This was the perfect way to end my day, curled up on the couch with my own dog while listening to award winning narrator Grover Gardner read David Rosenfelt's 26th Andy Carpenter mystery to me. I've loved each and every Andy Carpenter book in the series and Gardner, the long-time narrator, is perfect. He has Andy's personality down. Running time 6h, 41m.
Having read the print version previously, you'd think I'd be bored listening to it again but you'd be wrong. You pick up things via the audio versions that you might otherwise miss while reading. I should probably note here that Gardner makes no attempt to imitate/differentiate voices, he simply reads. It works with Rosenfelt's writing style. As for the story, a summation of my initial review of the print version follows:
While the dogs of the tale are certainly a huge draw, David Rosenfelt always weaves a story full of not just dogs and humor but deep dives into organized crime, corruption, and how investigations might be done. Heck, he even makes the legal process understandable. And, Andy Carpenter never loses his self-deprecating humor and smart-mouth approach.
I must also admit, I am a biased witness, er, reviewer. As soon as
this book was approved for me to review, I immediately set aside what I
was then reading and dived into the world of wannabe-retired lawyer
Andy, who does some of his best thinking while out walking his dogs.
Sebastian never fails to draw a grin from me, btw, for his lack of
enthusiasm for said walks. Tara, of course, is the world's best dog.
Just ask Andy. He may also have the best investigative team ever, too,
and Sam, hacker extraordinary, gets out of the office to spend some time
checking out a site in person for a change. True, at that point Andy
figures it's a relatively safe bet that Sam won't encounter any problems
on this seemingly barely connected town visit. Oh, but even Andy can be
wrong sometimes. Sam's encounter with some shady characters sets the
stage for the rest of the story, one that ultimately involves diamonds
and organized crime. There's something in there about a trip to Disney,
too, but Andy assures us he won't be wearing mouse ears.
If the
above confuses me, don't despair. I've long since learned to just sit
back, buckle up and enjoy the roller coaster ride that is an Andy Carpenter story.
Even though I could have used a few more doses of Marcus, wife Laurie, as
always, has Andy's back. There's even a new lawyer to oppose Andy this
go-round and he sounds like a promising foe, albeit one we may wind up
liking.
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