Audible Book Review: Dog Tags by David Rosenfelt

This is a wonderfully entertaining lawyer with dog series. There is always a good legal plot and snarky humor.
Dog Tags
Written by: David Rosenfelt
Narrated by: Grover Gardner

Length: 8 hrs and 13 mins
Series: Andy Carpenter, Book 8
Unabridged Audiobook
Release Date:09-02-10
Publisher: Listen & Live Audio
Genre: Legal Mystery with Dogs
My Rating: 4.5 of 5.0

Publisher's Summary
A German Shepherd police dog witnesses a murder and if his owner - an Iraq war vet and former cop-turned-thief - is convicted of the crime, the dog could be put down.
Few rival Andy Carpenter's affection for dogs, and he decides to represent the poor canine. As Andy struggles to convince a judge that this dog should be set free, he discovers that the dog and his owner have become involved unwittingly in a case of much greater proportions than the one they've been charged with.
Andy will have to call upon the unique abilities of this ex-police dog to help solve the crime and prevent a catastrophic event from taking place.
David Rosenfelt, a native of Peterson, New Jersey, is a graduate of NYU. He was the former marketing president for Tri-Star Pictures before becoming a writer of novels and screenplays.
©2010 David Rosenfelt (P)2010 Listen & Live Audio, Inc.

Review:
Andy Carpenter is a very shrewd lawyer. He is independently wealthy so he doesn’t have to work too hard which suits him just fine. He loves dogs and he and his friend, Willie, an ex-con whom Andy helped release, set up a dog rescue called the Tara Foundation (named after Andy's golden retriever.)

Billy is a former cop who lost his leg while serving as a soldier in Iraq then came home to no job. He adopted his old police dog, Milo, and re-trained him to help steal to make a living. They were quietly waiting for a mark who was meeting for an apparent exchange. Milo leaps in to grab the envelope at the same time as the man is shot and the shooter turns the gun on Milo. Billy foils the shot towards the dog but ends up knocked out at the scene, next to the gun and with gun shot residue on his hands. Billy becomes the prime suspect for the murder especially when the police realize that the murdered man was the army commander responsible for Billy’s injury. Milo is captured and locked in a cell with guards.

Andy is asked to represent Milo and get him released from incarceration. Billy is sure that the dog will find the envelope and that it will prove his innocence. Andy can’t let a dog stay in jail so he takes the case and springs the dog. One thing leads to another and soon Andy is representing Billy against the murder charges. Andy’s investigation begins looking at the army security team that was responsible for allowing the bomb attack in Iraq. During the trial a thug tries to kidnap Milo, threatening Willie’s wife, which brings out the ire in Willie. It is clear there is more going on than a simple robbery and murder. Slowly the evidence points to other murders, missing people, greed and corruption.

Andy sets his intrepid team of investigators to the task. His sweetheart companion, Laurie, is recovered enough to get back into PI work. His usual research expert has gone off on a mission trip but left a recommendation for Andy to use Hike. This fellow is an “always see the worst” sort but he turns out to be a great researcher. Andy’s brilliant accountant friend, Sam, who can hack any computer line, steps in to follow the money and the phone trails while Marcus, the intimidating human eating machine, guards Milo.

There is plenty of action and I loved the plot twists, the dog and human involvement and the usual underlying snarky humor that is a Rosenfelt forte. I didn't realize I was several books behind and I will be very glad to catch up. If you haven’t read this series I do recommend starting from the beginning - I think you’ll enjoy the fun run with the dogs.

Audio Notes: Grover Gardner does a great job with this series. It had been a while since I listened to an Andy Carpenter mystery but as soon as this started I felt right at home. Grover manages just the right inflection for the intensity and humor of the story I completely enjoyed the narration and highly recommend this series on audio.

This is a book I picked up at Audible in January. It qualifies for Audiobook Challenge.