This newest entry in the Andy Carpenter series starts out with Andy being called to a judge’s chambers and assigned a client, which turns out to be a dog. But not just any dog. It is a potential champion show canine, son of perhaps the greatest show dog of all time. Custody of the dog is disputed between the widow of a murdered multi-millionaire and his son, who has no love for his step-mother. While Andy is retrieving the dog from the woman until he can decide who gets possession of the animal, the mansion explodes and the step-mother is killed.
Soon, the step-son is arrested for causing the explosion and death of his step-mother, and he retains Andy to defend him. Meanwhile, Andy’s lover and former investigator is visiting, providing a love angle. When the case endangers her life, Andy unavoidably becomes distracted from his investigation. The plot revolves around trying to formulate a defense and developing all kinds of theories.
The Andy Carpenter series is consistently entertaining and always is built around a trial in which the dilettante attorney defends an innocent accused of some crime or other. Often, the trial tactics are intriguing, unusual, inventive or far out, as becomes Andy’s irreverent personality. Unfortunately, that is not the case in this otherwise pleasurable novel. That said, the book is written with the accustomed smoothness and flippancy seen in former entries in the series which made them good reading and, despite the lack of exciting trial tactics, the novel is enjoyable, and is recommended.
