Dog Tags [Hardcover]

David Rosenfelt's series featuring lawyer Andy Carpenter just keeps getting better and better. Having just finished his newest book in the series, Dog Tags, I have to say it was non stop entertainment. Andy is his usual wise guy but slightly self deprecating self surrounded by a cast of characters that while larger than life are still believable . And this one has a dog, Milo, in one of the starring roles. Most readers probably know that Rosenfelt is a self proclaimed dog lunatic who has rescued over 4,000 Golden Retrievers in real life and lives with 27 Goldens. In his series, Andy is also a dog lunatic and seeming Rosenfelt's alter ego. Dogs usually feature somewhere in his novels and in Dog Tags a dog is actually a main character. However the novels are not dog stories but legal thrillers with a great sense of humour with a dog or two added. If you have not discovered Rosenfelt's books you are "in for a treat". Start with Open and Shut, which sets up how Andy inherits his money allowing him to pick and choose cases that have appeal to him, and you will want to read them all. I love this series!!

Trial work? No, trial FUN. What you need to know about Andy Carpenter: He's a defense attorney, and he hangs his shingle in Paterson, New Jersey. He's obnoxiously sarcastic. He loves dogs. And DOG TAGS finds our series protagonist yet again defending a dog in court. This time it's Milo, a clever German shepherd who used to be a police dog but now is a thief. When Milo and his owner's latest caper goes horribly awry and ends with a murdered corpse, Milo is captured by the police and Billy Zimmerman, Milo's owner, arrested for the murder. Except that Milo and Billy aren't guilty. Well, they're guilty of the robbery attempt, but not of the murder. So Billy Zimmerman, an Iraq war veteran and a former cop, calls in a favor from his ex-partner Pete Stanton. Longtime readers of this series will know that Pete is a good pal of Andy's, and you can probably work out the chain of favor-calling here. Andy, a first-rate dog lover, isn't about to let the clever German shepherd Milo languish in stir for one second longer. And, I guess to cleanse the palate, he also ends up defending Billy.

What I like about David Rosenfelt: He isn't your average writer of stuffy courtroom thrillers (for one thing, his courtroom thrillers have never been stuffy). He has a terrific sense of humor. He loves dogs. His Andy Carpenter books read like a blend of Stephen J. Cannell and Erle Stanley Gardner (if Gardner had written Perry Mason as a wiseacre). Andy himself isn't a danger fiend. He's sort of a coward when it comes to that stuff. But he surrounds himself with a cast of quirky characters, several of whom can most definitely handle themselves in iffy situations. This time out, Rosenfelt occasionally strays from Andy's first person narrative as plenty of alternate chapters catch us up with the various villains of the piece as well as with Willie Miller. Willie is Andy's friend and his partner in the canine-friendly Tara Foundation. Willie is also a falsely accused ex-con who spent seven years in prison until Andy proved his innocence. So Willie's been around. He has a personal stake in this one and pretty much takes on Marcus Clark's buttkicking role (although Marcus does make an appearance here and once again cleans out Andy's fridge).

Andy is such an engaging and layered character. He's never gonna stop cracking wise and trying to put on a show in court, that's in his DNA. Occasionally, he doesn't even mind that his investigations achieve ends thru, er, legally-challenged means (okay, he's got a hacker as a friend). But the guy does foster a core of straight arrow ethics, and, by gum, he loves dogs. Andy Carpenter is guaranteed to leave you with a smile and, now and again, with a "Tsk tsk" or a shake of the head. He and Paul Levine's Solomon vs. Lord are my favorite lawyers in fiction currently going.

Andy's simple case of murder inevitably escalates to something more sticky, as the Feds put up barricades, as does the U.S. Army. Somewhere, a merciless hit man is taking out Andy's prospective witnesses. And everyone is keeping their eyes on Milo the clever German shepherd, who made off with a mysterious envelope. Andy finds himself having to engage Milo in "trust sessions" in hopes that Milo would lead him to the envelope. Meanwhile, the glorious Tara, Andy's beloved golden retriever, just takes it all in.

At least, Andy isn't fretting about Laurie anymore. Laurie, still recovering from her traumatic shooting (in NEW TRICKS), had quit her small town Sheriff gig in Wisconsin and had moved back to Jersey, living with Andy and now teaching a criminal course at university, so it all feels a bit like when this series first started (except that, y'know, things have happened, characters have gone thru a developmental arc). As a bit of a subplot, Andy also gets a new attorney associate named "Hike" - to do the paperwork, sit in as second chair, and act as all-around gofer. Hike is a gloomy Gus, extraordinarily pessimistic, just in case you were thinking that Rosenfelt might deviate from introducing eccentric characters.

David Rosenfelt uses a larger canvas for DOG TAGS, and Andy Carpenter finds himself once more tilting at windmills. Bullets fly, biting sarcasm drops frequently, assassins assassinate, lawyers argue, Willie cracks skulls, Edna shirks work, Andy gets on Larry King, and Milo and Tara are damn adorable (but it's Milo who saves the day). Read this book.

David Rosenfelt may not be as widely known as Lee Child or Michael Connolly, but he certainly deserves to be. Mr. Rosenfelt is a very modest guy, so when he stated recently that he believed his newest book, "Dog Tags," was his best ever, I was more anxious than usual to get my hands on a copy. Having read it in just over a day, it's enough to say that he was totally right. While I have read, and greatly enjoyed, all of Mr. R's books, this one is, most certainly, his best.

All of the characteristics that make Mr. Rosenfelt's books, particularly the Andy Carpenter series, so delightful to read are present in "Dog Tags." Andy himself, as a dog-loving, reluctant but brilliant criminal defense attorney, with a wonderful self-deprecating sense of humor, is in rare form. And the characters who surround him, including his smart, sexy and take-no-nonsense girlfriend, Laurie, Andy's irrepressible colleague Willie, computer-hacking-CPA Sam and the newly-introduced, perpetually unhappy associate attorney, Hike, are as charming and likeable as ever. And, of course, there are the usual unsung Rosenfelt heroes: Tara, Andy's lovable Golden Retriever, and Milo, the "dog thief," who, well, I won't ruin the story by saying more about his exploits.

So this book is vintage Rosenfelt, but the author takes the drama up a couple of notches, with more complexity, and more bad guys, than in his prior stories. We are left guessing at who the Ultimate Bad Guy is until the very end. The murder trial itself, which plays a big part in this tale, is entertaining and informative. Courtroom story junkies will find the trial itself worth the price of admission.

I'd be remiss if I didn't comment favorably on the gentle humor that runs throughout this book, as it does with all of the Andy Carpenter books. It's not easy to tell a crime story, involving numerous unsavory characters, with humor and lightness, but Mr. Rosenfelt is, as always, up to that task. It's especially evident in this book. All in all, a great read!

Ralph

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