This is a mystery with the dog(Chet) telling the story for his owner, Bernie. I like reading a dogs perspective so this book was right on for me. The second in the series will be released in Jan. 2010 ( )

What a terrific character! Chet, intrepid partner of Bernie Little P.I., almost-graduate of K-9 school, is the wondrously doggie narrator of this tidy little mystery. The mystery's about a corrupt developer in debt to some Russian loan sharks who've kidnaped his daughter, but who cares? The story here is all Chet--his misadventures, his loves, his impulses, his infallible judgment of character, his wayward attention span, his observvations of human behavior, his live-in-the-moment joie de vivre, and his great big loyal loving heart. This is the Tao of Chet, where every day is the greatest day ever, and every moment in that day can be the greatest moment ever. Why do we love dogs? Chet's why. (This is a "first" novel by Quinn, pseudonym of kids' author ( )

Chet, the canine narrator of Dog On It, may have flunked out of K-9 school but he’s found his niche as partner to Bernie Little, owner of Little Detective Agency. Bernie is divorced and lonely and misses his son Charlie. Chet doesn’t understand the concept of money but takes his cues from Bernie and knows Bernie is worried about their finances. Bernie is hired by a divorced mom to find her missing daughter, Madison, who turns up unharmed with a story that’s obviously made up. A few days later, Madison is missing once more and this time Bernie suspects it’s the real thing. With Chet leading the way, they follow Madison’s trail, which takes them to a group of nefarious Russians determined to stop them from finding Madison.

Told from a dog’s point of view, Dog On It offers a refreshing addition to the mystery genre. Chet perceives most things through body language, odors, and tone of voice. His perceptions are adept and it is amusing how food and other things distract him. Chet’s thinking processes seem much like what this reviewer would attribute to a dog’s thoughts. The voice of Chet is amusing and a bit noir-ish, which suits the book. Fun read. ( )

This was such a good book. I read it in one day. It's told from the dogs point of view, Chet. I'm looking forward to the next one in this series.

I picked up this bit of fluff at the library because it had been recommended on LT. It is the first in a purported series featuring a detective, Bernie, and his partner Chet, who is a dog. This was a first person narrative, with added comments on the side, delivered by the dog. The idea is cute and clever but with such a thin story it can’t really stand up to the 305 pages the author has given us. I took it as my “car” book on our long weekend and it was a good choice. It didn’t demand my attention so much that I ignored my husband, I could get some reading done during commercials as we listened to the last SF Giants game of the season and there were several amusing bits that I could read aloud to hubby, who is an avid dog lover.

My favorite quote: (Chet, the dog, is the narrator)

When I woke up, the sun hung low in the sky, and we were driving down a broad avenue lined with weird buildings, weird lights, weird people, weird everything.
“Vegas,” Bernie said. “Welcome to the ninth circle.”
Ninth circle? A new one on me.

(Obviously, Chet hasn’t read Dante.)

Because I like to see connections between books I read—especially random ones—I should mention that Bernie and Chet live in Arizona and it was "weird" seeing the desert landscape through a dog’s eyes after reading Wood Wife last week. :-)

Bottom line: A light mystery for passing the time on a lazy afternoon if you have nothing better to do and no other book to read. You will get a few laughs as you get a dog’s eye view of the world. Because we all probably need these fluffy books this occasionally I can guardedly recommend it, but only if you are crazy about dogs. ( )