At some point, it seemed pretty familiar, so I looked up what I said about Dachshund Through the Snow, the twentieth novel in the series. The narration is clever, the humor is witty, the case complex, the herrings are red, the dogs are adorable-all the elements of a solid Andy Carpenter novel are there.Īs I was mulling over this book this week, I’d mentally drafted a paragraph thinking about this one in the context of the series as a whole. Whether looking for flaws in the Prosecution’s case, running down Alex’s theory, or trying to find an alternative, Andy and his regular band (which includes The K Team now) are as fun as always. I also admit that it’s not fair for me to judge, as the reader has access to some third-person narration portions of the novel that Andy doesn’t. And while I found it frustrating that he was so slow, I appreciated that Rosenfelt let things go that way. It took Andy a painfully long time to come up with an alternative theory of the case. In a long-running series like this is, it’s the little differences that really stick out and keep things fresh. The motive is a little shaky, but that’s beside the point.Īlex gives Andy one possible reason that he’d be targeted, and while he doesn’t buy it, he has nothing else to go on, so while Andy tries to come up with an idea of his own, he spends a lot of time exploring that. Andy needs some convincing, however.Īnd Alex Vogel is going to need Andy’s help-if he wasn’t one of those killed, the police would like to know, why wasn’t he? The explanation that makes the most sense to them is that Alex Vogel made and detonated the bomb, killing his friends. At this point, the reader (and everyone who knows Andy) realizes that if this man needs legal help, Andy will be his attorney. So he risks life and limb to be reunited with his pet. Except he clearly escaped and after being on the run for his life a bit, has decided he can’t run off without the dog. He’s the victim of a triple murder a few weeks ago when his boat was destroyed by a bomb of some sort. Which sounds pretty straightforward and good up until the point where she tells Andy the owner’s name. The more the merrier, I say-especially if there are more like this one in the wings.Īndy’s contacted by a friend also in the dog rescue biz-she’s come into possession of a stray and has been contacted by the owner to retrieve the dog. Rosenfelt’s army of dogs takes a lot of food. The way that Andy’s been ramping up the retirement talk over the last couple of books, I can’t help but wonder how many more are in store-but I have to expect we’ll get a few more. That’s pretty mind-boggling, I’ve got to say. Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

Muzzled by david rosenfelt