Dog on It

"Do On It" was original, funny and an absolute must-read for dog lovers.

Told entirely from the point of view of Chet, a large, mixed-breed dog with mismatched ears, who, for reasons we never quite get to, didn't make it all the way through his police dog training but who is now partnered with Bernie, a large, divorced, ex-cop, ancient-Porsche-driving PI.

The story is wrapped around the investigation of the apparent abduction of a teenage girl who is missing but for whom there has been no ransom request.

Bernie knows that something is wrong and is determined to find out what. Chet is right there with him. Bernie does the thinking part and Chet does the grab-the-trouser-leg-and-don't-let-go part.

Seeing the world through Chet's eyes is what show more makes this book special. Spencer Quinn clearly knows dogs. He captures that ability for sudden, irresistible urges to chase or smell that can distract even the most focused dog. He lets us see how concentration fades in and out, how some memories slip away yet certain smells or sounds become embedded in the psyche. He shows how aggressive growls and stances can happen even before a dog knows he's reacting to something and he captures a dog's irrepressible optimism.

Chet's vocabulary is limited but he is a natural raconteur. He starts many tales that he doesn't finish, comes back to tales he's told before and punctuates many stories with: "We, Bernie and me...". He finds humans, even Bernie, limited in strange ways but still often worthy of love and devotion.

At one point, Chet and Bernie become separated and Chet's life is in danger. He is not truly conscious of this until the very last minute, yet I found the whole thing almost unbearably tense. I couldn't have borne an "Old Yeller" moment.

Bernie's character emerges strongly as the book progresses, giving me a kind of double-exposure view - once as Chet sees him: the human with the second-best smell in the world, who can make things happen, solve puzzles and silence whole rooms of people, even if he does have a strange obsession about water - and once as the ex-cop now struggling PI that the rest of us might see.

I also enjoyed the relationship between Chet and his best canine friend and close neighbour, Iggy. It's very much a dog thing, characterised by exchanges like:

"Iggy barked. I barked back. He barked. I barked. He barked. I barked. He barked. I barked. Bernie said, "Chet! Stop that." I tried to stop."

In the first hour or so of this book, I wasn't really won over, but I stuck with it and was soon carried along by characters that I cared about (some of them even human) and a plot that was just twisty enough and tense enough to keep me wanting to know what happened next.

This is the start of a series of Chet and Bernie books. I'll be back for more. show less

Chet and Bernie. Say it with me, now. Chet and Bernie. Get used to saying it, because once you read this book, you'll be saying it a lot to others who haven't read it yet.

Chet's a dog. Bernie's a schlub. They're a team, crime solving magic of a team. In a mystery world dominated by cat cozies, they're very unusual and very much a pair of guys. This makes them a breath of fresh air at the least, and a cold Alberta Clipper to blow the cobwebs full of cat-dander out of the bookstores. Come back to the fold, gentlemen, there's a voice a lot like the one in your head all ready to talk to you, and it's a dog's!

It's wonderful to read something that's got a new slant on an established trope (read: hoary old cliche), and slants it well enough to show more keep a cynical old sourpuss like me leaning forward in his seat, eager to see what Chet's going to do next, what Bernie's brain's going to wrest from its depths to help the innocent and land on the wicked with all six feet (four Chet's). LT member cameling gets all the credit for shoving this book into my awareness. Bless you, dear madam.

Oh yeah...the schlub gets the girl, too. The right girl. Never mind that she's a vegetarian...who among us is without major character flaws?...she loves Chet.

Fetch! Sit! Read! show less

Chet and Bernie make a great private eye duo. Missing persons are their specialty. Bernie does the talking while Chet noses around and sniffs out clues. It works best that way since Chet can't talk and he has a better sense of smell. Chet is a dog. Their current case involves a missing 15-year-old girl. Did she run away, or was she kidnapped? Chet is the first-person narrator, and he has a delightful personality. Readers who've spent any amount of time with a dog will appreciate the humor in viewing the world from a canine perspective. Here's a taste:

Bernie said {to the client} “...you wouldn't want us going off to Vegas on a wild-goose chase.”

A wild-goose chase! I'd heard that expression so many times but never been on one. It show more sounded like the most exciting thing in the whole world. Yes, I wanted to go on a wild-goose chase, and if that meant Vegas, so be it.

After just one adventure with Chet and Bernie, I'm hooked, and I'm delighted that I have at least a half dozen more adventures ahead of me in this series! show less

The first book in the series.
I loved this funny, clever mystery. Very inventive in the way that the author includes Chet's thoughts and his perceptions on the world around him.
A very fresh idea and very entertaining. I found myself laughing out loud at times.
Chet may be a Dog who loves his grilled steak, a Slim Jim every now and then, Cruller's, water and nap time, but he is a detective of the first order!
And he love's Bernie and his smell. Chet takes us on a journey through his eyes and first person narrative ,that is at times, hilarious.
It's such an addictive read, pure guilty pleasure.

I haven't met two character's in a novel that i haven't wished they really existed.
I can't wait to continue with their adventures.
Highly recommended, show more especially for Dog lovers. show less

Spencer Quinn's Dog on It kicks off a mystery series told from a dog's eye view. Chet, the canine half of this dog-master duo, narrates the case of a missing high-school teenager whose disappearance leads Chet's master Bernie, a down-on-his-lucked divorced private eye, to ferret out some big-time crime.

Told in an amusing way and entirely in character, Dog on It can best be enjoyed as an audio book. Quinn writes the voice of Chet, proud member of the Dog Nation (frequently referred to as "my guys") and completely devoted to Bernie, exactly right -- never twee or too knowing. Indeed, readers will enjoy Chet's goofy altercations with cacti and his lapses as much as the main mystery. Narrator Jim Frangione makes the audio version the only show more choice. Alternately funny, touching, and suspenseful, Dog on It never slides into cliché, despite featuring a hard-drinking, damaged human protagonist.

Another reason to listen to the book is that it will draw in your entire family on car trips -- even too-cool teens. As Chet would say, "I know something about that." When one's children are begging for the story to continue, it's the best recommendation of all. show less

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 show more 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. show less

Lots of humour, easy and relaxing listening, fun characters ~predominantly canine, with a half decent mystery. I was listening to it for the dog humour rather than the mystery though. And I loved the dog observations! A couple didn't ring true from my experience eg teeth cleaning, but so many were spot on.

The mystery plot is more 3 stars. It didn't fully rely on Chet and convenience until toward the end, so that was a positive...