Play Book Tag discussion

This was a YA fun read. Chet is the protagonist and is a dog who failed his police exam given a last-minute distraction. Bernie is his owner and is a private investigator. Together this pair takes on a missing teenager assignment that leads them into chaos, danger, and a big mystery.

I listened to this as an audio book and found the author's ability to give 'speak' to the dog a true accomplishment. All too often I find that the animal is pulled out of their native behavior and layered with human elements that soon makes the story a stretch to believe the animal is one. In this case, the dog's propensity to distraction, i.e food and other dogs, among others, was fully present and often comical in a very relatable way. If you have owned a dog, you will find these actions true and loveable.

I gave this book 4 and not 5 stars because I felt that there were times in the story where it would drag. These times would allow me to wander and not stay engaged with the storyline. While I was disappointed in these sections the book overall it is a great, light, YA read that stays true to the animal’s normal behavior, well mostly – guess you can’t have a projection of what you believe the animal to be thinking or its motivation for its actions to be fully understood but it does come as close to it as I would think is possible.

I just read the 2nd book in this series-I love Chet and these books are a great palate cleanser between the heavier non-fiction I read. If you like this, if you have not tired it yet Bruno, Chief of Police is another great easy, fun mystery series

Joanne wrote: "I just read the 2nd book in this series-I love Chet and these books are a great palate cleanser between the heavier non-fiction I read. If you like this, if you have not tired it yet [book:Bruno, C..."

thank you Joanne! I will check that out. After reading Babel and A Column of Fire, I needed something to break away and as you say, to clean the palate. Chet is wonderful and will probably listen to another in the series.

I look forward to seeing what you think of of Bruno-I just love him. I think it was BooknBlues who turned me onto to him.

I love this series on audio, it makes all the difference.

But I would say this is not a YA series. In some episodes there is prostitution or other adult themes. Which doesn't mean it isn't great for teenagers. There isn't gratuitous sex or violence. But for any adults out there, the series isn't dumbed down. Spencer Quinn does have a series of books for school-age kids with a similar vibe. Instead of Chet and Bernie, there's Bowser and Birdie (a girl).