Jerry Brandon

A Howl in the Night is mystery story told from a Labrador dogs’ point of view. I am not a big fan of books written from a dog’s POV as I find them unrealistic. With that being said, I still enjoyed the book.

The book is set in Scottsdale Arizona. I grew up in the Phoenix area so I could relate to the descriptions of the heat and the desert.

I enjoyed the mystery aspect but at times did get a little lost on who was being talked about. Coming up with a plausible way for a dog to investigate show more a murder was a bit of a stretch for me but I went with the flow. An involvement with a coyote was also a stretch, but ok. When I lived in Southern California I lived in fear one would eat my dog as they were a common danger to dogs in my neighborhood.

The book had some brutal moments where some dogs get killed. Also, there is some discussion on humans being mounted by other humans. These factors may make it not suitable for younger children. At the very end of the book it says ‘A PG version of A Howl in the Night is available as A Howl at Midnight for younger readers.’

As I mentioned earlier, I find when dogs narrate books I find it unrealistic, but a lot of people don’t mind it, as evidenced by the popularity of ‘The Art of Racing in the Rain.’ In the start of the book when the police are talking, there is an attempt at the dog only understanding fragments of the conversation by hearing various words he understood, but seemed there was less of that token vague understanding for most of the book. Often the dogs understanding of concepts is credited with watching television shows. My current dog is oblivious to the TV, a previous dog was ever watchful and would go nuts when an animal was on, but otherwise I believe my Westie was unmoved and certainly never seemed to understand the concepts being spoken in shows.

Here is an example of the pack of dogs at the dog park talking about the murder:

“Now ‘means’ is how she died, the method. Her throat was slashed with a knife. Blood everywhere. What kind of human would do something so horrible to their mate?”
“Precisely, much too messy,” Winston said. “Why not use a gun? Very impersonal. Something simple, like a Smith and Wesson thirty-eight revolver.”
“My Fresno human had the Revolver album,” said Meatloaf. “H played it a lot. He said he Beatles explored new ground with their work.”
“A gun?” I said. “Too loud. The neighbors would hear and call the cops.”
“What about hitting her on the head?” asked Gizmo. “That’s quiet. Messy, maybe - but quiet.”
Meatloaf spoke up again. “I been hit with a newspaper, it makes a loud sound. Whack! Right on the butt.”
“A crowbar. Silent but deadly.”
“Who carries a crowbar? It would be something like a tire iron.”
“Or a golf club.”
“Everybody around here plays golf.”
The pack nodded.

A quick and fun read. Add a star to my rating if you like dogs narrating books. I can cross another book one off my mystery dog series list of 50 book one’s. 35 more series that I know of to go. show less

A Howl in the Night is mystery story told from a Labrador dogs’ point of view. I am not a big fan of books written from a dog’s POV as I find them unrealistic. With that being said, I still enjoyed the book.

The book is set in Scottsdale Arizona. I grew up in the Phoenix area so I could relate to the descriptions of the heat and the desert.

I enjoyed the mystery aspect but at times did get a little lost on who was being talked about. Coming up with a plausible way for a dog to investigate show more a murder was a bit of a stretch for me but I went with the flow. An involvement with a coyote was also a stretch, but ok. When I lived in Southern California I lived in fear one would eat my dog as they were a common danger to dogs in my neighborhood.

The book had some brutal moments where some dogs get killed. Also, there is some discussion on humans being mounted by other humans. These factors may make it not suitable for younger children. At the very end of the book it says ‘A PG version of A Howl in the Night is available as A Howl at Midnight for younger readers.’

As I mentioned earlier, I find when dogs narrate books I find it unrealistic, but a lot of people don’t mind it, as evidenced by the popularity of ‘The Art of Racing in the Rain.’ In the start of the book when the police are talking, there is an attempt at the dog only understanding fragments of the conversation by hearing various words he understood, but seemed there was less of that token vague understanding for most of the book. Often the dogs understanding of concepts is credited with watching television shows. My current dog is oblivious to the TV, a previous dog was ever watchful and would go nuts when an animal was on, but otherwise I believe my Westie was unmoved and certainly never seemed to understand the concepts being spoken in shows.

Here is an example of the pack of dogs at the dog park talking about the murder:

“Now ‘means’ is how she died, the method. Her throat was slashed with a knife. Blood everywhere. What kind of human would do something so horrible to their mate?”
“Precisely, much too messy,” Winston said. “Why not use a gun? Very impersonal. Something simple, like a Smith and Wesson thirty-eight revolver.”
“My Fresno human had the Revolver album,” said Meatloaf. “H played it a lot. He said he Beatles explored new ground with their work.”
“A gun?” I said. “Too loud. The neighbors would hear and call the cops.”
“What about hitting her on the head?” asked Gizmo. “That’s quiet. Messy, maybe - but quiet.”
Meatloaf spoke up again. “I been hit with a newspaper, it makes a loud sound. Whack! Right on the butt.”
“A crowbar. Silent but deadly.”
“Who carries a crowbar? It would be something like a tire iron.”
“Or a golf club.”
“Everybody around here plays golf.”
The pack nodded.

A quick and fun read. Add a star to my rating if you like dogs narrating books. I can cross another book one off my mystery + dog series list of 50 book one’s. 35 more series that I know of to go. show less

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It hooked me in from the start, and kept me entertained - and guessing, all the way to the end. I even laughed out loud at some of the jokes - loving the doggish slang. The language is perfect for the narrator - a little ruff around the edges. His "voice" was perfect, and felt very true to his breed, and species. The characters were great, and behaved in a manner that was (almost) entirely believable.

In this sort of novel, it's usually cats that solve the show more mysteries. It's nice to see dogs getting a chance - especially since they have one severe limitation that cats don't - they're generally trapped inside their yards. show less

This was so much fun. A real mystery, cleverly solved by Taser with the help of his buddy Meatball. The dog perspective of life with humans is so amusing, I had to read parts out loud to my husband.