The fourth installment of Spencer Quinn's Chet and Bernie series finds the dynamic PI duo tracking a missing boy. Devin vanishes one night while out camping in the high country with his hike leader and four other boys. The leader believes that Devin wandered off in the night to go to the bathroom and simply got lost. His mother thinks her ex-husband snatched the boy. All the theories go down the drain when expert tracker Chet noses out startling new clues and Bernie ends up in jail on suspicion of murder. Life with Chet and Bernie can never be simple, as even a stray puppy proves in The Dog Who Knew Too Much.
The relationship between Chet and Bernie has been compared with Scooby Doo and Shaggy or Wallace and Gromit, but those pairs don't have the same depth of connection as these two: there is a lot of humor but it's also a respectful, insightful and passionate relationship. Chet and Bernie are a pack unto themselves and they know their roles, so when other factors influence that pack dynamic, such as a stray puppy, the characters' reactions and interactions are as suspenseful as the plot events.
Murder and a missing child are dark, solemn topics; Quinn manages to convey that seriousness while still entertaining his readers. With Chet narrating, readers are reminded of many things we humans take for granted, and we get a look at ourselves that we may not have considered before.
Give yourself a treat with The Dog Who Knew Too Much. --Jen Forbus of Jen's Book Thoughts