Series A-F
Here we are at the end of June, one-third of the way through the summer, and I’m roughly one-third of the way through the challenge. That worked out nicely. I’ve made one substitute because I had some trouble getting my hands on the one non-fiction book that was on the list. And, hey, I just read a non-fiction book, so might as well put that one in. Otherwise, I’m on track for finishing the list as originally conceived.
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Muzzledby David Rosenfelt eARC, 304 pg. Read: June 20, 2020 |
Wow. Andy Carpenter #21. That’s pretty mind-boggling, I’ve got to say. The way that Andy’s been ramping up the retirement talk over the last couple of books, I can’t help but wonder how many more are in store—but I have to expect we’ll get a few more. Rosenfelt’s army of dogs takes a lot of food. The more the merrier, I say—especially if there are more like this one in the wings.
Andy’s contacted by a friend also in the dog rescue biz—she’s come into possession of a stray and has been contacted by the owner to retrieve the dog. Which sounds pretty straightforward and good up until the point where she tells Andy the owner’s name. He’s the victim of a triple murder a few weeks ago when his boat was destroyed by a bomb of some sort. Yeah, you read me right—the victim. Except he clearly escaped and after being on the run for his life a bit, has decided he can’t run off without the dog. So he risks life and limb to be reunited with his pet. At this point, the reader (and everyone who knows Andy) realizes that if this man needs legal help, Andy will be his attorney. Andy needs some convincing, however.
And Alex Vogel is going to need Andy’s help—if he wasn’t one of those killed, the police would like to know, why wasn’t he? The explanation that makes the most sense to them is that Alex Vogel made and detonated the bomb, killing his friends. The motive is a little shaky, but that’s beside the point.
Alex gives Andy one possible reason that he’d be targeted, and while he doesn’t buy it, he has nothing else to go on, so while Andy tries to come up with an idea of his own, he spends a lot of time exploring that. In a long-running series like this is, it’s the little differences that really stick out and keep things fresh. It took Andy a painfully long time to come up with an alternative theory of the case. And while I found it frustrating that he was so slow, I appreciated that Rosenfelt let things go that way. I also admit that it’s not fair for me to judge, as the reader has access to some third-person narration portions of the novel that Andy doesn’t.
Whether looking for flaws in the Prosecution’s case, running down Alex’s theory, or trying to find an alternative, Andy and his regular band (which includes The K Team now) are as fun as always. The narration is clever, the humor is witty, the case complex, the herrings are red, the dogs are adorable—all the elements of a solid Andy Carpenter novel are there.
As I was mulling over this book this week, I’d mentally drafted a paragraph thinking about this one in the context of the series as a whole. At some point, it seemed pretty familiar, so I looked up what I said about Dachshund Through the Snow, the twentieth novel in the series. I’d said pretty much the same thing about that book as I wanted to say about this one. It doesn’t say much for my originality, but it says something about Rosenfelt.
I’ve read them all—some twice—and while I’ve never read a bad Andy Carpenter book, there were a few that were simply “fine” (that’s not a complaint, I’ll take a fine book over a lot of others), but there’s been a resurgence in the last five or so, particularly in the last two. In both of them Rosenfelt has done something I couldn’t/didn’t see coming, breaking his tried-and-true formula. Rosenfelt has no reason to do that at this point, he could keep churning out these books and his fans (including me), would keep gobbling them up. But he’s taking risks, he’s doing relatively daring things (while remaining true to the world he’s created).
I really liked this book on its own merits, I loved it in the context of the rest. Does that mean a new reader has to read the other twenty before this one? No—any of these novels are a good jumping on point, you’ll end up wanting to read some/all of the earlier ones though. A smart legal thriller—great stuff out of the courtroom, and amusing antics in it (I’ll never tire of reading Andy cross-examining a witness). Muzzled is one of the best in this great series.
Disclaimer: I received this eARC from St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley in exchange for this post—thanks to both for this. As always, my opinions remain my own.
This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you.
One summer.
Three months.
93 Days.
20 books.
Here’s the kickoff post on 746 Books in case you want more details. I’ve seen people do this the last couple of years, and it seemed like fun. I’ll be reading more than 20 books over this period, anyway. I’ve found myself having a hard time staying focused lately when it comes to reading lately–although the WWW Wednesdays have helped a bit. I figure this is the same principle, just expanded over a few weeks rather than the next couple of days. Anyway, here’s my list (subject to change, but I’m going to resist the impulse to tweak as much as I can).
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But For The Graceby Peter Grainger, Gildart Jackson (Narrator) Unabridged Audiobook, 9 hrs., 17 min Read: April 20-21, 2020 |
When I talked about the first installment in this series last year, I said, “There’s something about this one that got under my skin more than a typical procedural does—it’s maybe DC Smith, it’s maybe Grainger’s style (there’s a lot of subtle humor in a dark text)—it’s a Gestalt thing, I think. I really dug it.” I’m tempted to leave this at that, too. But that’s giving this short shrift.
There are three main stories—the least interesting to me (at present, but it keeps coming up, so I expect that it’ll be of vital importance and interest at some point) is the “big case” that defined Smith’s career. There’s a True Crime writer who wants to revisit the case with DC’s help. There’s a couple of good moments revolving this, but I’m not (yet) seeing the appeal.
The more interesting thread centers on DC Smith’s future. Smith’s old partner, and father of the newly-minted detective Smith’s training, owns a private security firm and wants him to come aboard in a senior position. At the same time, there’s an opportunity that many are urging Smith to take in a regional criminal investigation task force. But Smith’s inclination is to stick with his current duty—but he’s tempted by both over the course of the novel.
But the focus for the book is a death in a retirement home that’s identified as suspicious. Smith and his team start investigating this pretty colorful home. The characters—staff and residents—are well-drawn, colorful and the kind of characters you want to spend time with. The case goes pretty much how you’d expect (motive, culprit, and resolution), but there are a couple of twists that keep the reader/listener on their toes. Watching Smith and his colleagues pursue the killer is the joy in this. The pleasure is in the journey, not just the destination here.
Once again, Jackson weaves a spell with his narration—he sucked me in once again. A perfect combination of narrator and text.
A solid follow-up novel, that also provides plenty of incentive to move on to the rest. This is a series you should jump into—in print or audio.
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, opinions are my own.
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The K Teamby David Rosenfelt eARC, 304 pg. Read: March 13-16, 2020 |
After 20+ books (and counting!) in a series, what’s an author to do? Well, if you have the dog food bills that David Rosenfelt must have (seriously, check out the photos on his website or Facebook page of the dogs he and his wife shelter), you create a spin-off. I found myself comparing the books a lot in the paragraphs that follow—I won’t make a habit out of it as the series progresses, but I kept comparing them as I read, so that’s how I think of the book. I hope it doesn’t get too tiring.
In 2019’s Dachshund Through the Snow, we met Former Paterson NJ police officer Corey Douglas and his German Shepherd partner, Simon Garfunkel. At the end of that novel, Corey had decided to join forces with Laurie and Marcus to form a detective agency. This is their first case—and what a way to start!
Longtime Andy Carpenter antagonist, the harsh, yet fair, Judge Henry Henderson (aka Hatchet) hires the team to look into a blackmailer trying to pressure the judge into something. He doesn’t know what the blackmailer wants yet, but he knows there’s enough to damage (probably fatally!) his career. The arrangement they enter into means that Andy won’t be able to try a case before Hatchet again—which bummed me out, he wasn’t a constant presence in those novels, but a frequent one—probably the only judge’s name I recognized. I enjoyed watching Andy squirm around the judge.
But now, it’s Hatchet’s turn to squirm. The blackmailers (well, potential blackmailers—he’s quick to note they haven’t actually broken the law yet), have some manufactured evidence to make it look like he’s crooked. He’s not, and has enough of a reputation and goodwill to weather the storm. Probably. But the hint of scandal would taint his record and probably force him off the bench.
So, Corey, Laurie, and Marcus get to work—looking into cases the judge presided over and could be alleged to have influenced. Before long, the threats get more real and bodies start appearing (or, disappearing, in some cases). And well, that’s really all I can safely say. But fans of the Andy Carpenter books will be familiar with the way things play out—and new readers will be entertained by it, too.
Marcus doesn’t do much more (especially on the dialogue front) in The K Team than he does in a typical Andy Carpenter book, he’s basically an unintelligible superhuman (yeah, the jokes about the protagonist’s inability to understand him are of the same genus as the ones in the Carpenter novels, but they’re a different species coming from Corey—I was surprised at how refreshing that was). I think he probably gets a little more space devoted to him than he typically gets, but he does basically what we’re used to seeing. There are a couple of exceptions, including what I believe is the longest hand-to-hand fight scene we’ve seen from him.
Even Laurie isn’t featured as much as I expected. Actually, that’s an understatement. I assumed that this would be Laurie’s series with a couple of sidekicks—or maybe an equally Laurie and Corey series with Marcus showing up to do his thing every now and then. Maybe a third person kind of thing alternating between focusing on each character. But no, this is first person from Corey’s POV—so we get a lot of Laurie, but most of what she did was off-screen, only teaming up with Corey for bigger moments or to discuss what they’d done together. It’s not what I expected, but I can live with it (I just wish she’d get to shine a bit more).
So, Corey…we get to know him a bit better here than we did in his first appearance, obviously. He’s single—deliberately—and very devoted to Simon (but not the same way that Andy is to Tara), they worked together and are now shifting to a new career together. Corey’s a bit more willing to leave Simon out of some of the action than say, Bernie Little is (eager, occasionally, for Simon’s safety). He’s a movie buff—a little bit of a nerd about them, it seems—and I look forward to seeing this more. He’s good at his job, still a straight arrow (the kind of cop he was), but is discovering that he’s more willing to color outside the lines than he thought. I’m looking forward to getting to know him better.
The humor is a similar style to the one employed in the Andy Carpenter books, but it’s not Andy’s voice in a different body. Corey is distinctive, but fans of the one will tend to enjoy the other. That’s half the point (maybe 70% of the point) of a spin-off, right? Similar, but not equal—that applies for the voice, the humor, and the story.
If you’ve never read an Andy Carpenter book, don’t worry. Just think of this as the good idea it is—a team of PI’s working together instead of a lone operator with an occasional side-kick. A trio is so rare in the PI fiction biz that I can’t wait to see it at work more in future installments. I enjoyed this enough that I’m ready to read the next two at least. There was so much set-up to The K Team that Rosenfelt almost had to shoe-horn the plot around it. This was a good intro to the series, but I’m looking forward to seeing what Rosenfelt has in store for the team now that he’s been able to establish things.
Disclaimer: I received this eARC from St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley in exchange for this post—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, opinions are my own.
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The K Teamby David Rosenfelt eARC, 304 pg. Read: March 13-16, 2020 |
After 20+ books (and counting!) in a series, what’s an author to do? Well, if you have the dog food bills that David Rosenfelt must have (seriously, check out the photos on his website or Facebook page of the dogs he and his wife shelter), you create a spin-off. I found myself comparing the books a lot in the paragraphs that follow—I won’t make a habit out of it as the series progresses, but I kept comparing them as I read, so that’s how I think of the book. I hope it doesn’t get too tiring.
In 2019’s Dachshund Through the Snow, we met Former Paterson NJ police officer Corey Douglas and his German Shepherd partner, Simon Garfunkel. At the end of that novel, Corey had decided to join forces with Laurie and Marcus to form a detective agency. This is their first case—and what a way to start!
Longtime Andy Carpenter antagonist, the harsh, yet fair, Judge Henry Henderson (aka Hatchet) hires the team to look into a blackmailer trying to pressure the judge into something. He doesn’t know what the blackmailer wants yet, but he knows there’s enough to damage (probably fatally!) his career. The arrangement they enter into means that Andy won’t be able to try a case before Hatchet again—which bummed me out, he wasn’t a constant presence in those novels, but a frequent one—probably the only judge’s name I recognized. I enjoyed watching Andy squirm around the judge.
But now, it’s Hatchet’s turn to squirm. The blackmailers (well, potential blackmailers—he’s quick to note they haven’t actually broken the law yet), have some manufactured evidence to make it look like he’s crooked. He’s not, and has enough of a reputation and goodwill to weather the storm. Probably. But the hint of scandal would taint his record and probably force him off the bench.
So, Corey, Laurie, and Marcus get to work—looking into cases the judge presided over and could be alleged to have influenced. Before long, the threats get more real and bodies start appearing (or, disappearing, in some cases). And well, that’s really all I can safely say. But fans of the Andy Carpenter books will be familiar with the way things play out—and new readers will be entertained by it, too.
Marcus doesn’t do much more (especially on the dialogue front) in The K Team than he does in a typical Andy Carpenter book, he’s basically an unintelligible superhuman (yeah, the jokes about the protagonist’s inability to understand him are of the same genus as the ones in the Carpenter novels, but they’re a different species coming from Corey—I was surprised at how refreshing that was). I think he probably gets a little more space devoted to him than he typically gets, but he does basically what we’re used to seeing. There are a couple of exceptions, including what I believe is the longest hand-to-hand fight scene we’ve seen from him.
Even Laurie isn’t featured as much as I expected. Actually, that’s an understatement. I assumed that this would be Laurie’s series with a couple of sidekicks—or maybe an equally Laurie and Corey series with Marcus showing up to do his thing every now and then. Maybe a third person kind of thing alternating between focusing on each character. But no, this is first person from Corey’s POV—so we get a lot of Laurie, but most of what she did was off-screen, only teaming up with Corey for bigger moments or to discuss what they’d done together. It’s not what I expected, but I can live with it (I just wish she’d get to shine a bit more).
So, Corey…we get to know him a bit better here than we did in his first appearance, obviously. He’s single—deliberately—and very devoted to Simon (but not the same way that Andy is to Tara), they worked together and are now shifting to a new career together. Corey’s a bit more willing to leave Simon out of some of the action than say, Bernie Little is (eager, occasionally, for Simon’s safety). He’s a movie buff—a little bit of a nerd about them, it seems—and I look forward to seeing this more. He’s good at his job, still a straight arrow (the kind of cop he was), but is discovering that he’s more willing to color outside the lines than he thought. I’m looking forward to getting to know him better.
The humor is a similar style to the one employed in the Andy Carpenter books, but it’s not Andy’s voice in a different body. Corey is distinctive, but fans of the one will tend to enjoy the other. That’s half the point (maybe 70% of the point) of a spin-off, right? Similar, but not equal—that applies for the voice, the humor, and the story.
If you’ve never read an Andy Carpenter book, don’t worry. Just think of this as the good idea it is—a team of PI’s working together instead of a lone operator with an occasional side-kick. A trio is so rare in the PI fiction biz that I can’t wait to see it at work more in future installments. I enjoyed this enough that I’m ready to read the next two at least. There was so much set-up to The K Team that Rosenfelt almost had to shoe-horn the plot around it. This was a good intro to the series, but I’m looking forward to seeing what Rosenfelt has in store for the team now that he’s been able to establish things.
Disclaimer: I received this eARC from St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley in exchange for this post—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, opinions are my own.
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Fletch, TooGregory McDonald, Dan John Miller (Narrator) Unabridged Audiobook, 5 hrs., and 43 mins. Read: August 21-22, 2019 |
Up to this point, we know practically nothing about Fletch’s personal life—he’s been married (and divorced) twice and engaged once or twice in addition to that. He’s carried on an on-again/off-again relationship with Moxie Mooney. Served with valor in the Army, made a couple of good friends there. That’s pretty much it—most of what we know about Fletch is about his professional life—and then the amateur sleuthing/investigative journalism he’s done since he didn’t kill Alan Stanwyck. We know next to nothing about his family, his childhood, and so on.
In Fletch, Too McDonald decides to fix that. Picking up right after Fletch Won (like a day or two after) with his first wedding, the revelations start right away. We meet Fletch’s mother, a mystery novelist of some renown (but perhaps not of the highest caliber). After the ceremony, he’s handed a letter from someone claiming to be his father. Fletch had been told that his father had “died in childbirth,” so he’s taken aback by this. The letter describes (briefly) why his father had not been around for his life and that he’s “mildly curious” about his son. If Fletch is at least “mildly curious” about his father, he’s invited to visit him in Nairobi for their honeymoon, tickets are enclosed.
More than mildly curious, and driven to get some answers (or at least a good story), the two hop that plane (bringing their luggage and skis packed for a trip to Colorado). At this point, it stops being a standard Fletch novel and becomes something more akin to Carioca, Fletch. Before they leave the airport, Fletch witnesses a murder (unbeknownst to the murderer).
Fletch makes a couple of attempts to investigate the murder, but due to circumstances, a language barrier, police not given to outsiders’ help, and the lack of anything to go off of, he doesn’t get far. In fact, minor spoiler, the only reason Fletch “solves” the murder is that he recognizes the killer toward the end of the book. Which makes for a fairly unsatisfying “mystery” novel.
Where this book gets interesting is as Fletch and his wife meet some locals, explore the city, and meet a colleague of his father’s. We’re treated to a look at the culture, legal system (or lack thereof), history and some speculative Archeology about the area. It’s interesting—but it feels more like McDonald had an interesting vacation, read some good books on the region and/or had some great conversations with people from Nairobi and wanted to share what he’d learned (again, see, Carioca, Fletch).
I think I appreciated this more than the other non-standard Fletch because 1. I came in with low expectations (remembering how little I liked it) and 2. the supporting characters are more interesting.
At this point, I assume (and am supported by experience) that Miller will do a capable job with the Narration and he helped me enjoy the experience.
This is one for completists, for those who are curious about Fletch’s backstory, or for those who have a hankering for learning about Kenya. It’s not a bad book, it’s just not as good as it should be.
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An Accidental Deathby Peter Grainger, Gildart Jackson (Narrator) Unabridged Audiobook, 6 hrs., 52 min. Read: November 18-19, 2019 |
‘When you’re in front of a promotion board, one of the favourite questions is ‘So what motivates you in your daily work, Chris?’
‘Promotion? I’ll be relieved if I get through my six months. So what’s the correct answer?’
‘Oh, there are lots, you can buy them in books. But you could think about this,’ and Smith nodded towards the little group still standing at the graveside. ‘I’m just not sure how you put it into words.’
‘Revenge? Justice?’
‘For the victim – for Wayne Fletcher? Not how I see it, he’s beyond all that. Death’s the end of all. But look at the misery we’ve seen today. And it’s endless, it goes on rippling back and forwards through all these lives forever. I don’t know about justice. I’ve never seen myself on a white charger, righting wrongs – but we have to catch people so that they can’t create all this again. And so that other people get the message – you will be caught, you will pay. We never know how many selfish acts we prevent when we show people the consequences, but we have to keep showing them the consequences. These are the consequences.’
Smith had raised a hand, palm open towards the new grave.
Here we meet Detective Sergeant D. C. Smith—which isn’t At. All. confusing when listening to an audiobook, “I thought he was a DS, why is everyone calling him DC?” (thankfully, Grainger explains it after a bit). He’s a still-grieving widower, a long-serving detective, who has some sort of Intelligence experience in his past, has been of a higher rank, and has broken at least one near-legendary case years before. You wouldn’t think this résumé would be a type, but I’ve read about three Detective Sergeants this year that fit that description. That’s not a criticism, it’s just odd. DC Smith is my favorite exemplar of this type.
DC Smith is fresh off a brief leave in the aftermath of some case that was clearly divisive in the detective squad—and we never learn the details about it (which is frustrating, yet oddly compelling, and I almost hope we never learn the details about it), and is assigned to a new DI. Alison Reeve used to be a protégé of Smith’s, making things a bit awkward, but she also trusts him a lot more than other superiors seem to. He doesn’t have a team at the moment but gets to train a fresh DC, Chris Waters. Waters is an excellent device to get readers to see how Smith thinks/acts, because he has to keep explaining to Waters why he’s doing what he does.
For his first few days back, Reeve hands Smith some busy work including an anti-drugs presentation at some schools (quick aside—I loved his presentation, reminiscent of Bill Hick’s bit about the “this is your brain on drugs”) and a final sign-off on the paperwork about an accidental death. There’s a note on the autopsy that niggles at Smith and he starts looking into the accident. The initial investigation and paperwork were done just right, but . . .
Smith remembers a former colleague saying:
If you’re going to start turning over stones, you’ve got to turn them all over, every bloody one, even the littlest pebble…
Nevertheless, Smith starts turning over stones. And then more stones and more. Before he knows it, Smith and Waters find themselves mixed up in something nobody could’ve predicted—international intrigue, military secrets, family secrets, political pressure, and so on.
All leading to a great conclusion/face-off that will show off new sides of Smith (and show Waters’ mettle), with a postscript that seems predictable (but I’m not sure it was supposed to be)—but ties off the novel so nicely that I don’t care.
I’ve listened to one other book narrated by Gildart Jackson (Fated by Benedict Jacka), and while I thought he did fine with that one, he really seemed to connect with the character and the way he handled the narration and character voice seemed to fit the words/tone perfectly. I almost think I couldn’t read a future book in this series in print, I might have to come back for more.
There’s something about this one that got under my skin more than a typical procedural does—it’s maybe DC Smith, it’s maybe Grainger’s style (there’s a lot of subtle humor in a dark text)—it’s a Gestalt thing, I think. I really dug it.
Early on, Smith tells a couple of Fletcher’s friends:
‘As much as we might like this just to be about the facts, it never is. It never can be because people are always more complicated than facts.
Not only is that a catchy little bon mot, having a character who bases his work on it is about as good as “Everyone Counts or Nobody Counts” for his readers. An Accidental Death is a compelling read exploring an event that is more complicated than just facts and that’ll leave you wanting to come back for more.
This is checking off the “A book recommended by someone you trust.” box from the While I Was Reading Challenge, so I should probably mention that my friend, Micah, has been telling me to read these books (he additionally recommended the audiobooks, which is why I went audio with this one) since December 2017 (according to Goodreads). I really should’ve listened to him long before this. Not only does he have great taste, he’s a great photographer, take a moment to stop by his spiffy website and see.
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✔ A book recommended by someone you trust. |
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Dachshund Through the Snowby David Rosenfelt eARC, 352 pg. Read: September 3, 2019 |
It felt a little weird for the second book I read in September to be a Christmas-centered novel. Sure, it’s an Advanced Reader Copy, but still, it feels ridiculous. However, one thing we learn right off the bat is that Andy’s wife, Laurie, wants to extend the Christmas season into February (I’m sure there’s a touch of hyperbole there)—so I can totally see her not blinking at a Christmas book right after Labor Day.
There’s another case that kicks the book off—Andy sues the Paterson Police Department on behalf of a canine officer whose handler is retiring and wants to bring the dog with him into early retirement due to hip problems. It’s a pleasant way to kick off the book, and Rosenfelt makes it pay off for events later in the book and into the future, too.
But the main event is tied into Laurie’s Christmas spirit. She goes to various local places (like a pet store) and takes the wish lists/letters to Santa left there and fulfills them. This year she gets a letter from a little boy who wants a coat for his mom and a sweater for his dachshund, but before you can say “Awww, how cute,” he also asks for Santa to find his dad and bring him home. A job for Laurie, the P.I., not Santa.
Before Laurie can find him, however, the Paterson police do—he’s arrested for a fourteen-year-old murder. Noah Traynor’s sister had done one of those 23andMe/Ancestry-type things and the police tied her DNA to blood left underneath the fingernails of an unsolved murder (this is such a good idea, and I hope other writers use a similar idea just to prompt discussion about these things). Now we’re talking a job that’s not for Santa or Laurie, it’s Andy’s turn.
By this point, we all know what comes next: Sam hacks into things he should and finds out a lot; Marcus mumbles, intimidates some criminals and does something violent; Laurie cajoles and supports Andy; Hike predicts calamity; Andy watches some sports and thinks while walking Tara and Sebastian; (and works a little). The trial arrives and Andy annoys the judge and prosecutor, amuses the reader and finally gets somewhere with his investigation. Just because we all know it’s coming, that doesn’t mean it’s any less entertaining—in fact, there’s the fun in finding out how Rosenfelt will juggle the standard options; e.g. “what superhuman thing will Marcus do this time?”, “will Sam get to go into the field?”, “how many potential witnesses will Andy alienate before the trial? There’s also a lot that happens this time that the reader isn’t used to seeing during trial prep or the trial itself.
During the trial, something so shocking happened that Andy swore when he learned about it—which didn’t scandalize me, I just don’t remember him doing it that often. I was just as shocked as he was and almost followed suit. I know Rosenfelt has tricked me and caught me off guard before, but I don’t remember anything like this one. At twenty books in, for him to leave me nigh-flabbergasted is an accomplishment. Early on, I’d come up with a theory for both the identity of the killer and the motive—and Rosenfelt had convinced me I was on the wrong track. But it turns out that the events that left me as gobsmacked as our favorite indolent defense lawyer paved the way for me to be proven right. I’m not bringing this up to talk about how clever I was but to say that Rosenfelt was so convincing that he talked me out of being right on both fronts. Few mystery writers succeed there, and that never fails to make me happy to read it.
The book also works as a launching point for the spin-off series expected next year, focusing on Laurie’s new Detective Agency. I’ve been looking forward to it since I saw it announced, but now I’m a bit more interested having a bit more information. But more on that in a few months.
I went without sleep—2 days before seeing my sleep specialist, who saw the data, I should add—to stay up and finish this. It was totally worth the scathing look she gave me because I just had to know how it ended. After a book or two that made me wonder if Rosenfelt was running out of steam, the last few of these books have restored all my faith in him—Dachshund Through the Snow is one of the best in the series. A couple of authentic laughs, a lot of smiles, some warm fuzzies. a very clever mystery, and some good quality time with old friends—it’s a genuinely good time.
Disclaimer: I received this eARC from St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley in exchange for this post and my honest opinion—thanks to both for this early Christmas gift (so to speak), but the opinions expressed were not influenced by that, only by the fun read.
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Dachshund Through the Snowby David Rosenfelt eARC, 352 pg. Read: September 3, 2019 |
It felt a little weird for the second book I read in September to be a Christmas-centered novel. Sure, it’s an Advanced Reader Copy, but still, it feels ridiculous. However, one thing we learn right off the bat is that Andy’s wife, Laurie, wants to extend the Christmas season into February (I’m sure there’s a touch of hyperbole there)—so I can totally see her not blinking at a Christmas book right after Labor Day.
There’s another case that kicks the book off—Andy sues the Paterson Police Department on behalf of a canine officer whose handler is retiring and wants to bring the dog with him into early retirement due to hip problems. It’s a pleasant way to kick off the book, and Rosenfelt makes it pay off for events later in the book and into the future, too.
But the main event is tied into Laurie’s Christmas spirit. She goes to various local places (like a pet store) and takes the wish lists/letters to Santa left there and fulfills them. This year she gets a letter from a little boy who wants a coat for his mom and a sweater for his dachshund, but before you can say “Awww, how cute,” he also asks for Santa to find his dad and bring him home. A job for Laurie, the P.I., not Santa.
Before Laurie can find him, however, the Paterson police do—he’s arrested for a fourteen-year-old murder. Noah Traynor’s sister had done one of those 23andMe/Ancestry-type things and the police tied her DNA to blood left underneath the fingernails of an unsolved murder (this is such a good idea, and I hope other writers use a similar idea just to prompt discussion about these things). Now we’re talking a job that’s not for Santa or Laurie, it’s Andy’s turn.
By this point, we all know what comes next: Sam hacks into things he should and finds out a lot; Marcus mumbles, intimidates some criminals and does something violent; Laurie cajoles and supports Andy; Hike predicts calamity; Andy watches some sports and thinks while walking Tara and Sebastian; (and works a little). The trial arrives and Andy annoys the judge and prosecutor, amuses the reader and finally gets somewhere with his investigation. Just because we all know it’s coming, that doesn’t mean it’s any less entertaining—in fact, there’s the fun in finding out how Rosenfelt will juggle the standard options; e.g. “what superhuman thing will Marcus do this time?”, “will Sam get to go into the field?”, “how many potential witnesses will Andy alienate before the trial? There’s also a lot that happens this time that the reader isn’t used to seeing during trial prep or the trial itself.
During the trial, something so shocking happened that Andy swore when he learned about it—which didn’t scandalize me, I just don’t remember him doing it that often. I was just as shocked as he was and almost followed suit. I know Rosenfelt has tricked me and caught me off guard before, but I don’t remember anything like this one. At twenty books in, for him to leave me nigh-flabbergasted is an accomplishment. Early on, I’d come up with a theory for both the identity of the killer and the motive—and Rosenfelt had convinced me I was on the wrong track. But it turns out that the events that left me as gobsmacked as our favorite indolent defense lawyer paved the way for me to be proven right. I’m not bringing this up to talk about how clever I was but to say that Rosenfelt was so convincing that he talked me out of being right on both fronts. Few mystery writers succeed there, and that never fails to make me happy to read it.
The book also works as a launching point for the spin-off series expected next year, focusing on Laurie’s new Detective Agency. I’ve been looking forward to it since I saw it announced, but now I’m a bit more interested having a bit more information. But more on that in a few months.
I went without sleep—2 days before seeing my sleep specialist, who saw the data, I should add—to stay up and finish this. It was totally worth the scathing look she gave me because I just had to know how it ended. After a book or two that made me wonder if Rosenfelt was running out of steam, the last few of these books have restored all my faith in him—Dachshund Through the Snow is one of the best in the series. A couple of authentic laughs, a lot of smiles, some warm fuzzies. a very clever mystery, and some good quality time with old friends—it’s a genuinely good time.
Disclaimer: I received this eARC from St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley in exchange for this post and my honest opinion—thanks to both for this early Christmas gift (so to speak), but the opinions expressed were not influenced by that, only by the fun read.
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