Book ~ "Muzzled" (2020) David Rosenfelt

From Goodreads ~ Andy Carpenter is a lawyer who would rather not practice law. He'd rather spend his time working with the Tara Foundation, his dog rescue organization, and being with his family and his two dogs, Tara and Sebastian. But when a friend asks him for a favor that involves both dogs and his lawyerly expertise, he can't say no.

Andy's friend, Beth, has found a stray that seems to have belonged to a murder victim - in fact, the man and two of his colleagues died in an explosion a few weeks ago. But when the murdered man contacts Beth, asking for his dog back, Andy knows there must be more to the story. The man claims his life is in danger, and that's why he disappeared. As much as Andy doesn't want to get involved - anything to avoid a new case - he can't help but come to the rescue of a man who'd risk everything, even his life, to reunite with his dog.

Andy is a criminal defense lawyer who doesn't want any clients.  Because of the money his father left him and some lucrative cases, he is able to not work and spend his time with his friend, Willie, running the Tara Foundation, a dog rescue that he and Willie formed.  He is married to Laurie, they have a young son, Ricky, and he is enjoying his life.  He loves their dog, Tara, and thinks she's the best dog in the world.  They also has another less lively dog named Sebastian.

Andy gets a call from Beth, who runs another dog rescue, who is looking for guidance.  She has a dog named Aggie and Alex, her owner, has called to claim her.  Beth's concern, though, is that the owner supposedly died in a boating explosion three weeks ago along with two friends/colleagues.  Beth wants Andy present at Aggie's and Alex's and he's intrigued so he agrees.  When Alex and Aggie meet, it's obvious they know and love each other.  Alex is then arrested for the murder of his two friends and asks Andy to represent him.  Because of the obvious love that Alex has for Aggie (he risked his safety in coming to claim her), Andy agrees.  As Andy and his team start to investigate, he discovers the mafia and the Russian mafia may be involved and he gets a quick lesson in the pharmaceutical world and IPOs.

This is the 21st in the Andy Carpenter series (I've read them all).  I enjoyed this book and am enjoying this series.  I find with most series that by the time an author has come this far, the series isn't very good and the author is pounding out the books just to get a paycheque.  That's not the case with this series ... the author is able to keep this series fresh and fun.

Even though it is part of a series, it works as a stand alone (so you don't need to have read the ones before it to know what is going on).  I like the writing style as it was funny, sarcastic and amusing.  It was written mostly in first person perspective in Andy's voice but is sometimes in third person perspective when the focus is on other people.

I like Andy ... I think he would be a hoot to be around and he's quite generous with his time and money (his two best friends continue to take advantage of his tab at their favourite bar).  Part of Andy's team is the K-Team (Laurie, a former police officer and now an investigator; Marcus, an investigator with "persuasive" reasoning skills; Cody, a former police officer; and Simon Garfunkel, Cody's former canine partner).  Sam is his accountant who is also a computer hack who wants to be part of the action and Hike is his depressed/depressing associate.  Edna is his secretary who, like Andy, would rather he not take on any cases.