Summary
Andy Carpenter is a defense attorney with no clients. Thanks to a large inheritance, Andy only has to work when he wants to – which is hardly ever. Something big has to draw him in.
Noah Galloway has been waiting for six years to be arrested. While he doesn’t remember setting the fire that killed 26 people, he thinks he might have done it during a drug-induced black out. He’s planning to plead guilty and serve his time.
Andy and Noah are connected. Noah once gave up his beloved dog. He knew he was barely taking care of himself; she deserved better. So he gave her to a shelter and watched to see who picked her up. That person was Andy.
Tara is the best dog Andy’s ever known. And Noah is part of the reason Andy has her. So he starts to look into Noah’s situation. And soon he’s convinced that Noah is innocent.
Review
This is the second Andy Carpenter book I have read. I read The Twelve Dogs of Christmas, the 15th book in the series last year and I thought it was fantastic! This is book nine. I love that I can drop into this series anywhere without feeling lost!
Andy is a great character with a dry sense of humor. The team around him is quirky but competent. The quirky parts add to the fun and humor of the book.
This particular story has a lot of secondary characters. It can be hard to keep them all straight early on as the story is setting up. The mystery is fascinating. The reader knows the plotting and scheming going on but doesn’t know WHY everything is happening.
This is more of a traditional adult mystery than my usual cozy reads. There’s a little more violence or description of the violence. And there’s some language.
I’m looking forward to reading more books in this series including book 16, Collared, which will release later this summer.