Reviews for Dog Who Knew Too Much

Backcountry hiking turns out to be no walk in the park for the indomitable Chet and his human partner Bernie.

Because he's chronically short of cash, there aren't too many gigs Bernie Little (To Fetch a Thief, 2010, etc.) won't take a shot at. But giving the keynote at the Great Western Private Eye Convention turns out to be a bad deal, since the offer is only a pretext for its president, Georgie Malhouf, to make a bid for Chet. No sale, says Bernie. Instead, he takes what looks like a real stinker of a case: pretending to be Anya Vereen's new guy so that her old guy, Guy Wenders, won't make a play for reconciliation during Parents Weekend at Big Bear Wilderness Camp. Chet loves this trip; after all, the mountains are filled with wonderful, strange smells. Bernie, not so much, especially after he learns that Anya's son Devin went missing on his cabin's overnight. When Bernie takes Chet and wilderness guide Turk Rendell back where the boy was last seen, Chet follows Devin's scent into an abandoned mine, raising the searchers' hopes. But then Turk gets killed, and Bernie runs afoul of Big Bear's so-called law-enforcement community, most of whom share the name Laidlaw. Once Bernie gets arrested for Turk's murder, Chet is on his own. Chet knows plenty, but how can he share his wisdom with reporter Suzie Sanchez, who's almost as smart as Bernie, not to mention smelling almost as good and being a really great patter?

Human cunning and canine smarts triumph once again.

 

One wonders whether this dog knew how popular Quinn's series would be when it launched with Dog on It. In any case, cool canine Chet and his beloved Bernie have been hired to find a boy possibly snatched by his divorced dad, but Chet noses out new clues that make things look more desperate. Meanwhile, both Bernie's girlfriend's old boyfriend and a stray pup suspiciously resembling Chet appear on the scene. Great, cozy fun even if you're not nuts for dogs; with a four-city tour and a reading group guide.

This fourth entry (after Thereby Hangs a Tale) in the adventures of PIs Chet (canine) and Bernie (human) begins when they're hired to guard a woman as she goes to pick up her son from summer camp. Things heat up when the boy doesn't return from a hike, and then murder, drugs, an abandoned mine, and the FBI get added to the mix. Quinn accomplishes the tricky task of building a satisfying mystery and telling it in the voice of Border collie Chet. The story moves along quickly and logically as danger mounts and the clues begin to add up (to Bernie, at least). Chet's narration includes all the necessary clues (even if he doesn't realize it) along with all the canine quirks dog lovers will recognize. VERDICT This novel should appeal to mystery and dog lovers equally. Recommended for any library catering to lots of both.

Near the start of the pseudonymous Quinn's outstanding fourth Chet and Bernie whodunit (after 2010's To Fetch a Thief), Anya Vereen asks PI Bernie Little to pose as a friend of hers and accompany her to parents' weekend at Big Bear Wilderness Camp, where her son, Devin, is a camper. Anya, who fears that her ex, Guy Wenders, also slated to attend, will cause trouble, hopes that Bernie's presence will prevent "unpleasantness." The investigator reluctantly accepts the job. At the camp, he and Chet, his faithful dog sidekick, find themselves with a very different problem to solve after Devin disappears while on an overnight. Chet's tracking ability comes in handy, but the search quickly takes a violent and unexpected turn. Quinn (suspense novelist Peter Abrahams) manages to sell the conceit of a literate canine narrator by dint of intelligent writing and on-the-mark pacing and tone. (Sept.)