Thereby Hangs a Tail (2010)

This is the second in the series by Spencer Quinn about a P.I. named Bernie and his dog, Chet, who just missed completing police dog school. It is told from Chet's point of view which is endearing most of the time and annoying part of the time.

Back home, Bernie took the rifle out of the safe. I tried not to jump up and down. Loved the rifle, hadn't seen it in ages. We went out, got in the Porsche, Bernie sliding the rifle behind the seats. "Had a drill instructor once," Bernie said. "Know what he told me?" No clue. First mention of a drill instructor, as far as I could remember; didn't even know what one was. We had a drill in the tool kit, of course, but had anyone ever come over to show Bernie how to use it? Might be a good idea. "He said, 'Don't bring a spoon to a knife fight.'" Hmmm. I
thought about that the whole ride, once or twice got the feeling I was real close to figuring it out.

Chet excels at loyalty to his friend and is a good one to have on your side in a fight. One thing he did learn at the school was how to attack someone holding a gun. One thing he did not seem to completely grasp was the difference in importance between an edible item and something that would help in an investigation. At first it bothered me that he dug up a box of his favorite treats that had been buried right next to a car (VW bug) buried with a corpse inside. Then I realized that he was not trained as a cadaver dog and was able to forgive what I thought was a gaff. Luckily Bernie found the car.

I would recommend this series to lovers of dogs and mysteries. Good stories for both genres.

My rating for this book: +++ 1/2