Collared is the next novel in David Rosenfelt’s witty, heartfelt mystery series sees attorney Andy Carpenter suddenly fostering a child and defending a close friend suspected of murder Lawyer Andy Carpenter’s true passion is the Tara Foundation, the dog rescue organization he runs with his friend Willie Miller. All kinds of dogs make their way to the foundation, and it isn’t that surprising to … isn’t that surprising to find a dog abandoned at the shelter one morning, though it was accompanied by a mysterious anonymous note. But they are quite surprised when they scan the dog’s embedded chip, and discover that they know this dog. He is the “DNA dog.”
Two and a half years ago, Jill Hickman was a single mother of an adopted baby. Her baby and dog were kidnapped in broad daylight in Eastside Park, and they haven’t been seen since. A tip came in that ID’d a former boyfriend of Hickman’s, Keith Wachtel, as the kidnapper. A search of his house showed no sign of the child but did uncover more incriminating evidence, and the clincher that generated Wachtel’s arrest was some dog hair, notable since Wachtel did not have a dog. DNA tests showed conclusively that the hair belonged to Hickman’s dog. Wachtel was convicted of kidnapping, but the dog and baby were never found.
Now, with the reappearance of the dog, the case is brought back to light, and the search for the child renewed. Goaded by his wife’s desire to help a friend and fellow mother and Andy’s desire to make sure the real kidnapper is in jail, Andy and his team enter the case. But what they start to uncover is far more complicated and dangerous than they ever expected.
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abduction, wrongful-conviction, murder, murder-investigation, law-enforcement, lawyers, family-dynamics, friendship, framed, dogs, verbal-humor, situational-humor, snark-fest, suspense*****
Take a wisemouthed lawyer who can afford to take semi retirement by only representing innocent clients while supporting an animal shelter, add in that his wife is no longer law enforcement but works as his private investigator and more and you have the baseline for this convoluted mystery. There are many other people who help Andy find out what the truth really is and make it courtroom admissible. This one is more of a mess than usual and leaves a trail of bodies while Andy is trying to get a wrongful conviction overturned. Lots of twists and turns in the plot and the characters certainly are, but there’s no need for spoilers or an attempt at a summary. I found it to be a real brain grabber and was surprised to find that it is the most recent in a series! At no time does the reader feel lost or as if missing background info.
Grover Gardner narrates this complicated snarkfest very well!
I am glad I Got this book It was good and I could hardly put it down until it was finished.. A good mystery..
Another great read in the Andy Carpenter series. Love the entire series so far and highly recommend it.
I love all the Andy Carpenter mysteries, David Rosenfelt has not let me down they are a great thrill and he never kills the dog.
This is a terrific book. It’s a heartbreaking mystery but the humourous touches eased the tension.
Andy Carpenter finally decided to send in the renewal form for his lawyer’s licence once he realized nobody in his life wanted him around more, interfering in their lives. Turned out it was a good thing he did it when a border collie was tied to the door of the Tara Foundation. Scanning the dog’s chip told them he was the “DNA” dog who had been taken 2 1/2 years earlier along with a baby. Kidnappings are big news but when a baby is taken from the nanny in broad daylight, it was REALLY big news. Jill’s nanny identified the kidnapper/attacker as Keith Wachtel, Jill’s ex who used to work as a scientist at Jill’s company. Adding to that, finding dog hair in Wachtel’s apartment, was enough to convict him of kidnapping. But Keith maintained he was innocent and the dog and baby were never found.
Jill was thrilled when the dog came back. Andy’s wife, Laurie, was friends with Jill and offered to try and find out more about the baby. Andy wasn’t keen on the idea but he agreed to ask his friend Det. Stanton to keep him posted if anything turned up. Meanwhile, he visited Keith in prison. After talking to him, he started wondering about Keith’s guilt.
I loved Andy. Really, all the characters. There were lots of twists and turns in this story as Andy and his team worked to find out what really happened. Collared was a good mystery with an ending I didn’t expect.
I haven’t read any other books in this series so I found some things a bit confusing. Nothing to do with the storyline, just things like I wanted to know more about Andy’s back story. I chuckled when Andy’s very rich friend acted like Andy was poor because he only had $40 million.
I’m so glad I found this book and will definitely be reading more in the series.
I absolutely LOVE David Rosenfelt’s “Andy Carpenter mystery series.” If you love witty mysteries featuring rescue dogs, you have got to check out this series! And the author does SO much for rescue pets in “real life.”
All of Rosenfelt’s books are excellent!
Love the Spenser series !
Love Rosenfelt’s sense of humor. Andy Carpenter is a lawyer you can actually like.
I loved it. I have read the whole series and loved all of then.. I can not put it down until I read the last page , then I can’t wait till mr. Rosenfelt writes the next one.
I love his main characters sarcastic humor and the way he always has a wonderful dog in the story line.
It’s a fabulous series.. Read it . You will not be able to stop with just one. David Rosenfelt also has stand alone books that are great reads also.
I have read every book in the series. I love Andy’s life attitude and, of course, his love for dogs. The plots are not terribly convoluted but enough to keep you involved and the characters are just deep enough to keep you interested, but it’s Andy who keeps you coming back. He’s a winner.