by Sandra Murphy

Details at the end of this post on how to enter to win a copy of the book, and links to purchase it.

Chet and Bernie are partners in the Little Detective Agency. Bernie is the smartest human in the room, always. Chet is the canine partner, the one who chases the perp and grabs him by the pant leg until Bernie can bring out the cuffs. No one has as much fun as Chet!

Bernie hates to see water wasted, much less squandered. At his client’s over-the-top mansion to pick up a check and return a painting, the one Chet retrieved during a daring chase of the perp, (only two small holes in the canvas), there are pools for fish, pools for humans, a stream, a waterfall, and all without a thought for the poor aquifer. Bernie makes a comment as such and meets a like-minded soul, Wendell Nero, a geologist who studies hydrology. He designed the atrocious backyard water park and says once the client wouldn’t budge, he at least put in some water saving features. Any other designer would have made a mess of it all.

Wendell invites Chet and Bernie to come visit him the next morning but when Bernie knocks on Wendell’s trailer door, there’s no response. Chet and Bernie find Wendell has been murdered, his laptop, phone, and wallet gone. The sheriff breaks all records for incompetency so Bernie decides to investigate. The Little Detective Agency is on the case!

While the area suffers due to a lack of water, just over the mountain from Wendell’s trailer, there’s a lush vineyard. The vines should be dying but the grapes are fat with juice.

Susie used to be Bernie’s girlfriend, but she moved to London and now Eliza, the doctor who made Bernie better after a previous case, is kind of taking Susie’s place. Although Chet is pretty sure he saw Susie a couple of times lately and what with London being somewhere far away, not sure just where, how can that be? But then Eliza came by Bernie’s house when Bernie was sitting out back with Mindy Jo the tow truck driver who was showing Bernie her tats and then Eliza went away and she didn’t even bring Chet any barbecued ribs. Humans are hard to understand, except Bernie who is always the smartest human in the room. And that’s Chet’s take on the day.

This is book ten in the popular series. I’ve reviewed and raved about all ten. Chet tells the story which doesn’t always work in Bernie’s favor as Chet sees clues Bernie might miss but since Chet is easily distracted, he sometimes forgets to point them out to Bernie. Chet’s unique view of human behavior is always a revelation. There’s a darn good mystery too.

Chet and Bernie have a guaranteed spot on my Best of 2020 list.

To enter to win a copy of Of Mutts and Men, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “mutts,” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen August 15, 2020. U.S. residents only, and you must be 18 or older to enter. If you are entering via email please include you mailing address in case you win, it will be deleted after the contest. You can read our privacy statement here if you like. BE AWARE DUE TO THE CURRENT PANDEMIC BOOKS WILL TAKE LONGER TO GET TO WINNERS.

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You can use this link to purchase this book from indie bookstore Mysterious Galaxy, and KRL gets a portion of the sale:

Of Mutts and Men (A Chet & Bernie Mystery #10)

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Sandra Murphy lives in the shadow of the Arch in St. Louis Missouri. A Murder of Crows, edited by Sandra Murphy (a popular title so you need her name to search), has twenty-one cozy stories. Each features the collective name of an animal and a crime. The animals range from tarantulas, koalas, wolves, bears, jellyfish, toads, cats, dogs, alpaca, goats, penguins and more. No animals were harmed. The people weren’t so lucky. Available at the usual outlets, print or ebook.

Disclosure: This post contains links to an affiliate program, for which we receive a few cents if you make purchases. KRL also receives free copies of most of the books that it reviews, that are provided in exchange for an honest review of the book.