Scents and Sensibility by Spencer Quinn (audiobook-on-cd)

Scents and Sensibility
by Spencer Quinn [Compact Disc Quinn] 

This is the ninth volume in the mystery series featuring Bernie Little and his dog Chet (“the jet”). Narrated from the point-of-view of Chet, this particular volume features some major developments in Chet and Bernie’s world. First, after the previous two volumes in the series took Chet and Bernie out of their standard Arizona setting (first to Louisiana Bayou country in The Sound and the Furry, then to Washington D.C. in Paw and Order), in Scents and Sensibility, the due is back home in “the valley”. The case they get involved with is extremely personal, with Bernie’s elderly neighbor Mr. Parsons being victimized by his just-out-on-parole son, and Bernie stepping in to help him out. Additionally, as he digs around, Bernie ends up butting heads with a corrupt cop — and we learn about the circumstances that caused Bernie to end his police career several years earlier. And finally, a little puppy (introduced briefly in an earlier book in the series) named “Shooter”, who bears a distinct genetic resemblance to Chet, becomes a major new character in the novels.

I continue to enjoy this series as audiobooks (in this case books-on-cd), with narrator Jim Frangione doing an absolutely perfect job of capturing Chet’s personality with his voice. If you can, and you’re interested in mysteries told from unique character points-of-view, I can’t recommend this audiobook series highly enough. This particular volume is a return to high form for Spencer Quinn (actually Peter Abrahams writing under a pseudonym), after a couple of occasionally lackluster volumes in the past couple of years. I’m also looking forward to reading Woof! — the first in a new series for youth readers, featuring Bowser and Birdie, a dog-and-a-pre-teen-girl pair of sleuths.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try al the earlier volumes in the Chet & Bernie series by Quinn.] [ official ChettheDog.com web site ] | [ official Spencer Quinn (Peter Abrahams) web site ]

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library

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