There are few things lawyer Andy Carpenter likes more than golden retrievers, so when he hears that one is in a kill shelter after biting his supposed owner, Andy is determined to save him. He doesn't expect to find out that the dog was once the beloved pet of a man convicted of murdering his girlfriend.

When Richard Evans's sister sees the publicity about Andy saving the dog, she immediately comes to him because the dog was supposed to have been killed by Richard in the same incident when he killed his girlfriend. If the dog is still alive, what else about the night his girlfriend died and he tried to overdose isn't true? She's never believed that her brother could have killed anyone and asks Andy to look into the case again.

Andy agrees to meet Richard and form his own opinion though he already has positive feelings for the man because of his dog. But as Andy begins to look into the case and especially the character of the woman Richard was supposed to have murdered, he finds he is disturbing something that some very powerful people don't want uncovered.

Andy's shot at, has his home bugged, and hits all sorts of roadblocks including not being allowed to indicate that the girlfriend was in the Witness Protection Program. And even after he finds out about the conspiracy, someone is murdering the participants.

This was another engaging entry into the Andy Carpenter mystery series. ( )

I always enjoy Andy Carpenter mysteries, especially because they’re so fantastic on audio. Grover Gardner is Andy Carpenter, as far as I’m concerned. I think this book was when the cover designs started prominently featuring dogs, which I find a little confusing, not because dogs don’t figure regularly into the mysteries (particularly this one), but I think it might mislead people who are looking for cozy mysteries. This series is lighthearted and snarky, but I don’t think of them as cozies. That confusion aside, this one met all my expectations for the series, and the humor and quality of the plots has been consistent. Fun series, and lots more to read! ( )

The way this started out seemed like it was going to be really boring. Andy took on a case of a dog that was about to be put to death for biting some guy, but Andy could tell the dog was innocent. Dogs did feature prominently in the book, but it got more interesting soon after this case.

David Rosenfelt, the author, is (believe it or not) a diehard golden retriever lover, both in and out of the book. Well, in the book, Andy is the dog lover. In this one, he ends up with a second one for a while, which makes him and his dog both happy.

The story was full of suspense, humor, and and tears. If you are a dog lover, I think you will certainly want to read this series. If not, read it anyway.
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These always make me laugh. A fun series. ( )

This was the first of the Andy Carpenter series of books I've read, and I enjoyed it. To me, the book was something like a Janet Evanovich novel, but for the guys. As a former New York / New Jersey resident, I felt the main character, a NJ lawyer, had a lot of recognizable characteristics, e.g., he was a bit sarcastic, a bit of a smart @ss, and a little irreverent at times. I found I liked the characters, the dialogue, the setting along the Jersey Shore, the trial development and the way the crime was ultimately solved. Throw in the fact that the main character has a soft spot for dogs, and you have the ingredients for a good book to read while spending a day at the shore. ( )