The guest stars in this novel are twelve adorable puppies and Andy and Willie bring them in to Tara’s Foundation, their canine rescue facility. The woman in her late 60’s who had housed them previously has been charged with the murder of her neighbour who filed a complaint with the zoning board about too many pets in her home.
Her real name is Martha but everyone calls her Pups as she has been rescuing dogs for decades. Her husband was killed in a “wrong time, wrong place” murder a couple of years before and had been as active in the rescue mission as she was. Maybe even more so: he had purchased large tracts of land all over the U.S. with the intention of eventually donating the land to animal shelter groups. He also was extremely rich.
When the same weapon that killed her husband and a nearby gang member turns up in Pups’ basement after her neighbour is shot, the prosecution ties together both crime scenes and charges her for all three murders. Time is of the essence, because Pups hasn’t much time left. If she loses the court case, her entire estate will go to the government.
Along with his trademark combination of action, suspense and humour, the author pokes fun at himself in this novel, too:
Ricky is sound asleep, so I sneak in and kiss him good night. Laurie is also in bed, our bed, so I speed up the Tara-Sebastian walk a little in order to more quickly join her. She’s reading a thriller by David Rosenfelt, one of the great writers of our time, but she puts it down when I get into bed.
That is the first time this has happened, and it cracked me up. Partly for itself, and partly because of the cute domestic scene that happened shortly before as this family grapples with all three people bearing different last names.
As always, this entertaining and action-packed novel was a great choice for me after a few heavier reads. I enjoy the writing, the progress and growth of the familial situation, and the unique characters that make up defense lawyer Andy Carpenter’s team. I recommend this to anyone who is looking for an undemanding series they can enjoy either as back-to-backs or on their own in-between other books.