Thursday, September 19, 2013

The Sound and the Furry-Spencer Quinn

The Sound and the Furry

Spencer Quinn

Atria, Sep 10 2013, $25.00

ISBN: 9781476703220



The Little Detective Agency investigators Chet and Bernie meet Frenchie Boutette who the sleuths busted for defrauding disabled Vietnam veterans. Though working as a guest of the state, Frenchie hires the two detectives to find his missing brother Ralph, an inventor who apparently vanished from his Bayou home near New Orleans.



Bernie loads their car for the drive to Louisiana, but before he finishes his task, a biker assaults him with a tire iron. However Chet intercedes forcing the gangbanger to flee and crash his motorcycle; leaving the assailant dead. In the Bayou, Bernie meets the rest of the Boutette felonious family, Ralph’s friends and their adversarial criminal Robideau family; while Chet sniffs odd odors coming from the swampy water. The case looks like law-breakers from the two clans fighting over stolen shrimp, but Chet uncovers a corporate oily clue while dealing with Iko the gator wanting a taste of canine sushi



The sixth Chet and Bernie mystery (see A Fistful of Collars) is a wonderful investigative thriller told by the dog who understands English though idioms and metaphors gives him fits and at times nightmarish pictures. The case is top notch partly because Bernie finally acts somewhat competent, but as always in this delightful series Chet owns the story with his wry observations and commentary on the strangest animal on the planet: humans.



Harriet Klausner

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