“Iggy had a high-pitched bark, an irritated-sounding yip-yip-yip. I barked back. There was a brief silence, then he barked again. I barked. He barked. I barked. He barked. I barked. He barked. We got a good rhythm going, faster, faster. I barked. He barked. I–“ SPENCER QUINN’S DOG ON IT.
Any books my sisters enjoy, I immediately put them on my must-read list. My sister Karla had been signing the praises of Spencer Quinn’s Chet and Bernie Series (Chet the dog and Bernie his private-eye owner). The stories are told in first person from Chet’s point of view, which gives the series an endearing quirkiness. When I placed the first book, Dog On It, on the counter in a local bookstore, the clerk said, “Oh, you’ll love it. Quinn’s books are so addicting.” She was right. I finished Dog On It in one day and immediately ordered the second one Thereby Hangs a Tail.
In Dog On It, Bernie and Chet sign on to a new case. Teenager Madison Chambliss has disappeared. Her mother, Cynthia, is frantic and has hired Bernie and Chet to find her the girl. Bernie immediately comes suspicious of the girl’s father, Damon Keefer, while Chet has his eye on Cap’n Chunch, the family bird with spiky head feathers. When a shady Russian loan shark kidnaps Chet and attempts to train him to become a fighting dog and change his name to Stalin, Chet is forced to muster up every once of courage and plan his escape; an escape that leads him into the claws of a mountain lion, a bikers’ beer party, and eventually to an animal shelter where very few inmates check out.
If you into lighthearted mysteries with a touch of suspense, you’ll love this book.
Dog On It
