Mystery Readers
Wed., April 22
Dog On It
by Spencer Quinn
Dog on It is a humorous mystery told entirely from the point of view of Chet the Jet, canine partner of human P.I. Bernie, owner of the Little Detective Agency.
Readers laughed throughout their discussion of the book and agreed that it was a delightful change of pace from the darker mysteries preceding it in our book club. Everyone was all smiles talking about their favorite part of the book. Everyone had a different story to tell and all were equally funny. Readers appreciated the doggy details and agreed that the story was true to Chet’s nature. They noted Chet characteristically losing his attention during the pursuit of his investigations. He did eventually get back on track although it sometimes took a circuitous route to get there. Chet’s good judge of character saved him from some dangerous characters and bad situations. His point of view provided interest to the story when Bernie missed some of the action.
This was a difficult book to discuss because it is a light mystery, but readers did a great job talking about the characters and their influence in the story. They didn’t leave out Chet’s animal buddies and neighbors. All were particularly interested in the mysterious she-bark of the canyon, whom Chet may have an adventure with at the conclusion of the book.
Chet is just a regular dog (who has his own Facebook page and his own blog and thinks he is a superhero). Bernie thinks he is the perfect partner.
“The cat saw me at once, of course, and every hair on his body stood straight up, and he made a sound like a mountain lion’s roar but much tinier. That’s all cats are -- midget lions. I’m nobody’s midget, baby.” Chet the Jet.
The books in the Chet and Bernie series so far:
1. Dog on It
2. Thereby Hangs a Tail
3. To Fetch a Thief
4. The Dog Who Knew Too Much
5. A Fistful of Collars
6. The Sound and the Furry
7. Paw and Order
8. Scents and Sensibility (coming July 14)
