[I received a free electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Minotaur Books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]
Summary
Andy comes home from a winter trip to an extra dog added to his usual three. But it’s a dog his family fostered at one point, so Andy is able to get Murphy home to his family. Andy doesn’t expect that family to need his services as a defense attorney, but they do.
Murphy’s owner has been arrested for killing a vising professor at his university. They had a public confrontation, and now the prof is dead and BJ is in jail. Andy doesn’t believe BJ is a killer, so he takes the case. The investigation brings Andy’s team into contact with drug dealers and mobsters, but Andy struggles to put the pieces together. And if he can’t figure it out, what happens to BJ?
Review
Another wintery winner from David Rosenfelt! The case here is super twisty, and I was wondering until the very end if Andy was going to be able to figure it all out. I was thrilled to puzzle together most of the solution as I read. When the case is as intricate as this one, the satisfaction of the story is enhanced by figuring some things out on my own.
Andy is delightfully sassy, and his usual team gets to bring a lot to the case – a sting operation, several hacking triumphs, and a grim battle. I loved that the K-Team had a bit more page time in this book.
This is the 30th book in the Andy Carpenter series, and Rosenfelt keeps hitting all the beats. You can read my other reviews from the series here. Series fans should absolutely pick up this satisfying winter addition to the series. Readers familiar with Andy can really read the series out of order without much trouble. Newcomers could start here – my first Andy Carpenter was a Christmas book, The Twelve Dogs of Christmas (♥♥♥♥♥), number 15 in the series – but I do worry that Andy can come across too abrasive if you haven’t followed him from the beginning. Book 31, Dogged Pursuit, will release in the summer of 2025. (Language, references to sexual assault and drug use.)
Rating: ♥♥♥♥½*
*♥♥♥♥½ – I loved it! Would re-read.