Thursday, July 19, 2012

A Fistful of Collars - Spencer Quinn (a Chet and Bernie Mystery)


Chet the dog and his private investigator companion, Bernie Little, set out on case number 5 in this New York Times Bestseller series, Chet and Bernie Mysteries.

The mayor of the valley decides to bring some extra revenue to town by luring a Hollywood studio to shoot a big budget movie there starring movie idol, Thad Perry. Chet and Bernie are approached to keep an eye on the movie star who is known to have been a bit wild and unreliable in the past and is now under contract with the studio to deliver on time or be fired. The mayor wants the studio folks to be happy so they will come back again and he offers Chet and Bernie big money to keep Thad in line. Tempted by the lucrative paycheque, Chet and Bernie take the job and it isn’t too long before a mystery begins to unfold which connects Thad Perry to the valley and to an unsolved crime a couple of decades before.

This is the first book of the series I have read and from the start, I loved it. This story is written from an unusual perspective as the narrator is Chet the dog! Spencer Quinn does a good job of giving Chet a credible voice and he describes the relationship between dogs and their companions very well. It is clear that both Chet and Bernie adore each other and Chet’s unconditional love of Bernie is heart warming and funny at times. It wasn’t long before I was cheering them along too. The plot of the mystery is well written and there are a couple of twists and turns which are surprising. That I had not read the previous books in the series did not detract from my enjoyment of this story.

I will definitely be reading more Chet and Bernie Mysteries and would encourage you to do so too.

9.8/10