Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Frosty the Snowman. Andy Carpenter. Nothing says "Happy Holidays" quite like those three. You know the Christmas season is right around the corner when David Rosenfelt gifts us another holiday classic. The More the Terrier takes our favorite defense attorney to a county where they don't know he's a bona fide superhero. They quickly find out there's more to Andy Carpenter than just his charm and wit. Andy and his now classic team take on forces from beyond New Jersey and their journey even takes them to the metaverse in the pursuit of justice. Can they triumph against forces who will let no one get in their way? Can Andy Carpenter win a case when all the physical evidence is in the hands of the prosecution? The More the Terrier will answer those questions for you. Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books, & NetGalley for the advance reading copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

If you love dogs, whodunits, and laughing out loud, you will probably enjoy David Rosenfelt's Andy Carpenter mysteries. Unlike some fiction with a dog on the cover and minimal appearances within the pages, Rosenfelt makes his doggos central characters. Tara, the golden retriever, is an avid listener when Andy (a famous defense attorney) needs to work out details of his cases. Sebastian the basset hound would surely be more helpful if he could just stay awake, while Hunter the pug probably provides a sounding board for Tara when they (no doubt) have after-walk discussions.

In "The More the Terrier," a college professor is murdered and one of his students is arrested for the crime. Fortunately the student's dog runs away from home and shows up at Andy's house. This is not as unlikely as it may sound: Murphy had been fostered in Andy's home while waiting for an adopter. Andy returns Murphy to his home and finds only the mother of the young man who adopted him. Brian, the college student, has been arrested for murdering his professor and is in jail.

Well! This cannot be possible. Andy gets himself on the case.

If you like Janet Evanovich and Sue Grafton, I recommend giving the Andy Carpenter series a look. Definitely read them in order.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advance copy. This is my honest review.

Hail! Hail! The gang’s all here — Andy, Laurie, Marcus, Sam, Corey, etc. as well as Tara, Hunter and Sebastian.. Once again, thanks to another dog, Murphy, Andy Carpenter finds himself involved as the attorney for a college student accused of murdering his college professor with an overwhelming preponderance of evidence pointing to his guilt. The writing is superb with an amazing amount of humor (the comments about winter and summer weather are hysterical.) As a CPA, I particularly enjoyed the comment “He’s an accountant, which tends to make everything else seem exciting.” Once started, this book cannot be put down and I read it in less than 24 hours.
This novel is highly recommended for all and I thank NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the opportunity to read and review this book prior to publication.

unputdownable, unpleasant-victims, multiple-murder, local-law-enforcement, FBI, snark-fest, verbal-humor, framed, drug-trafficking, drugs-issues, investigations, investigators, friendship, family, thriller, threats, suspense, abductions, animal-rescue, teamwork, lawyers, courtroom-drama, dogs, laugh-out-loud, Russian-mob*****

This time it's a former rescue dog who enlists Carpenter's help to clear the charge of murder from his owner, the young Rutgers student accused of bashing a professor's head in thereby acquiring a murder charge.
Andy is still trying to retire from lawyering and just co-run the dog rescue and be a husband and dad. Andy, his ex-cop wife Laurie, Sam the computer genius, Marcus Clark the invincible, the K-Team of retired K-9 Simon Garfunkle with his ex-cop handler turned PI and others work hard to clear that young man framed for murder and uncover a real rat's nest of crooks. They find a shady lawyer, a drug trafficker, some unscrupulous VR players in the metaverse, the FBI, and even the Russian mob.
Don't know how Rosenfelt does it, but each book is totally unputdownable (and laugh your sox off funny). If you've never tried this series, any of the books can easily be read out of order so just drop in anywhere and have a good read while laughing your sox off! This is NOT an unbiased review! I love the Andy Carpenter and K-Team books! The stories are imaginative, somewhat plausible, totally engaging, and off-set reality despite how close to the news some of them can be.
Andy Carpenter is a wise-mouthed lawyer who can afford to take semi-retirement by only representing innocent clients while co-owning a dedicated rescue shelter for dogs. Add in that his wife is no longer law enforcement but works as his private investigator and more and you have the baseline for these convoluted mysteries. There are many other people who help Andy find out what the truth really is and make it courtroom admissible (The K-Team). The mysteries are always intriguing, and I cackled my way through the whole thing (again)!
I requested and received a temporary EARC from St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books via NetGalley. Thank you! Available 15 October, 2024
I have already preordered the audio narrated by the talented Grover Gardner!

In this 30th book in the Andy Carpenter series, the Paterson, New Jersey attorney defends a college student accused of murdering his professor.

*****

Ever since he inherited a large fortune, defense lawyer Andy Carpenter takes very few cases. Instead, Andy prefers to hang out with his wife Laurie, 15-year-old son Ricky, and dogs Tara (a golden retriever), Hunter (a pug), and Sebastian (a basset hound). Andy also likes to watch sports; help run a canine rescue operation called 'The Tara Foundation'; schmooze with his friends at Charlie's Sports Bar; and so on.

As the story opens, Andy, Laurie, and Ricky are enjoying a Christmas vacation in the Adirondacks. Andy is winter-averse, but he and the family have gone ice-skating, snowmobiling, and sledding. Andy hasn't gone skiiing because, as he notes: "As best as I can tell, a good day on the slopes is not suffering broken bones, frostbite, or worse, which is why I have spent many good days in front of the television or reading a book. You never hear about a medevac helicopter picking someone up from their den and flying them to a trauma center."

On the way back from the Adirondocks, Andy is looking forward to seeing his three dogs, who've been in the care of dog-sitter Jenny Bedell. However, when the Carpenters arrive home, there aren't three dogs....there are four! Jenny explains that the new pooch showed up on the front porch, and she hasn't been able to locate his owner. It turns out the visiting canine is a terrier-mix called Murphy, who was cared for by the Carpenters before being adopted by Doris Bremer and her son BJ. Andy promptly returns Murphy to Doris Bremer, who's distraught because her son BJ has been arrested for killing his college teacher.

Andy offers to speak to BJ, and hears the following story: BJ argued with his computer science teacher, Professor Stephen Rayburn, about a grade. Afterwards, BJ got a phone call telling him to go to Rayburn's house, to discuss the matter. When BJ arrived at the professor's home, Rayburn was dead, and BJ became an immediate suspect. Later, when the cops found Rayburn's $642 in cash and Rolex watch in BJ's dorm room, the young man was arrested for murder. BJ goes on to explain that his lawyer, James Howarth - who showed up out of the blue - is pushing him to take a deal. This whole business sounds VERY DICEY to Andy, who learns that attorney Howarth is being paid by two gang bosses, Gregori Borodin and Thomas Nucci, to 'defend' BJ.

It's clear that BJ is being framed, and Andy makes short shrift of Howarth and takes over BJ's defense himself. Andy assembles his usual team, which consists of lawyer Eddie Dowd - who's great with paperwork and filings; accountant Sam Willis - a computer hacker extraordinaire; office manager Edna - who goofs off more than she works; and The K-Team, a private detective firm consisting of: Andy's wife Laurie Collins - an ex-cop; Corey Douglas, also an ex-cop, and Corey's police dog, Simon Garfunkel; and Marcus Clark - the toughest man on the planet, whose job includes getting information out of suspects and protecting Andy.

Andy needs Marcus watching his back because the mobsters, Nucci and Borodin aren't about to sit back and do nothing. As Andy proceeds to unravel a complicated conspiracy, and prepare a SODDI (some other dude did it) defense, the thugs make witnesses disappear, and even contemplate killing Andy.

As always in this series, Andy does well at BJ's trial, making points when he cross-examines witnesses, and presenting a strong defense. This time, though, the prosecution case seems airtight.....so what's Andy to do?

The Andy Carpenter mysteries are formulaic, but entertaining, with Andy constantly making funny quips and sarcastic remarks. In that respect, this book was disappointing, because Andy wasn't as hilarious as usual. I'll admit it was fun to read that Andy's wife Laurie likes the David Rosenfelt mysteries, while Andy himself isn't a fan. I also liked that the pooch Murphy, who must be a genius dog, showed up at Andy's house to get a good lawyer for BJ.

I hope author David Rosenfelt rejuvenates Andy's jokey character in the next book.

I had the Kindle book and the audiobook, narrated by Grover Gardner, who does a great job.

Thanks to Netgalley, David Rosenfelt, and Macmillan Audio for a copy of the book.

Andy Carpenter is on his way home from a Christmas vacation and is looking forward to relaxing back at home with his family. When he arrives he finds a dog, Murphy, waiting for him. Andy takes the dog home only to discover that the mother of the young man who owns the dog is completely unhinged. Her son was arrested for murder and thus the dog ran back to Andy.

Although an off again on again lawyer, Andy can't pass up the chance to solve this mystery. Based on the son's great respect and love for Murphy Andy is sure that he is innocent.

I love this series and the characters within. This includes the dogs that are an integral part of the stories,

I will re-read this book at Christmas because it is just that good.

I always get excited when I have a new Andy Carpenter novel to read. I loved this book and I knew Andy would solve the murder. There a bunch of laugh out loud moments but especially when Laurie is reading a book by her favorite author. I really think this should be a tv series. I highly recommend this book and this series. Can’t wait till the next one.