Tag: Andy Carpenter

REVIEW: Bark of Night by David Rosenfelt

REVIEW: Bark of Night by David Rosenfelt

Posted on by Jaymie

[I received an electronic review copy of this from Netgalley and Minotaur Books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

Summary

It all starts with a trip to the vet.

Tara, Andy Carpenter’s beloved golden retriever, is getting something checked out, and her vet, Dr. Dowling, tells Andy about a weird situation in which he finds himself.

A man brought in a French Bulldog named Buster and asked to have the dog euthanized. He doesn’t give a reason, but he filled out the forms and paid almost $200 in cash and left a sweet, perfectly healthy dog behind to die.

When the vet tries to follow up with the man to see if he can rehome the dog instead, he discovers the contact information is false. When he checks the dog, he finds a chip that says the dog’s name is Truman. His real owner is a man named James Haley. And James Haley was just found dead.

A local kid is arrested for the crime, and Andy gets drawn into his defense as he starts to dig into the guy who tried to have Truman killed and his possible connection to the death of James Haley.

Review

This is a pretty standard Andy Carpenter mystery. Andy’s usual team works on the case. They get help from local and federal law enforcement. There’s a possible organized crime component. And the threads Andy keeps pulling are hard to connect and even harder to get admitted into his court case.

Everything I enjoy about this series is present here – Andy’s sass and sarcasm, his quirky yet efficient team, great dogs and a twisty court case. The resolution to the mystery was as satisfying as always. And I especially loved how things were resolved for Andy’s client.

If you’ve read a couple of these, you can read the rest in any order in my opinion. I recommend starting with some of the early books just to establish Andy’s team, but the books stand well on their own. (Personally, I started with book 15 and it was never an issue.) If you like mysteries, mysteries with animals, or legal/lawyer-centered mysteries, don’t miss this series! It’s a must-read for me. This is book 19, and book 20 comes out in a few months – Dachshund Through the Snow. (Language)

Rating: ♥♥♥♥

REVIEW: Rescued by David Rosenfeld

REVIEW: Rescued by David Rosenfeld

Posted on by Jaymie

[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

When a body is found in a truck full of over 60 dogs, Andy Carpenter is called in. Andy’s foundation rescues dogs in danger of being euthanized and finds them forever homes. The Tara Foundation will take in the dogs, care for them, and get them adopted. The body in the truck is not Andy’s problem.

Except it is. The man who killed Kenny Zimmer is at Andy’s house. Dave Kramer is Andy’s wife, Laurie’s, ex. They’ve stayed in touch, and she says Andy is the best defense attorney. And Dave needs the best. He admits to killing Zimmer, but says it was self-defense. Zimmer tried to take him out with a knife so Kramer shot him.

Kramer and Zimmer have a history which doesn’t look good for Kramer. Even worse, there’s no sign of a knife on the truck. It’s hard to prove self-defense without a weapon.

Review

This is the 17th book in the awesome Andy Carpenter mystery series. I have finally worked through all of the books in this terrific series, so now I get to enjoy the new ones as they are released (Deck the Hounds will be out in October!). I’ve even gotten my inlaws sold on this series thanks to the tightly written mysteries and the dogs present in every book.

As always, Andy and his team are great. No huge developments with the team this time – they all play their usual parts. I love Andy’s sarcasm and self-awareness and his interplay with the other members of his team.

The mystery in this one is quite intricate. Andy has the barest hint of a clue, and he and his team are able to pick away at the lies and alibis until they can ferret out the truth. And I was just along for the ride; I couldn’t figure this one out on my own.

I highly recommend this whole series to mystery fans. This is a little darker than a “cozy” series – more swearing and sometimes more violence. It’s mostly a court room series – the investigation is done outside but justice is often sorted out in the trial or shortly thereafter. The twisty mysteries keep me guessing and the terrific characters keep me chuckling and coming back for more. This is a keeper series for me!

Rating: ♥♥♥♥

REVIEW: Open and Shut by David Rosenfelt

REVIEW: Open and Shut by David Rosenfelt

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

Andy Carpenter is a defense lawyer retrying an old case at the urging of his father. Some issues have come to light that get the original trial thrown out.

What’s odd is that Andy’s dad was the District Attorney who prosecuted the original case. Andy’s not sure why his dad wanted him to re-try it. And now that his dad has died, he’s not available to ask.

Adding to the “odd” factor is a photo of four young men that Andy finds hidden at his father’s house. Andy recognizes his father and one other man in the photo – a man connected to his retrial.

Why did Andy’s father hide this innocuous-looking picture?  Does it have anything to do with the unexpected millions Andy inherited?  Is it a coincidence that one of the men in the photo is part of Andy’s case?

Whatever’s going on, Andy and his team will have to work fast to figure it out. Someone wants Andy to back off – either from the case or with his questions about the photo – and their threats start escalating.

Review

After reading five books from the end of this series, I decided to start at the beginning with book one and see how everything started.

Since this is the start of the series, the ensemble I love from the latter books isn’t in place yet. This changed the tone of the book for me. While there’s still a lot of great dry humor, the fun interplay between characters wasn’t quite there in this book.

The mystery is great. The evidence against Andy’s client is tremendous. There’s a reason he was found guilty the first time. Andy himself spends a lot of the story feeling like he might not pull this off. The pieces twist together to a satisfying conclusion.

My rating for this is lower than what I have given to the others in this series. And that’s entirely due to the comparison to Rosenfelt’s later work. Without the full ensemble, I just didn’t enjoy this one as much as I have the rest of the series. The books just get better and better!

I’m glad I went back to book one to see how it all began. By now, I have worked through the entire series to see how the team comes together to become the ensemble I love. Every book in this series is a terrific, intricate mystery.  New books in this series are must reads for me! I highly recommend this entire series.

Rating: ♥♥♥

REVIEW: Collared by David Rosenfelt

REVIEW: Collared by David Rosenfelt

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

Three years ago, Dylan Hickman was kidnapped along with the family dog, Cody. The baby’s nanny named her boss’ ex-fiancé as the culprit. While he wore a mask, she said she recognized his voice and eyes. Keith was arrested. Jill Hickman grieved the loss of her adopted son, desperate for a clue to his whereabouts, but Dylan and the dog had disappeared without a trace.

When Cody the dog is left at the Tara Foundation, lawyer Andy Carpenter is drawn into the case once again. Andy had no official role the first time, but he was familiar with the case. Since Jill Hickman and Andy’s wife, Laurie, were high school friends, the Carpenters offer to look into things for Jill to see if they can find Dylan.

Andy agrees to be Keith’s lawyer in name only in order to access the details from the case as the original lawyer has passed away. Before long, though, he’s Keith’s lawyer for real as the nanny’s testimony seems to be a complete fabrication. While Andy and his team take the case back for retrial and continue their investigation, the path to the truth becomes littered with dead bodies.

Review

This was an excellent mystery! This is the third Andy Carpenter mystery I’ve read, and I have thoroughly enjoyed each one. The plotting is fantastic, the characters feel real, and the humor is delightfully dry. The sarcasm prompts me to read sections out loud to my family because I have to explain what is so funny.  I love that this is a series I can drop into anywhere and feel completely engrossed without have to read every book in order

Andy is a fascinating character. He has an interesting code of conduct from how he approaches his law practice (the fewer clients the better) to how he views money (he inherited a bunch of it but uses it to further his agenda both with his practice and with the foundation). He wrestles with a moral dilemma in this story which was another layer of how real the character feels. It made me like Andy even more than I already did.

The mystery was fantastic. Every roadblock to the case led to an interesting new wrinkle to explore. I had NO idea where things where going, and I enjoyed every twist and turn. I’ll be tracking down more of the books in this terrific series! (Language)

Rating: ♥♥♥♥½

I received an electronic copy of this for review purposes. Many thanks to Netgalley and Minotaur books for the opportunity to read an early copy of the book in exchange for an honest review. It was a joy to read!

REVIEW: One Dog Night by David Rosenfelt

REVIEW: One Dog Night by David Rosenfelt

Posted on by Jaymie

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.

Rating: ♥♥♥♥