In this 7th book in the 'Chet and Bernie' series, the detective team investigates a murder far from their home turf.
*****In the Chet and Bernie stories, Bernie Little and his hundred-plus pound dog Chet run the Little Detective Agency in Arizona.
The books are narrated by Chet, whose somewhat limited vocabulary, unfamiliarity with idioms, doggie logic, and tendency to get distracted set the stage for plenty of smiles.
Bernie is a West Point graduate, war veteran, former police lieutenant, and talented private detective. Chet is Bernie's invaluable partner, always ready to clamp his jaw on perps and drag them off by the pants.
As the story opens, Bernie decides to visit his journalist girlfriend Suzie Sanchez, who relocated to Washington DC for a better job.
In the capital, Suzie lives in the carriage house of a political insider named Lizette, who hosts fund raisers for candidates running for office.
When Bernie and Chet arrive at Suzie's home, an urbane English gentleman named Eben St. John is just leaving, and he calls out 'bye love' to Suzie.
Bernie's jealousy hormones kick in, but Suzie explains that the Brits call everyone 'love,' like Ringo Starr. This gets canine Chet to musing, "Ringo Starr? Had to be some sort of perp. And not the first Ringo perp we'd run into. Who could forget Ringo Gogarnian, who liked to dress like a mailman and empty out people's mailboxes and was now dressed in an orange jumpsuit? Message to Ringo Starr: heads up, buddy boy."
Suzie goes to say St. John is the source for an important story, but she won't provide any details. Later, while Bernie's napping, Suzie and Chet go to St. John's office and find him dead. The police discover Eben was shot with a gun Bernie had in his car, and they arrest Bernie for the murder.
As things play out an enigmatic government operative named Ferretti gets Bernie released from jail, and helps out Chet as well. Later, Eben St. John's father hires Bernie to investigate his son's murder.
Bernie and Chet get on the job, and - in the course of their inquiries - the detectives come across mysterious people packing up St. John's office; happen upon a calendar with Cyrillic (Russian) writing; stop in at Lizette's fundraiser for a presidential hopeful; are offered a security job; discover that someone is lying about their background; find themselves being spied on by a drone; and more.
It appears that Eben was killed because he was about to uncover a dastardly plot, and the people involved silenced him. The story gets a bit complicated and hard to follow, but there's plenty of humor to make up for these shortcomings.
For instance, when someone jokingly tells Bernie, 'You're in the dog house at the moment', Chet thinks, 'Whoa! Stop right there. Bernie in a dog house. I'd seen that once before. But that was Bernie on a bet, and after a number - more than two - of bourbon shots. The dog house in question belonging to Spike, a buddy of mine who hadn't reacted well on finding Bernie curled up in his personal space. Were we in for another round of that?'
And when Bernie observes,'Is it time for playing your cards close to the vest? But since we haven't got any, let's go full frontal [a military maneuver]', Chet says, 'Full frontal! I hoped with all my heart that full frontal wasn't in the plans. It had only come up once in our career, the case having to do with a stolen sombrero and a nudist colony. The less said about nudist colonies the better, but clothes are a fine invention when it comes to humans. I kept a close eye on Bernie, waiting for him to start unbuttoning his shirt, but that didn't happen. Meaning maybe he'd reconsidered. Sometimes you catch a break in this business."
The story has an exciting climax, where Chet helps get the bad guys.....earning his favorite treats as usual.
The Chet and Bernie books are great for a light read or when you just want a few laughs.
Rating: 3 stars
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