by Sandra Murphy

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

Corey, Simon Garfunkel, Laurie, and Marcus make up the K Team: Simon being a retired K9 officer, Laurie and Corey being retired police officers, and Marcus, well, being Marcus. Those who see him don’t need further explanation. Those who don’t see him are soon napping on a sidewalk after a sudden confrontation with concrete.

They usually work as an investigative team for Andy Carpenter, attorney, and Laurie’s husband, when he has a client and has to go to court. Given Andy’s lack of interest in taking on clients, it could leave the K Team without a lot to do so they take on cases of their own as well.

Pete, their friend in the police department, has hired them to work on cold cases. Their first assignment is from seven years before when two people, Kim and Chris, disappeared from a class reunion. They seemingly had no contact before or at the reunion but were seen leaving together. His car was found at a rest area only a few miles away. There was no trace of the pair. Since Laurie and Corey each knew them a bit, it was a no-brainer to take the case.

Where do you start when there’s no scene of the crime to visit, no physical evidence, no bodies to examine, and no apparent motive? Working on the assumption Kim and Chris didn’t elope spur of the moment, completely change identities, and never speak to relatives again, the team starts with the idea of a double murder with the focus on Chris since he had connections to gambling and drugs.

There are also two of Chris’ friends to talk to about his disappearance. Each is a respectable nerd-turned-wealthy adult now. Neither have heard from Chris but do offer bits of insight into his personality. As the case moves along, slowly but surely, a picture of that last night begins to form.

Rosenfelt is good at dropping random bits of information throughout the story and then pulling all the bits together at the end. I’m always happy to see Simon use his K9 skills and would love to see more. This was a particularly difficult case, but readers will find the ending satisfying.

This is the third book in the series. Animal Instinct and The K Team were reviewed here. Rosenfelt writes the Andy Carpenter series, with book number twenty-five, Holy Chow, due out July 5, 2022. He has also written nine thrillers and two non-fiction books, of course, about dogs.

Follow him on Facebook to see glimpses of some of the twenty-plus dogs who live with Rosenfelt and his wife. They are all large, slobbery, older, and special needs dogs who have found the perfect place to live.

To enter to win a copy of Citizen K-9, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “citizen,” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen April 23, 2022. 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 THAT IT WILL TAKE MUCH LONGER THAN USUAL FOR WINNERS TO GET THEIR BOOKS DUE TO THE CURRENT CRISIS.

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Sandra Murphy lives in the shadow of the Arch in St. Louis Missouri. She’s editor for Peace, Love, and Crime: Crime Stories Inspired by the Songs of the ’60s, with twenty-two cozy stories. She also edited A Murder of Crows, twenty-one stories featuring animals and crime (no animals were harmed). She also writes for magazines, newsletters, and the occasional guest blog. Both anthologies are 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.