The Sound and the Furry: A Chet and Bernie Mystery

Bestseller Quinn’s entertaining sixth Chet and Bernie mystery (after 2012’s A Fistful of Collars) once again successfully uses the conceit of a dog able to understand English, albeit only literally (e.g., a reference to “cash cows” has Chet anxious about actual cows, who “have a way of looking at you that I don’t like one little bit”). While driving outside the Valley in the unnamed western state where they live, the pair stop for a road gang, because you never know if you’ll “bump into an old pal,” as indeed they do. Frenchie Boutette, who was imprisoned for fraud after they busted his scheme to cheat disabled Vietnam vets, needs their help finding his inventor brother, Ralph, who has disappeared from his home near New Orleans. Quinn (the pen name for suspense author Peter Abrahams) sends his endearing duo to Louisiana, where their search for Ralph becomes a lot more than a missing person’s case. Agent: Molly Friedrich, Friedrich Agency. (Sept.)