[I received an electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Minotaur Books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]
Summary
Beth Morris finds owners of lost pets. When someone in her network – say, Andy Carpenter’s Tara Foundation – finds a stray dog, Beth uses her skills and her contacts to find the owners. Sometimes the owners don’t want the dog, and it’s then freed up for adoption. Other times it’s been lost and she gets to reunite the family with their beloved pet.
Lucy is one such dog. And Beth has determined that Lucy’s owner is one of the men who recently died in a suspicious boat explosion.
Then Beth gets a call from someone else who knows all about Lucy. Has Beth made a mistake in her research? Or has a dead man come looking for his dog?
Beth immediately brings the case to Andy. Despite his protests that he’s “retired,” there’s something about this case that grabs his attention.
Review
I know that’s not much of a summary, but I don’t want to give too much away about what Andy and his team discover as they work on this case. Andy is in top form in this twisty mystery! The clues are doled out slowly, so I was guessing all the way to the end. There were some great courtroom moments, as well as tons of sarcasm, and at least one jaw-dropping surprise. These are the things that keep me coming back to this series.
The characters in this series are top notch. There’s less time with Andy’s legal team in this one, but an increased focus on the K-Team which was a great trade off.
Fans of the series should pick this one up right away. It’s terrific. Newcomers should be able to jump in anywhere. I started this series with book 15 – The Twelve Dogs of Christmas (♥♥♥♥♥) – and then read all of the backlist. I haven’t missed a book since. Rosenfelt does a good job of keeping new readers clued in without doing an annoying backstory dump. Reading the books out of order has never been an issue for me.
Mystery fans, especially those who enjoy courtroom dramas, should be sure to check out this series! (Language)