Who Let the Dog Out?
Andy Carpenter, Book #13
By David Rosenfelt
ISBN: 9781250055330
Author website: http://www.davidrosenfelt.com/
Brought to you by OBS reviewer Kayt
Synopsis:
A lawyer by day-and then only when he’s forced to take on new cases-Andy Carpenter’s true passion is the Tara Foundation, the dog rescue organization he runs with his friend Willie Miller. So it’s frightening when Willie calls him to say the alarm has gone off at the foundation building, and there’s clearly been a break-in. It turns out that a recently rescued dog, nicknamed Cheyenne since her arrival at the foundation, has been stolen. Andy and Willie track the missing dog to a house in downtown Paterson, New Jersey and sure enough, they find the dog…standing right next to a dead body. The man had been gruesomely murdered mere minutes before Andy and Willie arrived. Could it be a coincidence? Or could the dog theft somehow be connected to the killing?
Andy takes Cheyenne safely back to the foundation building, and that should be the end of his involvement, but Andy’s curiosity-and his desire to keep the dog from further harm-won’t let him stop there. The cops have just arrested a man named Tommy Infante for the murder, but as Andy looks into the circumstances surrounding the break-in and the dog theft, he starts to wonder if Infante might actually be innocent. And when Andy takes Infante on as a client and starts searching in earnest for evidence that will exonerate him, what Andy starts to discover terrifies him. The murder might be just one small cog in a plot with far-reaching implications, and unless Andy can uncover the truth in time, thousands of lives could be in imminent danger.
Review:
If you have never read one of David Rosenfelt’s Andy Carpenter Mystery books, do it now!! I don’t care what kind of books you like, you will enjoy these. Ok so maybe that will not always be true, but it should be. Everyone should love a mystery series that always includes a dog or two or three, a lawyer that hates to lawyer, a quiet muscle man, some grand mystery that runs parallel to the case and oh my goodness some serious laughs. What more could you want?? Well I would want more dogs, but that is just me. This is a legal thriller I guess, but I just call it a joy to read.
Now on to the meat of Who Let the Dog Out? And it is meaty. You have to love lawyer Andy Carpenter. He does not like doing his job, actually does not like doing a lot of anything except play with Tara his golden, enjoy sports on television and hang with his family. I can appreciate that lifestyle. When he does take a case it is for a good reason. And when he is in court, he cracks me up. A bit Matlock with some Perry Mason thrown in and a lot of easy reading. The court scenes are interesting, entertaining and never dull. That takes a lot of talent to write them so I am not bored with them. Andy has surrounded himself with some wonderful characters including his wife, Laurie, his partner in the Tara Foundation, Willie and all of his amazing staff. Staff is actually used in the loosest sense in describing those that work with him.
As always in an Andy Carpenter novel, there is a dog at the root of him taking the case. This time one of the dogs in their foundation facility is stolen. Thanks to GPS technology they have, Andy and Willie are able to track Cheyenne the stolen dog. Just to cover their bases they call their police buddy to meet them at the house. When they find Cheyenne, they also find a dead man and it does not look like a natural death in any way. Things really get crazy after Andy takes the case of the arrested man Tommy Infante. The police think they have an open and shut case against him. Andy sees things differently. He fears that this murder is just a very small part of a much larger and much more dangerous plan.
I absolutely love Andy Carpenter mysteries and I am not a fan of legal thrillers. Maybe that is why I love them, they don’t fall in the same boring pattern as most do. Filled with humor, action, dogs, sarcasm, dogs, entertaining characters and did I mention DOGS. This is a wonderful and fast paced read. David Rosenfelt’s own humor and character definitely bleed through into Andy. It is a very honest and fun read. Who let the Dog Out?, is a fast paced, action packed, hilarious novel. I recommend it to everyone, even though some will not love it as much as I do. Although honestly everyone should.
