Chet and Bernie are certainly mystery solving experts, both contributing their unique talents and both intent on keeping their partner safe. This is book #11 in this excellent series that keeps readers entertained as they solve the mysteries. Each book is a great stand alone but the series is one that you'll recommend over and over once you hear Chet's opinions on the human race. This story begins a little differently, they have a client, then they don't but they do. It will all work out in the way Spencer Quinn always gets around to the end. If you've never read any Chet and Bernie books, start now, you won't be sorry.

Tender is the Bite

by Spencer Quinn

The dynamic duo of the Little Detective Agency are on the case again. In fact, it seems like several cases. Bernie is the human, and Chet is his canine side-kick. The story is told from Chet’s point of view. Bernie sees Chet as an equal partner and refers to the team as “we” in talking to clients, police officers, and friends. There is a lot of humor in the tale as Chet describes his communications with Bernie and references past mishaps where he has perhaps been a little too exuberant. Most people, even some “perps,” like and respect both members of the team. One thing you can be sure of is that Chet and Bernie will always have each other’s back.

In Tender is the Bite there is lots going on. Some Ukrainians with a secretive boss try to send them on a highly paid security detail in Hawaii. Two young ladies, a standup comedian, and a ferret keep cropping up. A politician and his wife are somehow involved with the others, and a thread emerges that introduces a woman on the police force to Bernie, but is complicated by an officer who seems to have some shady connections. I had a lot of fun with Chet’s view of events and his efforts to understand figures of speech. I also enjoyed watching the pair unravel the many secrets. There is plenty of action to keep you turning the pages.

I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Rating: 4/5

Category: Mystery, Humor

Notes: 1. Occasional foul language.
2. This is #11 in the Chet and Bernie series. I have read two others in the series. I didn’t enjoy #10 as much as I did the first or this one. This one checked the boxes for both humor and mystery, and can easily be read as a standalone.

Publication: July 6, 2021—Macmillan—Tor/Forge

Memorable Lines:

“I reckon he knows we’re talkin’ about him—tail’s a dead giveaway.” Something about my tail? Yes, I could feel it. I myself was perfectly still and calm, correct behavior in an interview. My tail is not always a team player. I got it back in line, and in no uncertain terms.

Soon I was in the shower too! Had I forgotten once again about the problem of the shower curtain and how the whole thing with all the poles and screws and rings can come crashing down? Show me the dude who can remember everything.

“On the other hand,” Bernie said, “sometimes it’s a good idea to stir up the hornet’s nest, see where they go.” I gazed at Bernie. He looked good—well rested, not hung over, certainly not sick or feverish. A joke, perhaps? Could there be anything good about hornets? Wasn’t stirring up the nest the last thing you wanted to do? As for seeing where the hornets go, they always go the same place, right at you. Take it from me.

Tender Is The Bite by Spencer Quinn

Dog-lovers won’t want to miss this book. Chet, the dog, and Bernie solve mysteries, and secrets, together.

I liked the way Bernie described what was going on and then the smart dog, Chet, would put his 2-cents in. Made a terrific team. There is lots of murder, corruption, and evil cops. I recommend this book.

Thanks to Net Galley for sending me an advanced reader’s copy for my review.

For dog lovers, mystery lovers or anyone who loves humor, this is the perfect summer read. Mr. Chet, the dog and one-half of the Little Detective Agency is back and narrating their next case. This one involves some shady Ukranians, A family that owns a trucking company and corrupt politicians. There are murders and blackmail and a ferret. Chet tells the story as only he can with charm and humor and an innocence that makes this a charming read....and he finally breaks through his number barrier and counts to four (or does he?) These stories make the reader feel like they are dropping in on Bernie and Chet and sitting down for a beer next to the swan fountain while hearing the latest and scratching Chet's mismatched ear. The plot is just complicated enough to be interesting, there are some twists and turns and some great, quirky characters. Fun, fun, fun!

Bernie Little and his dog Chet of the Little Detective Agency are on the case! Sort of. Somehow, Bernie always seems to take on cases where there isn't an actual client and now one is paying. This one starts as a young woman shows up at Bernie's door and then changes her mind and leaves. But ever full of curiosity, Bernie tries to find out who she was and what she could of wanted and falls into a new case. Eventually, Bernie and Chet stumble on a dead body and have a real case to investigate, with a real client. As always, this tale is told to us by Chet the Jet, dog detective extraordinaire! A highly entertaining read!

Chet and Bernie are back and better than ever. It’s an election year and Bernie’s two elderly neighbors have dueling yard signs: one blue candidate, one red. Each of them wants to sway Bernie to their chosen one.

Even in rush hour traffic moving at a crawl, Bernie can tell when he and Chet are being followed. It’s an amateur job, but the potential client rushes off before they can find out what she wanted. Bernie’s curious and follows the slim clues even though there’s technically no client. Bernie says he and Chet are partners and Chet has to agree. Bernie, being human, is always the smartest human in the room. Chet, being a dog, brings other things to the table. There may have been a few incidents in the past, one involving a cat, one a horse, but it’s better to focus on the present.
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It seems like for every clue they find, someone disappears. First the wanna-be client. Her friend talked, minimally, to Bernie one day, was gone the next. Also missing is Griffie, a pet ferret. It was love at first sight when Griffie saw Bernie. Chet was not amused.

A two-bit hoodlum is in the mix but can’t be found, until he was, and then he too, disappeared. The new police captain is sure Bernie had something to do with that. Thanks to Chet, Bernie’s one step ahead of the captain.

When a determined pair of private detectives like Chet and Bernie are on your trail, one trick to try is to offer simple work at an outrageous amount of money and the job is far away. Chet and Bernie can’t be bought!

With foreign entities involved, politics, missing women, a missing hoodlum, a guy who suddenly won’t take your calls, and a missing ferret, what else could go wrong? In Chet and Bernie’s line of work, an awful lot. Will Chet be able to catch the perp? Will Bernie unravel the tangled clues to find out who’s behind what?

Bernie may be able to connect the dots for the plot and Chet certainly knows where the bodies are buried, but can he learn to work with a ferret?

This is book eleven in the series. The stories are told from Chet’s point of view and the point of view of a dog is totally different than that of a person. Also, he’s easily distracted. It’s a challenge for an author to tell a story this way. Chet is able to find clues, knows they are important, but he’s unable to tell Bernie after the fact.

New characters are introduced and I have a feeling they’ll be around for a while. Look for the next Chet and Bernie adventure, It’s a Wonderful Woof, shipping in mid-October, available for pre-order now.

Bernie Little is the owner of the The Little Detective Agency and his partner is Chet, his faithful canine companion. Chet also happens to be the narrator of this popular series. In their newest adventure they become involved in a case without a client or a crime. But, there is a scared woman who has disappeared as well as a powerful politician who might be somehow involved. It’s up to The Little Detective Agency to figure it out.

Spencer Quinn has created a series that is heart-warming, humorous, and just plain fun. Chet is an interesting narrator but his commentary can sometimes go off the rails a bit. He becomes quite enamored with smells and often moves into a stream of consciousness as he tries to help Bernie with the case (or keep him out of trouble). As a result, I found this type of narration a little distracting and that made it somewhat difficult to stay on track with the story. However, overall this is a good series for someone who wants a light read and loves dogs.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book for review.

Published by Forge Books on July 6, 2021

Chet the Jet is back in the eleventh installment of Spencer Quinn’s Chet and Bernie series. Bernie Little is the only human employee of the Little Detective Agency. Bernie is much loved by Chet, his large and loyal canine partner. Chet helps solve crimes, often inadvertently, while puzzling about the mysteries of human behavior.

To Chet’s dismay, Bernie decides to investigate a mystery without a paying client. The story begins with a young woman named Mavis following Bernie, working up the courage to speak with him. When Bernie asks whether she needs his help, she flees, apparently frightened off by a political bumper sticker that she sees on the floor of Bernie’s car. Bernie, who has no interest in politics or politicians, has no idea where the bumper sticker came from until he learns that one of his neighbors dropped it into his car. The top is always down on Bernie’s Porsche, making it all the easier for Chet to jump in and out.

Bernie gets a plate number as Mavis drives away. His police contacts advise him that the car is registered to Johnnie Lee Goetz. He also learns that Johnnie Lee has a restraining order against Mickey Rottoni. Sensing a mystery that needs his attention, Bernie goes in search of Johnnie Lee, hoping to find Mavis.

The restraining order was served by Weatherly Wauneka, who has a dog that looks very much like Chet. Weatherly might become Bernie’s new love interest. Series fans will know that Bernie’s former girlfriend, Suzie Sanchez, married someone else, although she pops up for a cameo in Tender Is the Bite.

The plot involves a ferret, a Russian thug named Olek, a potential client who wants to hire Bernie for a job in Kauai, a senator and his horse-loving wife, the eventual disappearance of Mavis and Johnnie Lee, a dead body or two, and a blackmail scheme. All of that (minus the ferret) might be standard fare for a crime novel, but the story differs from traditional crime novels because it is narrated by Chet, who has no use for ferrets or perps.

After eleven novels, many of Chet’s opinions will be familiar to readers, including his animosity toward horses, bears, and birds. We know that Chet wants to go through every door first, that he wants to sit in the Porsche’s shotgun seat (forcing human passengers to sit on the back bench), and that he’s certain Bernie is the smartest human in the room. At times during Tender Is the Bite, I thought Quinn should make a greater effort to develop new material, as many of Chet’s observations seem to be recycled from earlier books. Still, the Chet and Bernie novels are always a joy, at least for dog lovers, if only because Quinn has nailed the way we imagine dogs would think if they had the vocabulary to express their thoughts.

The plot is as credible as it needs to be in a novel that is narrated by a dog. Action scenes give Bernie and Chet the chance to save each other from harm. Chet even tries to climb a rope ladder, a difficult task since he hasn’t yet mastered regular ladders. I’ve probably read about half of the Chet and Bernie novels and have never found one I wouldn’t recommend to dog lovers, although some are better than others. I would rank Tender Is the Night in the middle of the pack.

RECOMMENDED

Tender Is the Bite is the 11th Chet & Bernie PI mystery by Spencer Quinn. Released 6th July 2021 by Macmillan on their Tor Forge imprint, it's 272 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

This is another fun and engaging read starring Chet (the dog) and Bernie (the human) doing what they do best, solving crimes, righting wrongs, and keeping each other (relatively) safe and functional. Although it's the 11th book in the series, all the books work very well as standalone novels. There are a few minor spoilers in the background story if read out of order, but nothing major.

Probably the most unusual aspect of the story is that it's told in the first person point of view of Chet, Bernie's Dr. Watson. Chet's a Very Smart Dog, but he is a dog and so there are many asides about smelling things and sort of a stream-of-consciousness commentary running throughout. I found it very distracting at first, but after a few chapters it wasn't as noticeable.

For current fans of the series, this is another solid mystery; full of political corruption, voluntary and involuntary disappearances, murders, and several apparently unrelated plot threads which intertwine ever more closely to an exciting denouement and satisfying resolution. The language is a bit rough in places, but not egregiously so. There is some sexual content (mostly discussed in the context of photographic evidence associated with the case), as well as physical violence. It's not over-the-top, but it is there.

Recommended for fans of mysteries with strong animal protagonists, and American PI mysteries.

Four stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Spencer Quinn involve Chet and Bernie in Tender is the Bite. Chet the dog and Bernie have a private investigative business but this case has no real client and no real crime until dead bodies start showing up and victims are disappearing. Politics raises its ugly head too. Chet and Bernie will figure it out; they always do. Charming cozy.

Chet is the best dog ever and he has a wonderful human partner in Bernie Little. The series is seen through Chet's POV and he's the best narrator around. His thought process is most often laugh out loud funny as he tries to figure out humans. He puzzles over phrases like "look what the cat dragged in" - being a dog he has firm opinions about all felines. He adores Bernie and the feeling is mutual, they make a terrific pair. Bernie is the PI and does the talking while Chet does the sniffing. Perfect.
This time out, even though Bernie is strapped for cash - not unusual - he is drawn into a case without a client and a case with no real direction. The young woman who crossed their path got spooked before she could state her problem. Bernie starts to investigate despite that and it leads them to a complicated case and a great read for us. It also has some of the funniest animal interactions - Trixie the dog and, my favorite, Griffie the ferret. Poor Chet, he is at a loss with the relationship between Bernie and Griffie. Really, a ferret?
If you are new to the series, just jump in and enjoy this one. Then play catch up. Every mystery is a five star read, the recurring characters are well developed and the puzzle satisfying.
My thanks to the publisher Forge Books and to NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Humorous detective work by this devastating duo!

Another delightful, dangerous, and confusing mystery with the duo of dudes from the The Little Agency, Bernie Little (hard boiled detective with heart) and Chet the Jet (failed police dog—so it’s rumoured).
This time an almost client disappears. Bernie and Chet turn down a big payout and a sojourn in Hawaii because Bernie’s worried about the almost client and didn’t take to Olek the Rumanian hirer. Although Chet does have a thought, “Was it possible that we were walking away from a stack of cold hard cash that Olek was paying us for a job that was all about surfing?” Somehow Chet’s been listening to their accountant. Wow!
I get so much pleasure from Chet’s moments of enlightment, his running commentary on all things human, and our taken for granted actions and sayings from his doggie perspective.
Like Chet on trains of thought. “Was there a whole world of thoughts out there, just waiting to be found? Whoa! Another thought right there, and on the scary side. I shut the whole thing down.” Huge!
Then Chet on actual “thinking”—always nearly tripping over at the vastness of the idea. About now, his head zoned out, Chet usually takes a nap because it’s all too much!
And what about when Chet realizes he mostly has no thoughts in his head! “My mind was like the desert? How come I was just finding that out now?”
Occasionally I feel like I’m listening to a Steven Wright monologue. Priceless!
Almost every page has either a “whoa there!” or hilarious thought.
And then there’s the heart stopping moments! Like when Bernie is almost framed, almost killed—indeed there’s heaps of almosts!
I must admit that Chet on more than one occasion pulls Bernie’s bacon out of the fire. Although he does get confused when someone mentions bringing home the bacon and he can’t see any. ‘Cause eating is one of his prime delights.
Us humans do confuse a dog like Chet sometimes! Well many times really!
A comic murder mystery that sets the dogs amongst the ferrets—well this time anyway!
Lots of fun!

A Macmillan-Tor/Forge ARC via NetGalley
Please note: Quotes taken from an advanced reading copy maybe subject to change

This is actually the second book in two days I’ve read told in the narrative voice of a dog (the other was the romcom Pug, Actually) but this one is a mystery, 11th in a series about private eye Bernie and his failed-out-of-K9-training companion Chet. I have read one of the previous books in the series, Of Mutts and Men, but I don’t think you need to have read any of them to enjoy this, and it’s primarily because Chet is the narrator and Chet, being a dog, lives very much in the moment. He doesn’t spend his days reminiscing about past cases. He’s much more concerned about where his next meal is coming from, and when, than about the last one.

The case, beginning with a scared young woman who comes to Bernie and Chet for help but bails before actually telling them what help she needs, gets political quickly and being politics, it gets dirty. There are at least a couple of dead bodies in the book, and at least one of them is highly illegally dealt with by Bernie for reasons that are never explained because Chet doesn’t comprehend them. It’s an inherent problem with telling the story from the dog’s point of view because Chet can see and hear things - and we can then interpret them - but if Bernie doesn’t actually explain his motivation out loud, there’s no way for us to deduce it.

It’s interesting to solve the case alongside Chet and Bernie, because filtering it through Chet’s point of view means the reader has to do quite a bit of mental gymnastics to put the pieces together because Chet lacks the comprehension to do it for us. He is a Very Good Dog but concepts like blackmail are way outside his understanding.

I didn’t like this one quite as much as the previous one in the series I read, and I can’t quite put my finger on why. I think it’s perhaps because I was more invested in the mystery, and then, just as it was getting good and we were about to learn something… Chet would get distracted or decide it was time for a nap. It got extremely frustrating, and there’s no real acknowledgement of that because Chet, of course, is perfectly happy with his lot. He’s only frustrated when the Slim Jims don’t come along frequently enough. I’ll give it four stars.

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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WHAT'S TENDER IS THE BITE ABOUT?
A young woman—a frightened young woman—approaches Bernie, she needs help. But before she explains herself, something spooks her and she leaves.

Curious, Bernie starts looking for her—and stumbles into the middle of a situation involving stalking, murder, dog-napping, and all sorts of other things. There's an international aspect of this—but it's a very local story. There's a lot to chew on, a lot to talk about—but all of it is in spoiler territory, so I'm going to leave it at that.

APPROACHING THE POLITICAL
This is the second time in a week that I've said something along those lines, and it's a bit strange. Chet and Bernie keep finding themselves in the neighborhood of a senate election. The case brings the two of them across the path of both candidates (one of them repeatedly). But it's closer to home than that—Bernie's neighbors on either side are very invested in this campaign and their enthusiasm spills over onto the a-political P. I. (or so he tries to be)—at least at one point, one neighbor's has a considerable blow-back on Bernie's investigation. This is a new thing for Quinn to dabble in and he does it well.

If you don't catch the parallel between this campaign and the way people are behaving during it and...well, all of American politics right now. Quinn gives us some pretty good commentary to chew on.

NON-CHET ANIMAL CHARACTERS
Sure, we've got Chet's friend, Iggy doing his thing. But we have more animal guest stars. There's a dog—who could be Chet's sister (or niece), and I really hope we get to see more of her.

But the big guest star is a ferret. A ferret named Griffie—without Griffie it's hard to say if Bernie'd been able to very far with things. Chet can't stand ferrets, or so he repeatedly says...I'm not sure about Griffie, though.

Chet talking about adults, criminals or otherwise, is a lot of fun. Chet talking about kids is simply fantastic. But Chet talking about other animals is a different kind of fun.

A LITTLE LIGHT GETS SHED ON CERTAIN EVENTS
For ages now—possibly since the first book, definitely since the second or third—Chet's been alluding to a case that didn't end well. He's given us a little more information here and there about it, but never much. That ends now. Chet tells us some about it. Bernie tells someone else about it. We even get some hints from other characters about it.

I don't know why Quinn's decided now is the time to start clueing us in, but I'm so glad he did. We didn't get the whole story—I don't know if we will (and I'm not sure I care)—but we got a lot of it, and that's enough for now.

THE TRICK TO THESE BOOKS
This is tied to the above point. The trickiest part about reading Chet as a narrator is that he doesn't understand what he's telling you, and because of that he leaves a lot out. He's the best kind of unreliable narrator—he's well-intentioned and honest, he believes what he's telling us and he thinks he's giving us all the information.

What that means for the reader is that we have to think a little more about what he's saying, we have to do almost as much detective work as Bernie to understand what's really going on. Which is just so much fun, really. Sure, you might spend a couple of chapters with the wrong idea, but Quinn doesn't let you keep the wrong idea for long.

I need to spend time writing about this every time I talk about a Chet and Bernie book—I need to do better at this, but it's hard. If I could describe it better, I'd probably get paid to do this stuff.

SO, WHAT DID I THINK ABOUT TENDER IS THE BITE?
Yes, Quinn gave us a great pair of characters that we love in Chet and Bernie. He gives us a good story. He plays with the unreliable narrator to reveal what he really wants to say. Put it all together and he gives us another great read in one of the most reliably satisfying series in print.

Read this one. If this is your first time with Chet and Bernie, go back and read the rest after it. You'll be glad you did.

Disclaimer: I received this eARC from Macmillan-Tor/Forge via NetGalley in exchange for this post—thanks to both for this.

I enjoyed another Chet and Bernie mystery, narrated by the clever PI dog, Chet, in his limited but very smart and observant way. Chet rescues Bernie in more than one instance while the detecting duo solve crimes and find missing persons. Another entertaining read.

This eleventh release in the Chet and Bernie series is excellent: the plotting is smooth and polished, and the read is a compelling one. (These books are always the kryptonite to my to-read pile: Everything comes to a halt so I can dive into their latest story. This one runs true to that pattern.)

The usual (and better than usual) humor is evenly embedded, the characters and the crimes are those readers care about without being uncomfortably gritty, and Bernie's relationships continue intriguing -- but satisfying as well. Tender is the Bite ends with Bernie (and Chet) comfortably situated and just ready for the next great adventure that author Quinn will share (soon, one hopes). The over-all feel of this release is comfortable: enough good moments, satisfying relationships, bad-guys taken care of, and the reader leaves feeling good for/about Bernie and Chet.

Chet the very-good dog's side narrative provides focus for humor as well as for keen insight into the greater human drama of the story. (Was there more of that monologue than usual? No, couldn't have been. This is Spencer Quinn, one of the best human story tellers around after all. So forget that thought.)

This books stands alone as a fun read, but it will be much richer for those who have read the earlier books in the series. Forge Books releases this title July 6 - you can have it in your hands in two days! Such a great read. Thanks to Forge and NetGalley for the chance to read an advance release copy.

I love the Chet and Bernie series! I have read all the books so far and they have never let me down. The rapport between Chet, the dog and his owner/partner is something that I hope I have with my own dog. Bernie and Chet are private investigators, and the story is narrated by Chet. In Chet's eyes, Bernie can do no wrong. Okay, maybe he isn't the best with his finances and investments, (still, that storage unit full of Hawaiian pants might come in handy some day) but there has to be a reason that Bernie just hasn't told Chet yet. It is so much fun to read Chet's thoughts as Bernie is talking to him and what he thinks some things mean. For instance, he hears someone talking about a "web of innocence" and thinks that for as strong a man as Bernie is, he really hates spider webs and says things like eek and ick. I confess that I am really jealous that Chet gets to go everywhere with Bernie, whereas I can't take my dog in a lot of places. So therefore....(a favorite phrase that comes up often) maybe I should move from Michigan to Arizona!

It isn't possible to read a Chet and Bernie book without falling in love with Chet and then loving Bernie too because we see him through Chet's adoring eyes. Did I mention Chet is a dog? Best dog ever. Chet is not a talking talk. He's a dog--a dog's dog. Really doggy. And that's what makes him so great. Chet doesn't always understand what makes Bernie his human partner so admirable, but the reader does. Chet and Bernie are partners in the Little Detective Agency, Little being Bernie's last name. You can see right away that marketing is not Bernie's strong point.

Chet is a hero you can't help but root for. He's brave, smart, loyal, strong, fast, and utterly unreliable. You can knock him off his goal with a Slim Jim or even an old stale Cheeto. The only think stronger than his love of food is his love for Bernie. His narration of his thought processes as he and Bernie solve their cases is, as always, hilarious. He arrives at the right answer, usually in the nick of time, and for reasons that make sense to a dog not necessarily a human view of reality.

If you've never read a Chet and Bernie mystery, you should start now. They are funny, smart, and well written. (Spencer Quinn is the pen name of Peter Abrahams, who wrote The Fan, among many other highly successful novels.)

In Tender is the Bite, Bernie is working on a case without a client, because he believes an innocent person may be in danger. There's a whirlwind investigation that encompasses Ukrainian mobsters, crooked politicians, and a very bad cop who has it in for Bernie. A little romance. A little family drama. Food. Car chases. Infidelity. All the stuff that's usually in detective stories, but in these books, there's humor as well. If you love dogs, you'll love the book. If you don't love dogs, you'll still love this book. Do yourself a favor and read it now.

These have all been really enjoyable reads! If you’re a dog lover this is the series for you. The author does such a great job of showing the world and the cases in each book from the dog’s perspective. Not every series is still fun 11 books in but this one definitely is!

Tender is the Bite is the eleventh in the Chet and Bernie series (including a couple of e-shorts) by Spencer Quinn (aka Peter Abrahams – aka the author Stephen King described as ‘my favourite American suspense novelist’). If you haven’t read any of the series before, here’s the quick summary: Chet and Bernie are partners in the Little Detective Agency, getting into scrapes and taking on cases that always work out…if not always from a financial renumeration perspective. The stories are told from Chet’s point of view. Oh – and Chet’s a dog. That’s important. If you HAVE read any of the stories so far, you’ll know what to expect: part of the joy of the series is the repetition and half remembered details of things that have gone on before. Doggy memory and perspective will do that. I don’t find many crime books genuinely funny. It’s a tightrope act to manage, but this series manages it perfectly: Chet is one of the most original and unreliable narrators around – the unreliability coming through his unique perspective and occasional failure to understand idioms/ human quirks. The plots are, to some degree, somewhat secondary as far as I’m concerned, and I mean that in the most positive way. The real joy is the relationship between the two protagonists and the surrounding cast. You don’t HAVE to read the books in order, but if you do there’s an added bonus in spotting Chet’s repetitions/ misremembering/ half-right view of things and people we’ve seen before. Each novel nudges certain aspects forward – and while the stories and the telling of them are relatively ‘cosy’ (albeit with plenty of murder/ conflict), there is one case from the duo’s distant past that is referred to with obliqueness in each novel. In this one, we learn a bit more than we ever have before.
What else to say? If you like the series, you’ll not be disappointed. If you don’t know the series, you’re in for a treat.