney.
He’s also in need of someone to care for his dog.
Both of which are Andy Carpenter specialties.
Andy and his team come to a quick conclusion about their client’s innocence. But figuring out a defense for him…well, that’s going to take some work.
Why did I pick this up? Why did I keep reading?
I picked this up because after 31 books in the series, how do I not? Okay, I guess I have abandoned some series in the 20s. But those haven’t kept things as fresh, kept changing things (while not changing too much).
The banter between Andy and the other characters still works. Andy’s changing ideas about his work (earlier in the series he was just trying to do as little as possible, now he’s shifted to trying to retire. It’s a subtle difference, but it’s there). We’re getting to know some of these characters in new ways—even as the cast grows a little.
And the mysteries are still clever and the courtroom material never gets old.
What’s the Same? What’s Different?
As I alluded to above, to keep a series this long-running you have to balance changing things and keeping things the same to satisfy long-time fans without letting them tire of things.
Here’s a quick list of things that came to mind:
Marcus is a little more mysterious and dangerous than he’s been in the last few books. In fact, he might be his most dangerous here. He also makes a huge blunder—I’m not used to seeing that from him. I’m also not sure how it served the story. I need to think on this some more.
Sam and his hacking are reliable as ever—I’m glad that some of Andy’s crew are still uncomfortable with the legality of it, even if some of the others have given up caring.
Andy’s uneasy relationship with both the FBI and various organized crime groups continue—I wonder a little about the lengths he goes to with the latter in this book. How far is too far—and how long will he continue in the good graces of some of these mobsters?
We got very little of Edna this go-around, but the jokes made about her worked. Eddie Dowd was practically a non-entity as well. Which is a shame, he should be around for more than some of the behind-the-scenes legal work.
Not only do we have a good amount of action for the Tara Foundation here—which is always good to see—there’s discussion about the establishment of another dog rescue in town—and this one will be a nationwide chain. Rosenfelt obviously cares a lot for this kind of work, and it’s a pleasure to see him get the chance to dwell on it.
So, what did I think about Dead Men Don’t Play Fetch?
I really enjoyed this one—and really had a hard time stopping when I needed to go back to work after lunch—I’d have been much more content to finish the book then and there. Everything was firing on all cylinders for this book and It was just a pleasure to read.
Well…almost all cylinders were firing. There was a moment semi-early-on when one of the characters says something that didn’t make a lot of sense to me (I’m trying to be obscure here). After going back to check what had been said earlier with what this character said, it really seemed like a misstatement. Maybe Rosenfelt goofed and no editor picked it up. Or maybe because I had an ARC that it would be something to be fixed before the book hit the shelves.
But no. It was a clue. A very intentional thing by Rosenfelt. And boy, I felt sheepish. I really thought I was eagle-eyed by catching that. And, maybe I was. But I was so wrong in my understanding of it. Once I saw it as a clue (and no, I won’t tell you how far I was in the book before I realized that*), I really appreciated the way that Rosenfelt worked it in like he did. Even if the realization that I wasn’t so clever as I thought I was when the character goofed still smarted.
I guess everything was firing on all cylinders, but me.
It’s a clever mystery, perpetrated by believable people, with high stakes for all involved. The characters are fun and engaging. There’s really nothing more to ask for.
If Rosenfelt keeps going like this, I’m in for as many books as he cares to write. This would make a fine jumping-on point for those who like a good legal thriller (on the light side). It also works well for people who read some of the earlier books, but didn’t keep up. You’ll be fine jumping back in.
I encourage you all to do so.
* Very.
Disclaimer: I received this eARC from St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley in exchange for this post which contains my honest opinion—thanks to both for this.
This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, the opinions expressed are my own.
Read Irresponsibly, but please Comment Responsibly