Saturday 22 October 2016

Book ~ "The Twelve Days of Christmas" (2016) David Rosenfelt

From Goodreads ~ Defense lawyer Andy Carpenter usually tries to avoid taking on new cases at all costs. But this time, he’s happy - eager, even - to take the case that’s just come his way. 

Andy’s long-time friend Martha “Pups” Boyer takes in stray puppies that the local dog rescue center can’t handle, raises them until they’re old enough to adopt and then finds good homes for them. Not everyone admires the work Pups does as much as Andy does, however. With Christmas just around the corner, one of Pups’s neighbors has just reported Pups to the city for having more than the legal number of pets in her home under the local zoning laws.

Andy happily takes Pups’s case and he feels confident in a positive outcome. Who could punish someone for rescuing puppies, after all, especially at Christmastime? But things get a lot more complicated when Randy Hennessey, the neighbor who registered the complaint against Pups, turns up dead. Pups had loudly and publicly threatened Hennessey after he filed his complaint and Pups was also the one to find his body. 

All the evidence seems to point to Pups as the killer, and suddenly Andy has a murder case on his hands. He doesn’t believe Pups could be guilty, but as he starts digging deeper into the truth behind Hennessey’s murder, Andy may find himself facing a killer more dangerous than he ever imagined.

Andy is a criminal defense lawyer who doesn't want any clients.  Because of the millions his father left him, he is able to not work and spend his time with his friend, Willie, running the Tara Foundation, a dog rescue that he and Willie formed.  Andy and Laurie have recently gotten married and adopted an eight-year-old son, Ricky, so he is enjoying family life.

Martha "Pups" Boyer is a fellow animal lover and takes in rescue dogs and puppies and finds homes for them.  One of her neighbours, Randy, files a complaint against her because she has more than three dogs in her home, which is against the zoning regulations.  She fights it in court and hires Andy as her lawyer.  Andy is more than happy to help out.

When Randy is found killed a couple days later, Pups is arrested and tried for the murder.  Not only was Pups seen leaving the scene of the murder but it's discovered that it's tied into the unsolved murders of her husband and a gang member eighteen months ago.  Needless to say, this is one case that Andy is looking forward to fighting because he believes his friend is innocent.

This is the fifteenth in the Andy Carpenter series (I've read them all).  I enjoyed this book and am really enjoying this series.  Even though it is part of a series, it works as a stand alone (so you don't need to have read the ones before it to know what is going on).  I like the writing style of this author as it was funny, sarcastic and amusing.  It was written in first person perspective in Andy's voice but at times it was also written in third person perspective when the focus is elsewhere.

I like Andy ... I think he would be a hoot to be around.  He loves his dog, Tara, and thinks she's the most wonderful dog in the whole wide world.  He also has another dog named Sebastian who came with Ricky.  Part of Andy's team is Laurie, his wife and former police officer and now his investigator.  Hike is his associate who is the most depressed and downer person ever.  Marcus, an investigator with persuasive reasoning skills, continues to provide protection when it's most needed (which is often since Andy is a self-professed coward).  Sam is his accountant who is also a computer hack but wants to get more action like shooting people.

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