Andy Carpenter and family and "cast members" continue to amuse, amaze, and solve mysterious deaths....always great!!! I'm reading them in order which is definitely a great idea for those of you who picked up one of these books in the middle of all of them. ( )

This book sort of fell into my lap when I was looking for more Christmas reads. I haven't read any of this series before, but saw someone say that wouldn't be a problem, and it really wasn't. It also wasn't exactly a Christmas story—it just happened to take place at Christmas time. All of that being said, I really liked the book. It felt a lot like an old detective show, like the kind I watched when I was younger—Matlock springs to mind. I enjoyed the main character's wit and snark and the colorful cast he gathers around himself to help him do his work, both long-term and short-term. The way the case unfolded made for a good story, and even the courtroom scenes, where we get to see into the mind of the defense attorney using his tricks to get the jury to see things a certain way, were interesting.

Though I'm sure that some of what was shown in this book is a spoiler for past books in the series, and while author pushes dog love way too much for my taste (I'm a cat person through and through), I do believe I've found myself a new series to read after plunging in at book 15. ( )

I really like this series. I am reading them out of order which is usually a big no-no for me but I read a holiday one first and then read the first one but now it's holiday time again so... I love the humor in these books and, of course, the dog love. Although court cases that are really inaccurate tend to bother me (i.e., the Perry Mason surprise witness), these are always so fun it doesn't seem to bother me. If you love cozies and dogs, you'll love these books. ( )

Always fun to read an Andy Carpenter book, especially after reading a dark book like [b:The Deep Dark Descending|33946362|The Deep Dark Descending (Detective Max Rupert, #4)|Allen Eskens|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1494677308l/33946362._SX50_.jpg|54915986] which I read before this. This one had a lot going on, and was fairly complicated. It started with a murder of a low-level day laborer, and this was then forgotten until the very end. And even though I had a pretty good idea about the why of the murder, I still didn't guess how it fit in until the end.

One highlight, to me, was an offhand remark made by Andy: "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." Somewhat an expected remark from the creator of Andy Carpenter. ( )

Andy Carpenter is working for a friend - Pups Boyer - who is dealing with complaints from a neighbor named Andy Hennessy because she is fostering puppies at her home. Andy wins the court battle, but when Pups is arrested for the death of that same neighbor, Andy's job gets a lot harder.

Things get harder still when it is learned that the gun used to murder Hennessy is the same gun that was used eighteen months earlier when Pups husband was murdered. Since he died at the same time as a gang thug, it was assumed that he was just an accidental victim. Pups was quickly cleared of any involvement by the police at the time, but no killer was apprehended.

Now, the prosecutor is trying to connect Pups to the earlier murder. As Andy and his team look into the two cases, they learn lots they didn't know about Pups and her husband John Boyer. Andy hadn't asked if Pups could cover his bill, but that wouldn't be a problem. Her husband left her a multi-millionaire and whose estate included lots of plots of land all over the central US. Since a lot of the land has received multiple offers for purchase, and both John and Pups have turned down all the offers, Andy feels the land has something to do with why someone is trying to frame Pups for murder.

Complicating things is the fact the Pups is dying of cancer and has only months to live. She has left the whole estate to a wide variety of animal rescue sites. So Andy doesn't see how anyone could benefit from a possible murder conviction.

This was a great story filled with Rosenfelt's wit. Andy tells the story and his snarkiness is on full display. The mystery is tightly plotted and very engaging. The characters are also engaging. I liked that the story was set around Christmas-time which gave Andy special opportunities for snarkiness as he talks about Bing Crosby's White Christmas and tree decorating and undecorating. ( )