Tag: David Rosenfelt

BONUS REVIEW: Silent Bite by David Rosenfelt

BONUS REVIEW: Silent Bite by David Rosenfelt

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

Andy Carpenter’s status as a retired defense attorney is in jeopardy again when his business partner, Willie Miller, asks Andy to take on a new client. Tony Birch was Willie’s cellmate once, and Tony has been arrested again. The prosecution’s story is that Tony was angry at the guy who testified against him and put him in jail. But when more bodies start piling up, it seems that Tony might have been set up.

As Andy and his team dig further into the case, the frame up becomes more clear, but the reasons are elusive. If the defense can’t catch a break, Tony could go to jail for something he didn’t do.

Review

This is book 22 in the fun Andy Carpenter series. As always, this has a terrific dog as well as Andy and his top notch team.

I am happy to say I puzzled out what was really going on before Andy did, although he did fill in a couple gaps for me in the end to round the case out. This one was tricky, and for awhile I wondered if Andy was going to pull it together in time.

While this takes place around Christmas, the holiday is not a major factor in the story. And other than a new cast member, there weren’t any big non-case-related surprises here for the series.

Series fans will enjoy spending some snark-filled hours with Andy, watching him wrestle through another case. This hits all the usual beats for the series. Newcomers should be able to enjoy this on its own without issue. But if you love the team here like I do, you’ll want to go back and pick up some of the earlier books. Some of my favorites are: Bury the Lead (♥♥♥♥♥), Play Dead (♥♥♥♥♥), and The Twelve Dogs of Christmas (♥♥♥♥♥).

Rating: ♥♥♥♥*

*♥♥♥♥ = Great! Might re-read.

REVIEW: Muzzled by David Rosenfelt

REVIEW: Muzzled by David Rosenfelt

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

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)

Rating: ♥♥♥♥½

REVIEW: The K Team by David Rosenfelt

REVIEW: The K Team by David Rosenfelt

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

Corey Douglas is a former-cop-turned-private-investigator. His business partners are Laurie Collins (wife of much-loathed defense attorney Andy Carpenter), Marcus Clark, and Simon Garfunkel, Corey’s German shepherd. Corey and Simon worked together at the police department before retiring.

Their first case as a team is for local judge Henry “Hatchet” Henderson. He’s a tough, by-the-book judge who is being blackmailed for something he didn’t do. He’s been set up thoroughly. And if he doesn’t do what the black mailers want – something that is still a mystery – they’ll expose him with their fake evidence.

The “evidence” against the judge wasn’t thrown together on a whim. The planning goes back at least 18 months. And there’s a ton of money behind it, too. Who could have been targeting him for all this time? And why? What’s their endgame?

That’s what the K-Team has to figure out.

Review

I’ve been looking forward to this since I read Dachshund Through the Snow last year when readers first met Corey and Simon. And I was not disappointed. I enjoyed the new point of view character and seeing all of my favorites from the Andy Carpenter series.

The mystery here is fantastic! Tons of twists – some I saw coming and others that caught me completely by surprise. One even made me exclaim out loud. There were a lot of things to unwind in this case. It goes to the very last page, too. In fact, for awhile I thought the case might carry over to the next book, but it all gets settled in the end.

I would have loved more with Simon the German shepherd in this one. He doesn’t have a very big role in this case due to the nature of what was being investigated, but I still wanted more. I also wanted more development of Corey’s character. There were a few spots that felt either repetitive or over-explained. We got a lot of Corey waffling over his dating relationship and his concerns about some of the less-than-legal aspects of the investigation. Each of those pieces was a great part of showing us who Corey is, but they were covered often throughout the story.

If you enjoy top notch mysteries with law enforcement/legal system characters (and some great dogs), don’t miss this spin off – or the source material in the Andy Carpenter series. The author has two Andy Carpenter books releasing later this year – Muzzled (currently scheduled for a July release) and Silent Bite, a Christmas story (scheduled to release in October), and I will absolutely be reading both of them!

Rating: ♥♥♥♥

BONUS REVIEW: Dachshund Through the Snow by David Rosenfelt

BONUS REVIEW: Dachshund Through the Snow by David Rosenfelt

Posted on by Jaymie

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

Summary

Fourteen years ago, Kristen McNeil was killed. She was a young woman – 18 – and her body was found by a rundown stadium. While she had DNA under her fingernails, the police couldn’t find a match. Until now.

Andy Carpenter’s wife, Laurie, is a huge fan of Christmas. One of her favorite parts is claiming Christmas wishes for families in their community and using Andy’s considerable wealth to meet them. This year she pulls a tag for a boy named Danny. Laurie is happy to provide everything he asks for – a coat for his mom, and a sweater for his dachshund, Murphy. But Danny also asks Santa to bring his dad home. As an investigator, Laurie’s the perfect person to find Noah Traynor. Except Danny’s mom acts like she doesn’t want him found.

Noah Traynor has been hiding in a motel, but it’s only a matter of time until the police find him. His brother just had to do one of those DNA kits. Once the results are uploaded, they are fair game for law enforcement. While Noah didn’t kill Kristen, he knows his DNA would have been at the scene because he had been there with her that night.

Once Noah is arrested, Andy’s on the case. Danny’s Christmas wish is to have his dad home – and Laurie’s going to make sure they do everything they can to make that happen!

Review

This was delightful! My favorite characters, a holiday story, an excellent mystery, and several adorable dogs. What’s not to love?!

Andy is in great form in this book. The dry humor was excellent. The author even gets a mention in the book, which was a hoot. The legal support team plays a smaller role in this book, but they all get equal time compared to one another, except of course for Laurie. There are a couple new characters who figured prominently in this one – not the Traynors, but other characters – that I loved! Those characters and their role in this book sets the stage for Rosenfelt’s spin-off series/book, The K Team, coming in 2020.

The mystery in this was fantastic. There was no organized crime angle like in many of the previous books, so this felt fresh. And my guess for the solution was off base all the way to the end. The wrap up was clever, and I thoroughly enjoyed all the twists and turns.

It was a Christmas book that introduced me to the Andy Carpenter series three years ago (The Twelve Dogs of Christmas, Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥), and they are among my favorites in the series. If you haven’t read an Andy Carpenter book before, give this one a try. It’s book 20 in the series, but the Christmas books seem especially new-reader-friendly to me. I don’t think a newcomer would have any trouble following the main action of this book. Of course, series fans should definitely not miss this one!

Rating: ♥♥♥♥½

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: ♥♥♥♥

SATURDAY SMORGASBORD: My Summer Reading Plan 2019

SATURDAY SMORGASBORD: My Summer Reading Plan 2019

Posted on by Jaymie

Last summer was something of a summer reading “FAIL” for me even though I read 69 books. I only read 2 of the six family challenge books I was assigned (I finally read a third later in the year). So this year, we are simplifying yet again for the Family Challenge. Here are some of the things I plan to read this summer.

Family Reading Challenge

We decided that this summer each of us will read the entire Harry Potter series again. It has been ages since we have read the whole thing, although my teen and I have re-read single books here and there. I might even read a couple of them from the illustrated versions we bought but haven’t enjoyed yet.

In addition to Harry, we are only picking one challenge book for each of the other people in the family. I gave both my husband and my teen a stack of books to choose from. If we were doing 2 or 3 books, I would have picked myself but I didn’t have “that one” book I wanted either to read. I have challenged my teen to read Powerless and my husband to read Polaris Rising. My husband and I both were thinking of Scalzi’s Lock In for the teen so he assigned that one. My teen chose #MurderTrending for both parents. And my husband chose Long Road to Mercy for me.  He’s always trying to get me to read more Baldacci!

We are also putting in “prizes” for this year, too, to see if that helps us actually finish the goal by July 31.

#Bookaday

Teachers, librarians and other book fanatics all over social media (Instagram, Twitter) choose to read a book each day of summer vacation. My #bookaday will run from June 1 to July 31, so 61 books in 61 days. And to help with that I have a Kindle full of Advance Reader Copies and my personal TBR pile for the summer.

TBR Books

My top priority for the summer is to get ahead on my review copies. These are some of the ones I am most excited to read.

 

These are some of the new books coming out in June and July that I hope to read.

 

And finally, these are some of the books I want to RE-READ this summer. I am craving a re-reading binge like no one’s business. I am hoping to get ahead on as much as I can in June so I can spend July on reading old favorites – some to get ready for sequels (Ash Princess, Kill the Queen, Lady’s Guide…) and the rest just because I love them.

Aliens Abroad
Ash Princess
It’s Not Me It’s You
Kill the Queen
A Lady’s Guide to Etiquette and Murder
A List of Cages
The Names They Gave Us
The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is You
Polaris Rising
Prince in Disguise
The Way to the Stars

What are you planning to read this summer?

REVIEW: 2018 Christmas Books

REVIEW: 2018 Christmas Books

Posted on by Jaymie

Last year I did a list of Christmas book reviews, and that seems like a good idea for this year, too. I am pretty far backlogged on reviews, so unless a Christmas book is something I am reviewing for a publisher (like this one and this one and this one), I have a hard time squeezing in reviews. So here are the Christmas books I have read so far this season and what I thought of them! You can see last year’s post here.

 Santa Bruce – This is the only Christmas book I have read for kids so far. It was adorable! I love the Bruce books! Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥ 

 

 

 Catching Christmas – A first year law associate and a cab driver connect over a wheelchair-bound old lady who is on the hunt for a date for her granddaughter. Overall this was cute, but I didn’t click with the characters. Other readers, especially fans of the author’s other work, might enjoy this one more than I did. Rating: ♥♥♥½

 

 

 

The Christmas Remedy – A young Amish woman runs into issues when she tries to help her community recognize how important it is to value their health and wellness, and the pharmacy that serves the community comes under fire. You can read a full summary and review here. I will say that this book ends at Christmas, but a lot of the action happens in the months leading up to the holiday. Rating: ♥♥♥♥½

 

 

 

The Christmas Star – A girl in foster care plays matchmaker for an after-school program volunteer. This is a sweet Christmas story with lots of heart. There’s not a lot of conflict or suspense in this one – just a touching Christmas tale. I read one of the other books in this series a couple years ago and loved it. Now I make a habit of looking for a new Christmas book from this author. You can read my review of the other book here.  Rating: ♥♥♥♥

 

 

 

Dear Santa –  You’ve Got Mail with a Christmas twist. A woman running her family’s Christmas shop writes to Santa through an app about the national chain that has come to town, not knowing that the guy from the chain is the one answering the Dear Santa letters. This is another story without a ton of conflict or tension – just a nice holiday story to help you enjoy the season! Rating: ♥♥♥♥

 

 

 

Deck the Hounds – The first Andy Carpenter book I ever read was a Christmas one – The Twelve Dogs of Christmas – and it launched me into a frantic  quest to read every book in the series. The second Christmas tale in the series is just as enjoyable. Everything I love about the series as a whole. In this book, Andy and his wife get more than they bargained for when they reach out at the holidays to help a homeless man and his dog.  Rating: ♥♥♥♥

 

 

 

In Peppermint Peril – A woman home for the holidays finds murder at a stately manor where she played as a child. This is the first in a new mystery series. You can read a full summary and review here next Wednesday. Rating: ♥♥♥♥

 

 

 

 

Lark! The Herald Angels Sing –  Meg’s brother, Rob, is named as the father of an unknown baby left in the manger at their church’s live Nativity. For me, this was the quintessential Meg Langslow mystery – it has all the family and town antics that I love as well as a first rate mystery. (This time the mystery focuses less on a murder, which happens off the page, and more on the fall out from it. It’s a fascinating story!) Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥ 

 

 

 

Murder in Her Stocking – First in the new Granny Reid Mystery series, a spin off of G. A. McKevett’s Savannah Reid/Moonlight Magnolia series. This one goes back to when Savannah was a kid and Granny looked into a murder at Christmas time. I loved seeing Savannah as a 12 year old and see how the personalities of her siblings were already on display at a young age. I think readers will enjoy this more if they are already familiar with the characters from the original series. Rating: ♥♥♥♥

 

 

 

The Peppermint Mocha Murder – A chocolatier/”chocolate whisperer” heads out on vacation for the holidays and finds murder at a holiday musical production. I’ve only read the first book in this series, and then this one, so the relationships aren’t quite solid in my head for this series, yet,  but the mystery was good.  Rating: ♥♥♥♥

 

 

 

 

Premeditated Peppermint – Another chocolatier finds herself investigating a murder when her ex comes to town to do a show on her family candy shop and his producer winds up dead. I enjoyed the mystery in this one, and the characters are always a treat for me in this series. I’ll be writing up a more detailed review of this in December. Rating: ♥♥♥♥

 

 

 

 

Six Cats a Slayin’ – Someone leaves a set of kittens on Charlie’s door and a murderer hits the neighborhood as well. You can read a full summary  and review here. This is probably my new favorite book in this delightful series. Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥ 

 

 

 

 

‘Twas the Knife Before Christmas – In the midst of Christmas celebrations on the tree farm, a woman’s best friend is accused of killing a sleazy guy she dated one time. This is book 2 in this series and I have loved both of the books. The characters and the setting for this mystery series are first rate. You can read a full summary and review here. 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!