swopedesign's Full Review: Spencer Quinn - Dog on It: A Chet and Bernie Myste...
I bought this book due to its unique twist on the narrator's point of view. Though there may have been books written from a dog's point of view before, this is the first (so far as I know) in the detective genre. And despite this being a first novel (since searches for other Spencer Quinn books come up with zero), it is a quick, delightful read.
Bernie (the private investigator) and Chet (his dog, the narrator of this hairy tale) are partners, as far as Chet is concerned. They live together and work together. Bernie, like most private detectives, is divorced and lonely. He has had an alcohol problem in the past, smokes, and is always short of money. Despite being down on his luck, Bernie is not bitter or angry. He is a good friend, with his heart in the right place. He is good in a fight, too, as tough as they come, though sometimes flakey according to his friends. Did I mention Bernie plays the ukelele?
Chet, the narrator, is Bernie's only constant companion. Though he failed canine school, Chet is loyal and brave, especially when danger threatens his friend Bernie. Chet loves to ride in the car...it is like a drug to him (his own words). It gets him high. Chet, as readers might imagine, also has a keen nose for smells, which comes in very handy during the course of the novel. Every character has odors about him or her. Of course, pleasant characters are associated with pleasant odors, and the perps or unpleasant characters are associated with unpleasant odors (though not foul or repulsive). To Chet's credit, he lives life to the fullest, and clearly enjoys being canine.
In the opening pages, Bernie accepts a case against his better judgment because he needs the money. The money is good, but the missing persons case is no better (he thinks) than his staple cases: cheating spouses. The missing teenage girl turns up late the same night with a story about going to see a movie for a class, though forgetting to ask to do so is not her usual code of conduct. Bernie suspects she's not telling the truth, though part of her story is probably true, so does a little digging because it gnaws at him. When the girl disappears again, but doesn't show back up this time, the story really begins to draw the reader in, like a good detective story should.
Along the way, Chet gets cut by a knife as he attacks a perp and also gets abducted which nearly results in his entry into dogfighting, except he escapes and is nearly euthanized at an animal shelter. Not to mention that Bernie's old Porsche is driven over a cliff and destroyed, and Bernie and Chet meet up with an odd assortment of questionable characters involved in all kinds of criminal activity. They also happen to meet up with Suzie, a news reporter, who falls for the duo, and they in turn for her. In fact, she just happens to find Chet at the animal shelter by coincidence as she's researching an article. As luck would have it, Chet is only a mere injection away from death. Of course, Suzie like Bernie has had her share of disappointing relationships with the wrong people. Like Bernie and Chet, she has had her share of failures.
By the end of the novel, Bernie pieces it all together to solve the case. The fun in this novel isn't just Chet's point of view, it's the sheer enjoyment Chet takes in being canine, succumbing when appropriate to his canine desires and pleasures. Part of the fun, too, is the tension created by the fact that Chet learns things before Bernie, but Chet can't understand the information well enough to remember it, and even if he could remember it he can't communicate it to Bernie, so Bernie must acquire the same information in his own time and solve the case.
It is impossible to actually tell a story from an animal's point of view due to language. Chet as narrator is able to communicate to readers many things, but at times he claims he doesn't understand some words or expressions, which would seem to contradict the language being used to tell the story in the first place. This took me out of the story at times, but for the most part the impossibility of it all is forgotten as I went along for the ride until the story ended.
Meet Chet, the wise and lovable canine narrator of Dog on It, who works alongside Bernie, a down-on-his-luck private investigator. Chet might have flu...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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