Outfoxed

Review by Booklist Review

Andy Carpenter is a lawyer who hates work and loves dogs, and it's his good fortune to have inherited a $35 million nest egg. Such energy as Andy can muster is showered on his dog-rescue operation. As with the earlier Andy novels, a dog provides the plot hook: a prisoner disguises himself as a trainer and walks out with a service animal on a leash. Both are nabbed quickly, but not before the man's wife and business partner are murdered. Of course, the dog nabber didn't do it, and Andy must prove it. The puzzlement is the perfunctory way the investigation and trial are carried out, rather like Andy can't keep his mind on it. Still, it's the fringe stuff that holds the appeal here, recalling Tom Wolfe's observation that a lot of reporting goes into a novel like the revelation that crooks use online auctions to launder money: they put an item up for sale, then bid on it. There's lots of this kind of thing, and it will keep readers going despite a somewhat listless plot. That and the dogs, of course.--Crinklaw, Don Copyright 2016 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.

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Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Edgar-finalist Rosenfelt's entertaining 14th legal thriller featuring New Jersey attorney and dog lover Andy Carpenter (after 2015's Who Let the Dog Out?) finds Andy running a program called Prison Pals, which uses inmates to help train and socialize rescued canines. One of them, white-collar criminal Brian Atkins, who's up for parole in four months from East Jersey State Prison, manages to escape from custody with one of the animals. Soon after, Brian is spotted fleeing from the scene of a bloody double homicide, whose victims are his estranged wife and his former business partner. Naturally, he's the prime suspect, but Andy, who's impressed by Brian's treatment of the dog he was working with, takes on his defense. That task, already daunting given the circumstantial evidence against Andy's client, becomes even more of an uphill slog when Brian insists on pleading guilty, despite his innocence. The self-deprecating lead, who winds up playing amateur sleuth, is engaging enough, and the plot follows a predictable course to a nevertheless satisfying finish. Agent: Robin Rue, Writers House. (July) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

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Review by Library Journal Review

Andy Carpenter is a defense attorney, but he prefers to work with his Tara Foundation, supporting rescue dogs. When Buddy, a rescued wire-haired fox terrier, is used in a prison escape by one of his clients, Carpenter is more determined to find the dog than the escapee. When Brian Atkins is accused of murder, Carpenter has to defend Atkins in order to provide Buddy with the home he deserves. No. 14 is another feel-good entry in this ongoing series, after Who Let the Dog Out? © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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