Book ~ "New Tricks" (2009) David Rosenfelt

From Goodreads ~ Andy Carpenter gains possession of an adorable Bernese puppy whose owner was brutally murdered. Few can rival Andy's affection for dogs and he will do whatever it takes to insure that this little pup doesn't fall into the wrong hands. However, his playful new friend is valued by several people, many of whom are willing to resort to violence to get what they want. 

It will take more than Andy's usual courtroom theatrics to save this dog, including a little help from his beloved golden retriever, Tara. 

Andy soon discovers that anyone around him is in danger, including his long-time girlfriend, Laurie, and he will have to muster all of his wits to save those he holds most dear.

Andy is a lawyer.  His father left him $22 million a couple years ago so he has the luxury of only occasionally taking on cases.  He is assigned a pro bono case of deciding on the custody of Waggy, a Bernese puppy.  Waggy's owner, Walter, has been murdered so it's up to Andy to decide who gets Waggy ... Walter's second wife, Diana, or his son, Steven (Diana and Steven hate each other).  That decision becomes easy when Diana is murdered but harder because Steven is arrested for his father and stepmother's murdered.  Steven hires Andy to be his lawyer and it's going to be a tough case to defend because everything points to Steven.

Andy and Laurie have been together for a while and dating long-distance since she moved back home to Wisconsin.  In addition to temporarily taking care of Waggy and defending Steven, he is also trying to figure out how to make Laurie stay.

This is the seventh book I've read by this author and I enjoyed it.  I liked the writing style as it was funny, sarcastic and amusing.  It was written in first person perspective in Andy's voice.  It is the seventh in the Andy Carpenter series (and the seventh 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, and Laurie.  Andy's team is made up of Kevin, his hypochondriac associate who also owns/runs a laundramat, Sam, his accountant who is also a computer hacker who he sing-talks with, and Marcus, an investigator with persuasive reasoning skills.  His friends are Vince, the editor of the local newspaper, and Pete, a local police officer, who love taking advantage of Andy's wealth to pick up the tab at restaurants.