The Sound and the Furry

August 5, 2013
Bestseller Quinn’s entertaining sixth Chet and Bernie mystery (after 2012’s A Fistful of Collars) once again successfully uses the conceit of a dog able to understand English, albeit only literally (e.g., a reference to “cash cows” has Chet anxious about actual cows, who “have a way of looking at you that I don’t like one little bit”). While driving outside the Valley in the unnamed western state where they live, the pair stop for a road gang, because you never know if you’ll “bump into an old pal,” as indeed they do. Frenchie Boutette, who was imprisoned for fraud after they busted his scheme to cheat disabled Vietnam vets, needs their help finding his inventor brother, Ralph, who has disappeared from his home near New Orleans. Quinn (the pen name for suspense author Peter Abrahams) sends his endearing duo to Louisiana, where their search for Ralph becomes a lot more than a missing person’s case. Agent: Molly Friedrich, Friedrich Agency.

March 15, 2014
The Little Detective Agency on the road! Chet the Jet and Bernie Little travel to the Louisiana bayou in the sixth installment of the series. This time, Chet, our 100-plus-pound canine narrator learns about boats, Cajun food, and gators as he and Bernie, "the smartest human in the room," look for missing inventor Ralph Boutette, Big Oil, biker gangs, stolen shrimp, and long-standing family feuds come together in another hilarious outing well told by narrator Jim Frangione. VERDICT As always, Quinn's books may be enjoyed as stand-alones, but don't miss the other entries in this well-done, hysterically funny, and heartwarming series.--Sandra C. Clariday, Tennessee Wesleyan Coll., Athens

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2013
Spencer Quinn, pseudonym for award-winning adult and youth writer Peter Abrahams, continues his clever, dog-narrated private-eye series with a strong sixth volume. Canine narrator Chet and human PI Bernie head to Louisiana to find a missing nephew of a criminal they previously put away. Ralph is the straight arrow in the crazy Boutette family, but no one has heard from him or seen him recently. Chet uncovers clues right and left, but readers are left to interpret them amid his musings on his next meal. Humor scores every scene, and while Chet's thoughts are not linear, they are clear enough to derive what has happened, usually before the human characters do. Bernie, while sharp, needs Chet to find Ralph's glasses and to protect him when they are both viciously attacked. A missing shipment of shrimp and an intertwined family web of blackmail and crime keep the private-eye team guessing until Chet forces Bernie to see what is going on in a decidedly sinister situation. This will appeal to fans of dog mysteries and possibly even to any mystery fan who doesn't mind the occasional talking pooch.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)