Rating: 4 Stars
Heart of Barkness by Spencer Quinn is the continuing story of the Little Detective Agency and is book nine in the series (Chet and Bernie mystery). In this quirky and sometimes humorous mystery which is narrated by Chet (who is the canine part of this crime solving duo), Bernie and his loveable assistant Chet attempt to solve the murder of the manager of an aging country singer. It appears to be cut and dry; but as cases go, it turns out to be much more.
The story opens when Bernie and Chet are invited to hear Lotty Pilgrim sing at a dive bar on the outskirts of town. Bernie and Chet, both being fans of country music, decide to leave a generous tip in Lotty’s jar. Lotty never sees the tip because it is quickly stolen right out of the jar under everyone’s nose. Chet quickly runs down the “perp” and Bernie returns it to Lotty only to see it being taken away by her manager.
Bernie senses something is not right here. He decides to make an impromptu visit to Lotty. Before he and Chet know it, they are drawn into the murder case and find that it is rooted deeply in Lotty’s past. Someone is trying to keep her past buried and another murder is not too high a price to silence anyone who digs too deep.
Because I have a no spoiler policy, I am going to remain vague. Instead I would like to talk a little about Chet, my favorite character. Chet gives a running dialogue of observations and information that the reader needs to understand what is going on. So it is not necessary to have read any of the other books in the series. Not only is Chet my favorite, he is spot on in his observation of humans. The author did a great job here.
The plot was a little slow at the beginning and I was wondering just where the story was going. Then bam, the murder happens and Bernie and Chet start working to put the pieces together. The plot picks up and runs along nicely after that. In addition, there were a few things I was not totally sure about until near the end and I enjoyed the suspension. Then Chet wraps it all up nicely for us at the end and he even gets a song written just for him. Awww….
I would definitely categorize this as a cozy mystery and I recommend this to anyone who enjoys them. I also think any dog or animal lover would appreciate the wit and wisdom of Chet. I am looking forward to reading more about this crime solving duo.
I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.