Book ~ "'Dog Day Afternoon" (2024) David Rosenfelt

From Goodreads ~ Retired lawyer Andy Carpenter has run the Tara Foundation - the dog rescue organization named after his beloved golden retriever - for years. It's always been his calling, even as Andy's pulled into representing clients in court. His investigator, Marcus Clark, has been at Andy's side for a long time. Even though they've known each other for years, Marcus keeps his personal life a mystery. 

So it’s a shock when Marcus arrives at the Tara Foundation with two strangers in tow. Turns out Marcus takes disadvantaged young men under his wing, gets them jobs, a place to live and a chance at a different life. And they want a dog. Andy’s specialty. One of the young men, Nick Williams, instantly falls in love with one of the dogs, Daisy. 

When there’s a mass shooting at Nick’s work, leaving six dead, all signs point to Nick. Marcus, who's never asked Andy for anything, asks Andy for help. Despite Nick's troubled background, Andy trusts his friend and takes the case.

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 teenage son, Ricky, three dogs and he is enjoying his life.

There is a shooting at a local law firm and six people are killed. The two people who manage to escape say they recognized Nick, a co-worker, as the killer and he has suspiciously disappeared. Nick is a friend of Marcus', one of Andy's investigators, and Marcus asks Andy for help. When Nick reappears a couple days later, he says he was kidnapped and held hostage. On Andy's advice, he turns himself in and is arrested. Marcus has helped Andy many times over the years so he can't say no when Marcus asks him to defend Nick (plus Nick wants to adopt a dog from the Tara Foundation and Andy loves dog lovers). As Andy starts to investigate, he has to figure out who and why one of those killed was the target.

This is the 29th in the Andy Carpenter series ... I've read them all and I'm still enjoying this series.  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.

I like Andy ... I think he would be a hoot to be around and he's quite generous with his time and money (he never charges for his services and he always picks up the tab for his friends at his favourite restaurant whether he is there or not). Andy admits he is a bit of a wimp so part of his team is the K-Team (Laurie, a former police officer and now an investigator, Marcus and Cory, a former police officer). Sam is his accountant who is also a computer hack who wants to be part of the action.