Book ~ "Dog Tags" (2010) David Rosenfelt

From Goodreads ~ A German Shepherd police dog witnesses a murder and if his owner - an Iraq war vet and former cop-turned-thief - is convicted of the crime, the dog could be put down. Few rival Andy Carpenter's affection for dogs and he decides to represent the poor canine. 

As Andy struggles to convince a judge that this dog should be set free, he discovers that the dog and his owner have become involved unwittingly in a case of much greater proportions than the one they've been charged with. Andy will have to call upon the unique abilities of this ex-police dog to help solve the crime and prevent a catastrophic event from taking place.

Billy is an ex-cop and Iraq war vet, who lost his leg in a bombing.  Since he has been back in the States, he hasn't been able to get a job so turns to stealing along with his ex-partner, his dog Milo.  One night, Billy's ex-boss in Iraq is murdered and Billy is found next to the body and his fingerprints are on the gun.  No one believes Billy when he says he had tried to save the victim and he is arrested.  Milo had run off and was put in a shelter when he was found.

Andy is a dog-loving lawyer.  His friend, Pete, who is a cop, asks him to help his friend, Billy.  Andy manages to get Milo released from the shelter and into his custody.  In addition, Billy hires him to defend him against the murder charge.

This is the eighth book I've read by this author and I thought it was okay.  I found it a bit confusing because there were so many characters (ex-soldiers from Iraq, the FBI, generals in the military, financiers, hit men, etc.) and I had a hard time keeping them straight.  Plus I found the subject matter involving a teenage suicide bomber in Iraq a heavy topic.

I liked the writing style, though, as it was funny, sarcastic and amusing.  It was written in first person perspective in Andy's voice but at times it was also written in third person perspective.  It is the eighth in the Andy Carpenter series (and the eighth I've read) and it works as a stand alone (so you don't need to have read the first one to know what is going on).

I like Andy.  He loves his dog, Tara, and thinks she's the most wonderful dog in the whole wide world.  Laurie, Andy's love interest, is back full-time and living with him.  Kevin, Andy's hypochondriac associate, has gotten married and moved away so this introduced a new character named Hike to the series as Andy's associate ... different personality so a different dynamic (he's a funny guy).  Sam, his accountant who is also a computer hacker, helped with the case but didn't add as much humour as usual.  And there wasn't enough of Marcus, an investigator with persuasive reasoning skills.