The Dish on Dogs at the North Shore Library

Dogs have taken quite a speaking role recently in some new adult fiction titles.

In the Chet and Bernie mystery series by Spencer Quinn, Chet gets top billing.  For good reason, too.  After all, the story is told to us by Chet and it is always Chet that saves the day.  Both Chet and Bernie have great personalities – full of spunk, daring, lots of fun and just a bit off kilter.  As they join forces to solve a crime, we pull for the Private Investigator and his sidekick to put the bad guys in their place.  The unusual thing is that Chet is the dog, a dog with mismatched ears who failed to graduate from K-9 school.  These are fast-paced mysteries sprinkled with a dash of good humor.

In Dog On It (Adult Fiction New), Bernie, the human half of the Private Investigation pair, gets the case when a bright, responsible teen-age girl, Madison, doesn’t return home.  Bernie and Chet start checking the usual sources – the mother, the mother’s boyfriend, the ex-husband, business associates of both.   Chet, as usual, is suspicious of anyone with a cat smell.  And it is Chet who discovers rather unexpectedly where Madison actually is, but how can he let Bernie know?

In Thereby Hangs a Tail (Adult Fiction New), Chet and Bernie’s new case seems like a breeze. They will get paid $2,000 a day to provide body guard service for Princess, a pampered show dog, and her wealthy, high-maintenance owner.  It all sounds pretty simple - until the mistress and the dog are kidnapped hours after arriving in town.

Pete Nelson also uses a dog as a main character in his I Thought You Were Dead: A Love Story (Adult Fiction New).  When her master, Paul, comes home, Stella greets him with a wag and a “I thought you were dead”.  Stella may not have any sense of permanence, but she is steadfast, loyal and has a down-to-earth philosophy of life.  Paul needs her – especially now when things are not going very well for him.  He is still struggling with his divorce, his father just had a stroke, his girlfriend is confusing and he is drinking entirely too much.  Stella shows unconditional love as dogs usually do, but does give her two cents when she doesn’t like what Paul does.  She is a great friend – and a wonderful complement to Paul in this “love story”.

These are two wise dogs ready to meet in books at the North Shore Library.