Defense lawyer Andy Carpenter usually tries to avoid taking on new cases at all costs. But this time, he’s happy–eager, even–to take the case that’s just come his way. Andy’s long-time friend Martha “Pups” Boyer takes in stray puppies that the local dog rescue center can’t handle, raises them until they’re old enough to adopt, and then finds good homes for them. Not everyone admires the work … Pups does as much as Andy does, however. With Christmas just around the corner, one of Pups’s neighbors has just reported Pups to the city for having more than the legal number of pets in her home under the local zoning laws.
Andy happily takes Pups’s case, and he feels confident in a positive outcome. Who could punish someone for rescuing puppies, after all, especially at Christmastime? But things get a lot more complicated when Randy Hennessey, the neighbor who registered the complaint against Pups, turns up dead. Pups had loudly and publicly threatened Hennessey after he filed his complaint, and Pups was also the one to find his body. All the evidence seems to point to Pups as the killer, and suddenly Andy has a murder case on his hands. He doesn’t believe Pups could be guilty, but as he starts digging deeper into the truth behind Hennessey’s murder, Andy may find himself facing a killer more dangerous than he ever imagined.
With his trademark wit, larger-than-life characters, and clever plotting, David Rosenfelt delivers another gripping mystery.
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All of David Rosenfelt’s books are good, and I especially love the Andy Carpenter series. You can read them out of order, but I suggest that you at least read the first 2 in the series so that you get to know the characters.
The Twelve Dogs Of Christmas is a great read! There’s a little bit of everything: suspense, mystery and humor. Andy Carpenter is a lawyer and his girlfriend is an ex-cop. Together, along with a few other very interesting characters, they defend an elderly woman accused of murder.
A huge dog lover, Rosenfelt always includes a background theme that includes his dog Tara and other rescue dogs. It’s just enough, and not distracting from the story. And of course there are puppies!
This book sort of fell into my lap when I was looking for more Christmas reads. I haven’t read any of this series before, but saw someone say that wouldn’t be a problem, and it really wasn’t. It also wasn’t exactly a Christmas story—it just happened to take place at Christmas time. All of that being said, I really liked the book. It felt a lot like an old detective show, like the kind I watched when I was younger—Matlock springs to mind. I enjoyed the main character’s wit and snark and the colorful cast he gathers around himself to help him do his work, both long-term and short-term. The way the case unfolded made for a good story, and even the courtroom scenes, where we get to see into the mind of the defense attorney using his tricks to get the jury to see things a certain way, were interesting.
Though I’m sure that some of what was shown in this book is a spoiler for past books in the series, and while author pushes dog love way too much for my taste (I’m a cat person through and through), I do believe I’ve found myself a new series to read after plunging in at book 15.
This lovely book had so many twists that I was amazed at the conclusion. Andy Carpenter takes on Martha “Pups” case and ends up with something more complicated than he ever expected. After all, a lady who rescues puppies, even with a curly attitude couldn’t be bad so why complain. Why try to convict her of a crime she didn’t commit with months to live? Does she save her reputation or does it even matter? It matters to Andy and he goes to all ends to defend his friend! I can’t wait to read more by this author.
lawyers, law-enforcement, murder, murder-investigation, dogs, family-dynamics, friendship, situational-humor, snark-fest, verbal-humor, extortion, contract-killer*****
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. Andy tackles the first case with ease, but the murder trial of that same woman who is accused of three murders in less than two years is very taxing. 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!
Another great read in the Andy Carpenter series. Love the entire series so far and highly recommend it.
Entertaining for dog lovers with a twist of murder mystery!
What can I say, I like Andy since book #1. He has a good character with some cons. I think the author did a good job with this story and I will look forward to listen to more of this series.