Santa's Little Yelpers by David Rosenfelt

Santa's Little Yelpers

by David Rosenfelt

Tis the season in Paterson, New Jersey: Lawyer Andy Carpenter and his golden retriever, Tara, are surrounded by holiday cheer. It's even spread to the Tara Foundation. The dog rescue organization, not used to having puppies, has their hands full with a recent litter. Eight puppies are a lot to handle, and Andy is relieved when his co-worker Chris Myers agrees to foster them.

Myers, a newer employee at the Tara Foundation, did time for a crime he swears he didn't commit. When Myers discovers a key witness against him lied on the stand, he goes to Andy to ask for representation in getting the conviction overturned. Myers thinks they can have this wrapped up by Christmas, no problem.

But when the witness is murdered, and Myers is arrested for the crime, things go from bad to worse. Suddenly, it's all elves on deck to make a list and check it twice, so they can prove Myers is innocent.

Reviewed by annieb123 on

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Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

Santa's Little Yelpers is the 26th (!!!) Andy Carpenter legal procedural mystery by David Rosenfelt. Released 11th Oct 2022 by Macmillan on their Minotaur imprint, it's 304 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. Paperback due out from the same publisher in 4th quarter 2023. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately; it makes it so easy to find information with the search function. 

This is a holiday themed, dog filled, legal procedural murder mystery and very much in the vein of the other books in the series. It's an ensemble cast and it's always a lot of fun to see how much work office manager Edna can avoid, how long it'll take Andy to figure out exactly what's going on, and how many burgers, beers, and fries his friends Vince and Pete can get him to buy at their regular sports bar, Charlie's (on his tab, naturally).

I can't think of many series which continue to be genuinely funny, genuinely warm, not derivative, and so cleverly plotted as the Carpenter mysteries. The author is on my must-read list and I really enjoyed this installment very much. It's exciting and tightly plotted but not too graphic. There is no sexual content (excepting the occasional sweetly goofy double entendres between Andy and his wife, Laurie). The language is mostly clean (PG rated). The characters are very well delineated at this point and it feels like they live and breathe. Although it's the 26th book in the series, it works perfectly well as a standalone, they all do, and would make a good entry into the series as a whole. 

The audiobook has a run time of 6 hours and 41 minutes and is expertly narrated by Grover Gardner who manages to juggle the various local accents and characters of all ages and both sexes without problems. I found myself grinning and laughing along several places with the wonderful narration. The read was definitely enhanced by the narrator. I especially loved his interpretation of Vince and Pete (Andy's best buddies). The sound and production quality are high throughout the recording.

Five stars for both the text and audiobook versions. All around fun read. With so many books and stories in the series at this point, it would be a superlative choice for a long buddy or binge read. Highly, HIGHLY recommended for public library acquisition. Even the backlist books are wildly, perennially, popular. I love a happy denouement and they all have that, and more.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes. 

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Reading updates

  • 3 April, 2023: Started reading
  • 3 April, 2023: Finished reading
  • 3 April, 2023: Reviewed