Deck the Hounds
Books | Fiction / Mystery & Detective / Traditional
4.4
David Rosenfelt
"The perfect holiday gift for animal lovers.” – Publisher’s Weekly This Christmas mystery, featuring criminal defense lawyer Andy Carpenter and his faithful golden retriever, Tara, showcases Rosenfelt’s trademark humor and larger-than-life characters. Reluctant lawyer Andy Carpenter doesn’t usually stop to help others, but seeing a dog next to a homeless man inspires him to give the pair some money to help. It’s just Andy’s luck that things don’t end there. Soon after Andy’s encounter with them, man and dog are attacked in the middle of the night on the street. The dog defends its new owner, and the erstwhile attacker is bitten but escapes. But the dog is quarantined and the man, Don Carrigan, is heartbroken. Andy’s wife Laurie can’t resist helping the duo after learning Andy has met them before... it’s the Christmas season after all. In a matter of days Don and his dog Zoey are living above Andy’s garage and become two new additions to the family. It’s not until Andy accidentally gives away his guest’s name during an interview that things go awry; turns out Don is wanted for a murder that happened two years ago. Don not only claims he’s innocent, but that he had no idea that he was wanted for a crime he has no knowledge of in the first place. It’s up to Andy to exonerate his new friend, if he doesn’t get pulled into the quagmire first. David Rosenfelt’s signature wit, charm, and cleverness are back again in this most exciting installment yet.
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Author
David Rosenfelt
Pages
336
Publisher
St. Martin's Publishing Group
Published Date
2018-10-16
ISBN
1250198496 9781250198495
Community ReviewsSee all
"As a detective/murder mystery story, it lured me in with the initial premise, but that interest quickly faded for me. This book has a "matter of fact" feel to it in that it doesn't make me think. It doesn't help give me the puzzle pieces that I feel every good murder mystery/detective story should. I want to be able to think for myself alongside the protagonist and be able to come to my own conclusion along the way and to shift that conclusion dependant on what new information is presented to me.
It's a puzzle. It has an answer. Each detail should be that. A detail. A slight hint. This is what I love murder mysteries for. The "aha" moment is one that should be greatly appreciated. The only "aha" moment I had was when I finally put this book down one last time to never pick it up again.
This type of book and writing isn't for me. But that doesn't mean that my word is the be-all, end-all. I wouldn't read this myself and instead I'd recommend another author who writes similarly, James Patterson. His style of writing is the same "matter of fact" type while being able to tell cohesive stories.
Deck the Hounds either has so many books that take place before it that the seemingly immense cast of characters, as they are introduced to the story, need to be explained once more before being quickly replaced by another side character, or it's just trying to make me FEEL like there's an immense cast of characters that I need to care about by the false pretense that I need to know their backstory and relation to the main character. I can hardly remember a name that isn't the main character's name, (I can't even remember that one now that I've put the book down), or a character whose name is on the page that I'm currently reading. And that's only when I stumble across their name that I remember their existence.
It, while having small chapters, has information overload that makes the "details" of the case entirely forgettable. I'll keep this book unfinished for my sake."
J M
Juan Mosqueda