Book Review: One Dog Night by David Rosenfelt

One Dog Night
Author: David Rosenfelt
Series: Andy Carpenter Mysteries (Book 9)
Publication: Minotaur Books (July 5, 2011)

Description: Lawyer Andy Carpenter will have to pull out all of his tricks to get to the bottom of this cold case turned white hot in One Dog Night, the latest in David Rosenfelt's popular mystery series.

For six years Noah Galloway has lived with a horrible secret and the fear that his rebuilt life could be shattered at any moment. Now his dread has become a certainty, and he has been arrested for the arson murder of twenty-six people.

What he needs is defense lawyer Andy Carpenter, who most definitely is not in the market for a new client. So Noah plays his hole card: a shared love for Andy’s golden retriever, Tara, and the knowledge that Andy wasn’t her first owner—Noah rescued Tara first. When Noah wasn’t able to care for her any longer, he did everything in his power to make sure that she was placed in the right home: Andy’s.

Andy soon learns that the long-ago event that may destroy Noah’s life is only the beginning of an ongoing conspiracy that grows more deadly by the day.

My Thoughts: The ninth Andy Carpenter mystery has Andy defending the man who rescued and owned Andy's beloved golden retriever Tara before Andy. Noah Galloway was a chemical engineer turned drug addict when he surrendered Tara to the shelter where Andy found her. Now, six years later has rebuilt his life but he's been keeping a terrible secret. He believes that he was responsible for the deaths of twenty-six people in one of the worst arson fires in Paterson's history. 

Despite Noah's desire to plead guilty to save his wife and small child from the horrors of a trial, Andy isn't so sure. He has lots of questions concerning the man who went to the FBI six years after the event and said that Noah had confessed the crime - complete with all the details -- to him and now his conscience has convinced him to go to the FBI. Even more questions arise when that oh-so-helpful witness is murdered in Las Vegas and can't be cross-examined by Andy. 

And Andy has questions about a man who follows Laurie and him and who is then killed by a sniper before Marcus can question him. Phone records hacked by Sam the accountant raise the question of some large conspiracy where framing Noah is just one small cog. But can Andy discover what is going on before his client is convicted for murders he did not commit?

It takes Andy's whole team including a group of computer hacking Jewish octogenarians before all the pieces come together for a satisfying conclusion. I enjoyed this story with its complex plot and great characters. Andy is my favorite fictional lawyer.

Favorite Quote:

Because the idea that trials are a search for the truth is just a myth. Trials are a search for that which the jury will believe is the truth.

I bought this one in November 2022 when it was a Kindle Deal. You can buy your copy here.

Book Beginnings: One Dog Night by David Rosenfelt

Happy Friday!

Book Beginnings is hosted by Gillion at Rose City Reader. She asks that the first sentence is posted along with the author and title of the book and the reader's initial thoughts on the sentence, the book, or anything else it inspires.

Carrie at Reading Is My Superpower.org also provides a linky for sharing first lines and connecting with others. This meme asks that the chosen books be PG or marked as Mature if they are not.

The Friday 56 is hosted by Freda at Freda's Voice. This meme is currently on hiatus but many of us are still including a sentence from page 56 or from 56% of the ebook. Anne @ Head Full of Books is picking up the slack until Freda is ready to return. I think this link will get you to the correct place.

Beginning:

When they came into the room, Noah Galloway looked at his watch.

Friday 56:

"They'll only plea-bargain if they have weaknesses in their case."

"That's okay; I'm not bargaining. There's no way I'm going to see the light of day again. I just want this over with; the less Becky has to go through...the less Adam has to hear as he grows up..." He starts to choke up and stops speaking.

This week I am spotlighting One Dog Night by David Rosenfelt. This is the ninth book in the Andy Carpenter mystery series. I came to this series late when I was offered a copy of book 20 for review in 2020. I fell in love with the characters especially the sarcastic Andy and have been trying to catch up on the earlier books in the series as well as reading each new one as a review book.

Here's the blurb from Amazon for this book:

Lawyer Andy Carpenter will have to pull out all of his tricks to get to the bottom of this cold case turned white hot in One Dog Night, the latest in David Rosenfelt's popular mystery series.

For six years Noah Galloway has lived with a horrible secret and the fear that his rebuilt life could be shattered at any moment. Now his dread has become a certainty, and he has been arrested for the arson murder of twenty-six people.

What he needs is defense lawyer Andy Carpenter, who most definitely is not in the market for a new client. So Noah plays his hole card: a shared love for Andy’s golden retriever, Tara, and the knowledge that Andy wasn’t her first owner—Noah rescued Tara first. When Noah wasn’t able to care for her any longer, he did everything in his power to make sure that she was placed in the right home: Andy’s.

Andy soon learns that the long-ago event that may destroy Noah’s life is only the beginning of an ongoing conspiracy that grows more deadly by the day.

Audiobook Review: The Art of Theft by Sherry Thomas

The Art of Theft
Author: Sherry Thomas
Narrator: Kate Reading
Series: Lady Sherlock (Book 4)
Publication: Penguin Audio (October 15, 2019)
Length: 10 hours and 17 minutes

Description: Charlotte Holmes, Lady Sherlock, is back solving new cases in the Victorian-set mystery series from the USA Today best-selling author of The Hollow of Fear.

As "Sherlock Holmes, consulting detective," Charlotte Holmes has solved murders and found missing individuals. But she has never stolen a priceless artwork - or rather, made away with the secrets hidden behind a much-coveted canvas.

But Mrs. Watson is desperate to help her old friend recover those secrets and Charlotte finds herself involved in a fever-paced scheme to infiltrate a glamorous Yuletide ball where the painting is one handshake away from being sold and the secrets a bare breath from exposure.

Her dear friend Lord Ingram, her sister Livia, Livia's admirer Stephen Marbleton - everyone pitches in to help and everyone has a grand time. But nothing about this adventure is what it seems and disaster is biding time on the grounds of a glittering French chateau, waiting only for Charlotte to make a single mistake...

My Thoughts: The fourth Lady Sherlock mystery is starts out as a heist story. An old friend of Mrs. Watson's comes to "Sherlock Holmes" to get him to recover some indiscreet letters that are hidden behind a painting. Unfortunately, the painting is at a chateau in France that is exceptionally well guarded. 

The chateau is open once a year for an exclusive art auction which would seem to give Charlotte and her crew -- including Mrs. Watson, Charlotte's sister Livia, her friend Lord Ingram, Livia's romantic interest Mr. Stephen Marbleton, and Ingram's secret service friend - their opening to retrieve the letters. However, there are many more than one secret at the chateau and other factions are also planning to use the annual ball to further their own agendas.

Neither Charlotte nor the rest of her associates were expecting an encounter with Moriarty again or with meeting the soon-to-be-ex Lady Ingram. Those encounters have to be factored in as they execute their heist. 

This story was also filled with relationships. Livia and Stephen's seems to be star-crossed since he and his family have been on the run from Moriarty for a couple of decades and he isn't willing for Livia to join him in danger. Mrs. Watson and her old friend once had a relationship too, but Mrs. Watson left her when her lover couldn't guarantee the financial security that Mrs. Watson needed. And Charlotte and Lord Ingram have a very complicated relationship that almost defies description. Her goals and his are very far apart.

This was an engaging episode in the Lady Sherlock series. I enjoy Charlotte's character and her intelligence. She has clear goals and the determination to see them through. 

I bought this one May 26, 2023. You can buy your copy here.

Book Review: Crouching Buzzard, Leaping Loon by Donna Andrews

Crouching Buzzard, Leaping Loon
Author: Donna Andrews
Series: Meg Langslow (Book 4)
Publication: Minotaur Books (February 7, 2006)

Description: Poor Meg Langslow. She's blessed in so many ways. Michael, her boyfriend, is a handsome, delightful heartthrob who adores her. She's a successful blacksmith, known for her artistic wrought-iron creations. But somehow Meg's road to contentment is more rutted and filled with potholes than seems fair.

There are Michael's and Meg's doting but demanding mothers, for a start. And then there's the fruitless hunt for a place big enough for the couple to live together. And a succession of crises brought on by the well-meaning but utterly wacky demands of her friends and family. Demands that Meg has a hard time refusing---which is why she's tending the switchboard of Mutant Wizards, where her brother's computer games are created, and handling all the office management problems that no one else bothers with. For companionship, besides a crew of eccentric techies, she has a buzzard with one wing---who she must feed frozen mice thawed in the office microwave---and Michael's mother's nightmare dog. Not to mention the psychotherapists who refuse to give up their lease on half of the office space, and whose conflicting therapies cause continuing dissension. This is not what Meg had in mind when she agreed to help her brother move his staff to new offices.

In fact, the atmosphere is so consistently loony that the office mail cart makes several passes through the reception room, with the office practical joker lying on top of it pretending to be dead, before Meg realizes that he's become the victim of someone who wasn't joking at all. He's been murdered for real.

Donna Andrews's debut book, Murder with Peacocks, won the St. Martin's Malice Domestic best first novel contest and reaped a harvest of other honors as well. This is the fourth book in the Meg Langslow series, which features the intrepid Meg and her cast of oddball relatives. Their capers are a lighthearted joy to read.

My Thoughts: The fourth Meg Langslow mystery has Meg trying to organize her brother Rob's new computer gaming business. They have just moved into new quarters which they are sharing with a group of psychotherapists who are constantly arguing among themselves because of their differing therapies. 

Meanwhile, the programmers are busy working on Lawyers from Hell II which is nearing its release date. The programmers have a wide variety of quirky personalities from the nonverbal stalker to the office practical joker who has taken to pretending he's dead and sending himself around the office on the new automated mail cart. It takes quite a few rounds before Meg realizes that this time Ted isn't joking, and someone has made his prank real. 

When the police chief seems to be focusing on Rob, Meg knows she has to so her own investigating if she is going to find a better suspect for the police's attention. As she looks into Ted's affairs, she discovers that he has been caretaking in the basement of a large home that is filled with the deceased owner's belongings and collections. She also finds a stash of things Ted has hidden including what looks like the records of a blackmail scheme. Unfortunately, he has noted his victims only by code names which are mostly obscure. Meg is sure the list would provide lots more suspects for the police chief if only she can decode the nicknames and figure out who Ted's victims were. 

This story is packed with humor. I loved the way Meg's plans to search the new company offices kept getting interrupted by discovering other people on the premises all doing various suspicious things. I loved that one of the office pets was a one-winged buzzard who lived in the lobby and had to be fed defrosted mice. Spike also has a role in this one as he's kept in his kennel under Meg's desk because of his anti-social behavior. And every day was "bring your dog to work" day which meant that the offices were constantly hosting the programmers' pets. 

Then there are the affirmation bears which one of the therapists introduced to the office which the programmers thought would be fun to reprogram with less life affirming messages. And Michael and Meg's mothers who are also involved from afar. Michael's mother is still trying to foist Spike on the couple. And Meg's mother has plans to redecorate Michael and Meg's apartment which they not so affectionately refer to as "The Cave." Meg and Michael have been house hunting for a place that has enough space for them and aren't having any luck until Meg discovers the house where Ted is living which is huge, cluttered and seemingly way above their price range. 

I laughed out loud as I was reading this one. It was a great addition to the series. 

Favorite Quote:

"Everyone always talks about how great Rob is at thinking outside the box," I said, shaking my head. "I don't suppose they realize that he hasn't the foggiest idea where the box is."

I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.

Book Review: Sweet Starfire by Jayne Ann Krentz

Sweet Starfire
Author: Jayne Ann Krentz
Series: Lost Colony (Book 1)
Publication: Purple Papaya LLC (December 14, 2012)

Description: Telepathic skills define the Harmonic people and without the gift of telepathy, Cidra will remain an outsider forever. She must discover the secret that will allow her mind to commune with others.

Teague Severance is the ultimate delivery man...he will deliver anything if the price is right. Mysterious, tough and dangerously sexy, Teague is trouble in more ways than one but he has an honorable reputation for fulfilling a contract.

Cidra approaches Teague with a business proposition…transport her safely to the rough outback of the Stanza Nine system. With a ship designed for cargo, not passengers, Teague reluctantly agrees to the job. Certain it won't be a problem because Cidra isn't his type, he soon discovers that he is wrong. The passion that flares between them puts both of their lives in jeopardy.

My Thoughts: This science fiction romance stars Cidra Rainforest and Teague Severance. Cidra was born among the Harmonics in the Stanza Nine system but she isn't a telepathic Harmonic herself. Determined to find the secret Ghost relic that will turn her into a Harmonic, she contracts with Teague Severance who is a Wolf and a courier pilot to take her with him when he makes his deliveries to other planets. 

Teague is intrigued by this beautiful fake Harmonic but that doesn't mean he wants to share the small living quarters on his courier ship with her. When she prevents his COD cargo from being stolen, he decides to take her along to Renaissance to deliver it.

Renaissance is a very green planet where most of the plant and animal life want to eat humans. It is very different from the serene environment where Cidra was raised. And the flora and fauna of Renaissance isn't the only thing that is trying to kill them. An old rival of Teague's named Racer would also like the package Teague is trying to deliver and would really like Teague dead. 

Stranded on Renaissance, Teague and Cidra discover both a Ghost safehold and an alien ship complete with monsters that will make them both rich if they can only survive and find their way out of the jungle. Teague and Cidra fall in love as they travel and survive together. But learning to trust each other might be the stumbling block to their relationship. 

This was an entertaining story. I love the romance between Cidra and Teague. I also enjoyed the worldbuilding which posits colonists from Earth shipwrecked on dangerous planets and needing to rebuild their society and technology to survive. 

Favorite Quote:

"I want to be one of them. All my life I have been trained in the ways of the Serene path. Surely I have some Harmonic sensitivity in me. I was born to the Harmonics. Yet tonight I used the ways of a beautiful dance to hurt someone else."

I bought this one recently as a Kindle copy of a book I already have in my collection in print. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: The Painted Queen by Elizabeth Peters

The Painted Queen
Author: Elizabeth Peters & Joan Hess
Narrator: Barbara Rosenblat
Series: Amelia Peabody (Book 20)
Publication: HarperAudio (July 25, 2017)
Length: 13 hours and 18 minutes

Description: Egypt, 1912—Amelia Peabody and her dashing archeologist husband, Radcliffe Emerson, are once again in danger as they search for a priceless, stolen bust of legendary Queen Nefertiti and Amelia finds herself the target of assassins in this long-awaited, eagerly anticipated final installment of Elizabeth Peters’ bestselling, beloved mystery series.

Arriving in Cairo for another thrilling excavation season, Amelia is relaxing in a well-earned bubble bath in her elegant hotel suite in Cairo, when a man with knife protruding from his back staggers into the bath chamber and utters a single word—"Murder"—before collapsing on the tiled floor, dead. Among the few possessions he carried was a sheet of paper with Amelia’s name and room number, and a curious piece of pasteboard the size of a calling card bearing one word: "Judas." Most peculiarly, the stranger was wearing a gold-rimmed monocle in his left eye.

It quickly becomes apparent that someone saved Amelia from a would-be assassin—someone who is keeping a careful eye on the intrepid Englishwoman. Discovering a terse note clearly meant for Emerson—Where were you?"—pushed under their door, there can be only one answer: the brilliant master of disguise, Sethos.

But neither assassins nor the Genius of Crime will deter Amelia as she and Emerson head to the excavation site at Amarna, where they will witness the discovery of one of the most precious Egyptian artifacts: the iconic Nefertiti bust. In 1345 B.C. the sculptor Thutmose crafted the piece in tribute to the great beauty of this queen who was also the chief consort of Pharaoh Akhenaten and stepmother to King Tutankhamun.

For Amelia, this excavation season will prove to be unforgettable. Throughout her journey, a parade of men in monocles will die under suspicious circumstances, fascinating new relics will be unearthed, a diabolical mystery will be solved, and a brilliant criminal will offer his final challenge . . . and perhaps be unmasked at last.

My Thoughts: This episode was begun by Peters before her death and finished by her friend and fellow author Joan Hess. 

It's 1912 and the Peabody/Emerson clan has two problems to solve. One has to do with an exquisite bust of Nefertiti and the many forged copies of it floating around Cairo. The other problem has to do with semi-incompetent assassins with monocles who are chasing after Amelia and Ramses.

The missing bust problem brings in potential German goals of disrupting the Egyptian government so that Egypt can be conquered by Germany. There are drugs and drugged archaeologists and a hirsute missionary who is trying to convince the Copts to start a revolution. Ramses and David spend a lot of time in Cairo trying to chase down the original Nefertiti and running afoul of the German embassy.

Meanwhile, Amelia is supposed to be under close supervision to thwart any more assassination attempts while they are digging at Amarna, but she's her usual intrepid and headstrong self and gets into and out of many dangerous situations. 

This was an other excellent episode in an engaging historical mystery series. 

I bought this one at Chirp August 12, 2023. You can buy your copy here.

Book Review: Hell Week by Rosemary Clement-Moore

Hell Week
Author: Rosemary Clement-Moore
Series: Maggie Quinn (Book 2)
Publication: Delacorte Press (August 19, 2008)

Description: Bloodred nails, flashing white teeth, gleaming scarlet lips--Maggie Quinn has battled an ancient demon, faced down psychotic cheerleaders, and saved her best friend from certain death, but nothing can match this. Formal sorority recruitment, otherwise known as rush. Being that close to so many professional blowouts is enough to make a girl's hair stand on end. Ionic hair dryer not required.

But Maggie is determined to make her mark as a journalist. The only problem? The Ranger Report--the college newspaper--does not take freshmen on staff. Rules are rules

But when has that ever stopped Maggie?

After facing hellfire, infiltrating sorority rush should be easy. It’s no Woodward and Bernstein, but going undercover as the Phantom Pledge will allow her to write her exposé. Then she can make a stealth exit before initiation. But when she finds a group of girls who are after way more than “sisterhood,” all her instincts say there’s something rotten on Greek Row. And when Hell Week rolls around, there may be no turning back.

If there is such a thing as a sorority from hell, you can bet that Maggie Quinn will be the one to stumble into it.

My Thoughts: Maggie Quinn took on a demon at her senior prom and is hoping that her college experience will be less fraught with danger. She would like to study to become a photojournalist, but the college newspaper doesn't take freshmen. She decides to convince them to change their minds by going undercover to write about fraternity Rush Week despite having no actual desire to enter a sorority.

As she attends parties, she comes to believe that something odd is going on at Sigma Alpha Xi. When she is invited to join, she slowly discovers what is happening. Those girls are just too lucky. And the advisors seem to have a hidden agenda.

Maggie is also experiencing some memory problems. All of a sudden, she can't remember her dreams and seems to keep losing track of her desire to investigate the sorority. With her friend Lisa away at college and her potential boyfriend Justin seemingly distancing himself, she feels like she is all alone in trying to find out what is happening at the sorority.

But when she needs them, Lisa and Justin both step up to figure out what is happening at the sorority and finding a way to stop it.

This was an entertaining young adult title. I liked Maggie's relationship with her family. Her grandmother is a constant support for her as she tries to accept her psychic gifts. I liked Maggie's determination to succeed in college and with her potential future career. The paranormal parts of the plot were well done.

Fans of YA and the paranormal will enjoy this story.

Favorite Quote:

"You won't fail, Maggie mine. You are strong and smart."

"So are they, and they've got twenty years of experience, a chapter full of accomplices, and a demon on their side. I'm just one girl with a half-assed plan."

"Then why not give up? Why fight at all?"

I looked up from the coffee cake, which I'd crumbled into bits. "Because it's the right thing to do."

I bought this one July 19, 2009. You can buy your copy here.