Collared

It just doesn't get much better than sitting down with a new Andy Carpenter mystery by David Rosenfelt in hand.  I know I'm in for an intricately plotted mystery with a slightly cranky, albeit dog loving, protagonist.  I do so enjoy his snarky wit as he reluctantly pursues a legal case that has gone to the dogs.  Collared (#698) is a perfect example.




Andy Carpenter is seriously thinking of not renewing his license to practice law.  After all, he doesn't need the money.  But when a border collie left at the shelter he co-founded turns out to be the "DNA Dog" missing in a sensational unsolved child abduction case from several years back, Andy is pulled into the case by his wife Laurie.  The mother of Dylan Hickman, the abducted child, is a friend of hers, and a prominent businesswoman.  Can the dog provide some clues to Dylan's whereabouts if the baby is still alive?  What Andy uncovers turns the entire case upside down in a series of twists that I did not see coming.




I really like the way David Rosenfelt has developed his characters over the course of this mystery series.  (By the way, if you haven't already discovered these books on your own, they are most enjoyable read in sequence.  Fantastic Fiction is an excellent website source for checking the order of publication for book series.  See the link below.)  Now that Andy has a son of his own, his viewpoint on the Dylan Hickman case is completely different than it would have been at the start of this series.  One thing never changes for Andy, though: his love of Tara, his golden retriever, and the canine world in general.  I can't wait to hear David Rosenfelt speak at our upcoming BookMania!.  If you've read his non-fiction memoir, Dogtripping: 25 Rescues, 11 Volunteers, and 3 RVs on Our Canine Cross-Country Adventure, you'll know that Andy's doggie devotion is strictly autobiographical!  (See my post of 9/12/13.)




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