Book ~ "The More The Terrier" (2024) David Rosenfelt

From Goodreads ~ Reluctant lawyer Andy Carpenter is relieved to be headed back to Paterson, New Jersey, after a week-long family vacation in the Adirondacks. He's ready to put the holly jolly season way behind him and settle in at home with his three dogs. But when they finally arrive, there is an extra dog eagerly awaiting them, as well as one anxious dog sitter.

When the dog showed up on the doorstep a few days ago, the sitter knew Andy would know what to do. Indeed, Andy recognizes Murphy, who the Carpenters fostered before the dog went home with BJ Bremer and his mother. BJ wanted to learn all he could about caring for Murphy, which made Andy like him immediately.

When Andy goes to take Murphy back to the Bremers, though, instead of the happy reunion he expects, he finds BJ's mother in tears. It turns out Murphy ran off ... after BJ was arrested for murder. Andy had hoped for a quiet Christmas vacation but he likes Murphy’s family and his golden retriever, Tara, likes Murphy so he can't resist getting involved. The case isn’t as simple as Andy thought it would be, though, with BJ suspected of murdering one of his professors. With nothing to go on but Andy's own conviction in BJ's dog-loving character, proving his innocence would be a Christmas miracle.

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.

When Andy and his family get back from a vacation, there are four dogs waiting for him instead of three. His dog sitter said the fourth dog arrived a couple days ago and she didn't know what else to do so took him in. They recognize the dog as Murphy, a former foster dog, and return the dog to the family who had adopted him. That's when Andy discovers that BJ, the son, had been arrested for murdering one of his professors. When Andy meets the lawyer who has stepped up to defend BJ, he senses something isn't right and takes over the case to ensure BJ gets a fair trial. As Andy and his team start investigating, it doesn't take long until potential witnesses start to disappear.

This is the 30th 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. The author even includes himself in this book as Laurie is reading a book by David Rosenfelt and Andy doesn't see why he is her favourite author! 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.