Wednesday, July 15, 2015

An wholly entertaing (and endearing) mystery series

Scents and Sensibility, A Chet and Bernie Mystery
by Spencer Quinn
Atria Books
July 2015


One of life's recent consistent pleasures has been the Chet and Bernie series.  Book 8 expands that wonderful combination of full engagement between story, characters, and the reader who regrets reaching the end of the latest story.

What's different about this book
The initial novelty of having a dog narrate the story of his work with a private eye has not worn off, even 6 years after the publication of the first book.  The humor, as well as the pathos, of Chet's voice is magically able to tell a story so much more effectively than many human dialogs and descriptions.  I appreciate that Quinn allows the characters and the relationships among them to continue to grow over the years and to deepen the story line.  In this latest release, Chet and Bernie's relationship is all the more poignant as the mortality of them both is touched upon and developed powerfully.  This book is just a great read that keeps me reviewing books -- I know eventually another episode of Chet and Bernie's adventures will come along, and I won't be able to wait for the retail market to catch up.

What I'll do now that I've read it
There is no library or reading / listening patron I serve that would not be enthralled with this series (at least for readers who have made the move to stories about adults and evil-doers, of course).  We are adding this book to each of our libraries, and we'll be avidly book-talking and sharing Scents and Sensibility, along with the previous released in the wonderful story line of Chet and Bernie. Often the series' catchy titles are the first to attract new readers -- they are superbly clever.  If you don't know this investigative pair, you have a large treat in store for you!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

No comments:

Post a Comment