New Tricks,
by David Rosenfelt (Grand Central Publishing, 384 pp, 2010, $8.00 at
BooksAMillion)
A Golden Cover for Dog People
New Tricks
has a glorious Golden Retriever (Tara) on the cover, along with a Bernese
Mountain Dog puppy, gazing up at Tara in absolute reverence.
The Author
A multi-millionaire from the
film industry, author Rosenfelt has now turned to writing murder mysteries with a Golden in them. He and his wife currently live with 37 dogs and have
established a dog rescue organization, The Tara Foundation, which has
successfully placed more than 4000 dogs. All this wonderful data appears, along with a
few words about the book’s plot, wherever we looked.
Who wouldn’t want to read this inspired book?
I couldn’t wait to get my
hands on it! Should I write the publisher for a review copy, should I go right
out and buy it, should I see if my library has the book? (It did, so I saved
both time and money. Well, not exactly time, as it turned out.)
But, . . .
Unfortunately, misled by the
incredible unforgettable cover, I naturally thought a Golden would be a major
character. Since my expectations were unabashedly dashed, I’m not sure I can
comment rationally on the quality of the mystery. It was probably good but I’m
not sure I want to read another ‘golden’ mystery by Rosenfelt that turns out
not to be so golden, just to be certain if it is good or not.
I wanted the Golden or
Berner mentioned more often and to play more than just a minor accessory role.
Days of text would go by without mention of either dog, it seems.
In addition, the Berner,
conformation material, was several months old at the beginning of the book, and
even older at the end, and hadn’t yet started his ‘training’ to become a dog show
dog (whatever that training was).
Covers to Drool Over, or Hug Vicariously
However, I will continue to
drool over Rosenfelt covers and will probably check out Amazon.com often just
to look at them. Who knows, perhaps I will break down and read another Rosenfelt
‘golden’ mystery. If I do, I’ll let you know how I like it. Or don’t.
Update:
2016. Dogtripping and Lessons from Tara are excellent,
excellent books!
Dogtripping tells the cross-country move from California to Maine of the author and his entourage, including rescue dogs – a fun read.
Books in the series (in order): Open and Shut, First
Degree, Bury the Lead, Sudden Death, Dead Center, Play Dead (sorry, but I just don't remember this book),
 |
| Sixth of 23 |
New Tricks, Dog
Tags (more dog-centric than New Tricks),
 |
| Book 8 |
One Dog Night, Leader of the Pack (much less dog-centered),
 |
| Book 10 |
Unleashed, Hounded, Who Let the Dog Out, Outfoxed, The Twelve Dogs of Christmas, . . . .
Caveat: This review was written in 2011, then promptly lost somewhere in the computer, only to be found by a glorious mistake.
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