Case of the Stuttering Parrot (Corgi Case Files #15), by Jeffrey M. Poole

If you love dogs, especially corgis, and enjoy sniffing out sometimes vague clues, this series is for you. Corgis Sherlock and Watson, who should possibly be titled Lady Watson, are the brains of the outfit. The canine's human, Zach, and policeman friend Vince always seem a step or two behind but do eventually catch on, rarely quickly enough to please the dynamic duo of Sherlock and Watson. They've got a new friend in the mix, too, Ruby the parrot. Since she only repeats things she's heard at least three times, where is she picking up the mysterious messages that point Zach and Vince toward the criminals? And, how the heck did Ruby talk Watson into being her mount, so to speak? Since I'm owned by a corgi mix, I flashed to corgi lore about corgis being the mythical mounts of fairies but don't recall any parrot in the legends. Oh, well, maybe this is how legends are born?

As unlikely as some of the scenarios sound, the characters come off as likeable and someone you'd like to know. How do the dogs do it? How do they know what is significant and what isn't? Heck, how do they know there has been a crime when even Vince, sitting in his police office, doesn't? These dogs are amazing.

The corgis' clues are often vague and require time and effort to interpret, which is part of the fun as you, the reader, can guess along with Zach and Vince. The dogs have an uncanny ability to know what is important enough to bark at, drag Zach toward, or go on a sit-down strike, so to speak, until he takes a photo to use to figure it all out later. They take their celebrity in stride, even their meeting with Britain's Queen. Oh, wait. That's another book but does come up in this one. This one involves a bank robbery, shooting of a guard, and finding the robbers and missing money. It takes them to, no lie, the site of a Shakespeare festival. How did Zach figure that out? Not telling. You'll have to read the book. It's fast paced, fun, and you'll like the characters, even the humans. You'll also get a taste of what the next book in the series will be. Change is coming for Zach and Jillian but... Swords? Rusty swords? Can't wait.