Chet and his master Bernie are looking into the embezzlement of funds from elderly friends. It looks like their son Bill is involved. Violence errupts and Bernie's wedding plans are put on hold. Chet as usual steals the show with his doggie comments in a Farewell to Arfs. Read for laughs not for serious mystery

It's hard to believe this is book 15 in the Chet and Bernie Series. I adore Chet and how he narrates the book. His comments about life and his statements he makes and then gives side notes about not being sure because he's a dog are priceless.
Chet the dog, "the most lovable narrator in all of crime fiction" ( Boston Globe ) and his human partner PI Bernie Little are back again, and this time they're entangled in a web of crime unlike anything they've ever seen before. Their next door neighbor has been scammed and his money is gone from the bank. This is enough to put Bernie and Chet on the case. This can be read as a stand alone but you'll miss some of Chet's insights without the previous stories. Find them all and enjoy

A Farewell to Arfs is book 15 in the Chet and Bernie series from Spencer Quinn.

"Bernie's elderly neighbor, Mr. Parsons, comes to Bernie for help. He loaned his son, Billy, some money and now it looks like his account has been emptied. He's sure it's just a bank error but Bernie's not sure. Bernie and Chet will try to find Billy and the money before it's too late."

Chet is back and still giving us his hilarious narration and stream of consciousness. Mrs. Plansky gets a shout-out so you know it's not just another "scammer takes advantage of the elderly" story. Quinn throws in AI and cutting-edge drone technology and of course there's greed. Chet proves he's pretty handy to have as a partner.

Great change-of-pace from normal crime fiction. Chet keeps you chuckling.

★ ★ ★ ★ 1/2 (rounded up)
This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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WHAT'S A FAREWELL TO ARFS ABOUT?
We start off this book with Bernie and Chet finishing a case for the Sonoran Museum of Art (an institution we learned about a couple of books ago), and with things looking up—and money in Bernie's pocket—this is a pretty happy way to start things.

But soon after that, Chet overhears a phone call that their neighbor, Mr. Parsons, is having—and the reader knows things are going bad for him. Bernie learns the next day that Mr. Parsons has been the victim of a phone scam and is wiped out. Bernie starts looking into it—and into the Parsons' ex-con of a son. It looks like he may have turned his life around, and is helping other former inmates adjust to the outside world and to stay on the right path. But is that what's really going on?

If Billy Parsons isn't involved—who is? And is there any chance that Bernie can get back any of the Parsons' money?

CHARLIE AND ESMÉ
Bernie's son, Charlie, has been a consistent pleasure in the series—particularly because of Chet's devotion to him. But adding his best friend, Esmé, in the last couple of books has made the character much more enjoyable for me.

I really enjoy their dynamic, for those familiar with Syfy's Resident Alien show, it's similar to the dynamic of Sahar and Max, only Esmé has a little more patience with Charlie than Sahar does with Max.

Even better, we get to meet Esmé's father in this book—who seems like a good guy for Bernie to talk to in general—he has no knowledge of Bernie's past, he's not involved with policing, investigations, or anything like that. Just a friendly guy—who happens to be smart and (coincidentally) involved in an area that Bernie needs help understanding for the case. I enjoyed their conversation and hope we get more in the future.

(still, I do like the way that Charlier got to shine a little brighter this time than he usually does)

BERNIE'S PAST
Whoa. I did not expect any of what we learned about Bernie's father in this book. Frankly, I didn't think we'd ever learn anything about him—we barely know anything about his mother (and I'm okay with that based on Chet's descriptions). But all of a sudden, there's a lot about Harry Little being talked about.

It works—don't get me wrong—and now I want to know more about Harry, his relationship with Bernie, and what was going on with him in general. We don't get that (now?), but we get a glimpse of the man that was a presence in Bernie's life until his early death. And that's not nothing.

FEELINGS, NOTHING MORE THAN FEELINGS
So, all the stuff about Harry Little added some emotional weight to the novel. But we didn't need any of it—I'm not objecting, don't get me wrong—but the last thing this book needed was more going on emotionally.

There's some drama between Bernie and Weatherly. Bernie's found a new way to botch things up with a woman—no real surprise there. The only plus is that it is a new way—he's not repeating mistakes he made with Leda or Suzie. Maybe there's some growth there—but it's not Bernie at his best.

Related to that are some real dark moments for Bernie—we've seen hints of things like this from him before. But I don't think it was ever this pronounced. Bernie is not always a good guy, he's not only a white knight—there's a noir character in him, battling to come out. And Bernie's control slips early on in the novel and he has to reckon with the fallout.

But that's not all. The Parsons have been aging and declining in health for a few books now, and for them to get wiped out like this—and then whatever that may or may not say about their son? There's just no way to read this without your heartstrings being tugged. Scratch that—they're yanked.

I don't want to be unclear here (he says after probably giving the wrong impression). This is still a Chet and Bernie book like fourteen that have come before. Chet's still irrepressible, he's still an unreliable narrator obsessed with Bernie, food, smells, putting his teeth on perps, and snacks. He will make you laugh, and you will enjoy Bernie tracking down clues and the rest. But, like the better installments of this series, there's a lot more going on than Chet's antics—and Quinn makes sure that the depth is there.

SO, WHAT DID I THINK ABOUT A FAREWELL TO ARFS?
I admit that I was hoping for a criminal named Mike Craven to show up—to get back at Craven's accidental use of Quinn's name in last year's Fearless. But it's probably too soon for that—maybe in the next couple of years?

Once I saw what Mr. Parsons was doing on the phone, I muttered to myself (and texted a friend) that "Quinn's getting all the mileage he can out of the research he did for Mrs. Plansky's Revenge." More power to him, obviously, but it did feel a little like a re-run. Thankfully, the story went in a very different direction—as I assumed it would, but still. In fact, while this might have been the result of the same research, the nature of the phone scam was different enough to shut me up.

I'm not sure that Weatherly handled things as well as she could've, but I'm not bothered by an imperfect character—she can be as flawed as Bernie. But that was the only hitch I found in this book or the events in it.

I really appreciated the depth we see of Bernie's character, an angle or two that we haven't spent that much time looking at before—we get to focus on. There's more to him than being a decent PI with a lousy approach to finances. And if how he treats the Parsons doesn't make your heart melt a little, you weren't paying attention.

We get the usual chuckles (including Chet giving the reader a good idea about what he thinks about legalized marijuana), a good story, all the feels I described above (and more), and some good action scenes. What more is there to ask for?

Nothing that I can think of.

You know, mysteries aren’t my first genre choice though I do enjoy a cozy from time to time. These are great and have held me for 15 books at this point. Even in my first choice genre I’d be burning out on probably 80-90% of series 15 books in. This author really gets dogs though and does a great job of telling the stories from the dog’s perspective. They’re fun fast reads if you just want an evening’s escape!

A Farewell to Arfs is the 15th book in the Chet and Bernie mystery series by Spencer Quinn. Years ago, I read the first book in the series and thoroughly enjoyed it. I have been meaning to continue on in the series but keep finding other things to read instead. When I saw this one as a review copy on NetGalley, I enthusiastically requested it. That's where my excitement ended. This book was...fine. The mystery part was pretty good, but the dog part was a disappointment. The dog, Chet, narrates the story. While I understand that the author needed to communicate that Chet didn't always understand everything that was happening, human idioms, etc., I constantly felt like Chet was really dumb and suffering from dementia. He was always forgetting things and was clueless about almost everything. As a HUGE dog lover, I found this annoying and frustrating. It seemed like a way to pad the book with thousands of unnecessary words, to be honest. It could have been much shorter and way more enjoyable if Chet were allowed to act as smart as most dogs actually are.

Thank you to Tor Publishing Group, Forge Books, and NetGalley for a review copy of A Farewell to Arfs.

suspense, investigations, private-investigators, ex-cop, ex-military, law-enforcement, partners, dog, failed-k-9, snarky, situational-humor, verbal-humor, arson, murders, Arizona, relationships, relationship-issues, friends, friendship, bank-heist*****

This is not an unbiased review as I have loved Chet's stories for more than 10 years. Chet (failed K-9) and Bernie Little are partners in the Little Detective agency located in Arizona.
If you've never had a K-9 failure tell you about a difficult case he and his partner PI Bernie Little survived, you've missed a lot! Chet tells all from his own unique perspective which is very literal and reminiscent of a human with autism. I think that each book is capable of being standalone but more fun the more I read. This episode begins with their elderly neighbors becoming victims of a nasty telephone scam that totally emptied their bank account. Now the investigation begins its twisty path complete with laughs, danger, red herrings, and more murders and crooks.
I requested and received a free temporary EARC from Tor Publishing Group | Forge Books via NetGalley. Thank you!

I can not think of a more enjoyable way to spend a weekend then “tagging along” as Chet and Bernie work a case… or, susi out a puzzle ( if it isn’t actually a “case.” )

Chet is one of my top five literary protagonists of all time:
He is the perfect partner ( in life, or in crime);
He never ceases to amaze;
Nor amuse.

He has so much heart. . . .
AND, he loves Cheetos as much as I do.

But, seriously, I would set aside almost any other reading material to pick up a new Chet and Bernie mystery. And, this one was a nail-biter at times,but very satisfying, indeed.

Netgalley provided me a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for a candid review.

The Parsons live next door to Bernie Little and Chet. An elderly couple with a tiny dog, Iggy, Bernie and Chet look after them. Mr. Parsons calls Bernie to ask him to take him to the bank, his account has been robbed. Turns out a phone call Mr. Parsons thought was from his son was actually from a cyber hacker, who stripped the account. Bernie decides to investigate and things go downhill quickly. Meanwhile, Bernie's fiancee, Weatherly (a local cop) gets beaten up by a suspect she is arresting and Bernie tracks down the miscreant and teaches him a lesson. However, Weatherly, is not impressed and tells Bernie as much. So, Bernie is dealing with a angry female cop and a band of crooks who think nothing of robbing old folks. The investigation into the bank heist uncovers a criminal conspiracy that, unfortunately, results in the death of the Parsons' son. This makes Bernie even more focused on finding the bad guys. Another great entry in the series. Chet, as always, is the dog of the hour, finding clues and helping Bernie apprehend the villains. He gets them by the pant leg and doesn't let go.

This series just gets better and better. Chet - the canine half - of the investigation team that comprise the Little Detective agency is one of my favorite narrators in literature. With his child-like approach to life his narration is laugh-out-loud funny. The plots are getting tighter and, this one, has everything: stolen identity, explosions, and even a reference to an incident in one of Quinn's other books. Fun, faced paced read.

A Farewell to Arfs by Spencer Quinn A mystery with a intriguing premise that takes place in the AI era. Bernie's canine companion, Chet, constantly has a different take on the crime and its perpetrators, offering a hilarious yet realistic assessment of the circumstances and his thoughts on human limitations. A delightful, entertaining and enjoyable book.
Thank you to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for the opportunity to preview the book.

Regular readers of this series don’t need a review to know they want to read this next book. But there may be other readers out there who think a book in with a dog as narrator (and a punning title) must be too cutesy. I’m here to tell those readers that’s not the case. I generally read grittier crime fiction, but doesn’t everyone like a change of pace occasionally? I know I do, and I get a kick out of Chet’s point of view. Oh, and Bernie is appealing too.

Only a few months ago, I read another mystery in which a senior citizen was cleaned out financially by a phone call from a relative (grandson in that case) in desperate need of money in a big hurry. Giving the grandson financial details lead to scammers accessing all the senior’s assets. And then the grandson, like Billy in this case, denies ever making the phone call. This is an interesting theme in the AI era, and Spencer Quinn handles it well. There is plenty of interesting action in Chet and Bernie’s pursuit of the bad guys, and this novel is as big-hearted as all the rest in the series.

In A Farewell to Arfs by Spencer Quinn, Chet and Bernie are snared. into helping their neighbors, the Parsons and Iggy when it seems as though their son Billy has stolen all their savings through a wire transfer. The following search to find Billy and the money ends up with more dead bodies and interesting characters and of course Chet's comments of how he sees the investigation. The observations by Chet of the limitations of humans never fails to entertain.

I don’t know how Spencer Quinn does it, but this book is just as exceptional as his previous ones! I am so glad that I was able to read an advanced copy, thanks to NetGalley. In this book, Bernie and Chet are busy trying to track down who scammed their neighbor, Mr. Preston, out of his life savings. He swears that it was his son Billy who called him asking for an advance of $2,000, but before he knows it, his entire bank account has been wiped out. Billy swears that he didn’t make that phone call. Mr. Preston swears that he knows his own son’s voice. Could an AI generated phone call be the culprit, or is Billy, a supposedly reformed ex-con, lying? Bernie and Chet’s investigation finds them dealing with an arsonist, AI, murder, and fiancé troubles with Weatherly. I was sad to reach the end of the book. Please write another one quickly, Mr. Quinn!

Private investigator Bernie decides to track down his next door neighbor's son Billy who seems to have scammed his dad of all his life savings. Mr. Parsons swears it was Billy's voice on the phone asking for only $20,000, but all his money was taken out of the account.

Bernie's partner, Chet the dog, is always unique in his assessment of Bernie, the crime, the perps. His dog's view of the situations is both humorous and spot on. I come back time and time again to this series mainly because of Chet, the narrator of the books.

Bernie is also a charact to like and admire - he is generous, but angered by injustice and criminals and goes out of his way to help friends facing bad circumstances. Scamming elderly people is a frequent theme in today's world, so this topic is relevant. Aslo, using advanced technology to detonate buildings and commit murder is also a theme.

Bernie's marriage plans suffer during a misunderstanding but I loved it when he got back together with his partner, Meredith.

I thoroughly enjoy the Chet and Bernie mystery series so much! I even named my dog Quinn after author Spencer Quinn. These mysteries combine a good story with interesting characters. Once again, this engrossing story is narrated by the one and only Chet the Jet. Thank you to NetGalley for giving me a chance to read and review A Farewell to Arfs.