I love a good mystery - one that leads me logically from place to place, including enough detail that it's possible (though unlikely) that I will discI love a good mystery - one that leads me logically from place to place, including enough detail that it's possible (though unlikely) that I will discover the villain. Dog On It is a sideways take on that model, because the first-person narrator is an ex-police dog named Chet. Quinn does a masterful job of plotting what could be a muddled and shallow story. Instead, he manages to put Chet in the places he needs to be to allow the story to move along without making the authorial hand too obvious. Quinn also puts Chet's extremely limited point of view to good use, allowing faulty memory and a fixation on things like food and rabbits to become tests for the reader. The other main character, Bernie (Chet's owner), manages to be charming and interesting, which is a plotting trick, as Chet doesn't just come out and tell you what he thinks. A variety of events help flesh him out. One quibble - and I'm not certain how strongly I feel about it - is that the structure of the story feels like it wanders a little. Because Chet is our only witness, and his impressions are vivid at the moment of experience but fuzzy later, and his movements are necessarily limited because he's a dog, the story is less action-oriented than most mysteries. In most books in the genre, the detective goes out and does the moving and shaking. In Dog On It, the main character is the object of action. My only other quibble - again, not a strong one - is that the villains are Russian. I know that the Russian mob is becoming a power in many areas of the crime world right now, but their use in the story is a bit obvious, and thus less interesting than it might be. If you like animals, have a sense of humor, and like a solid adventure/mystery, this is a worthwhile read....more
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