Bark of Night

Bark of Night

Bark of Night had me with the cute French Bulldog on the cover. But I stayed for the hatred of veggies and pronounced love of dogs evident in this conflicted defense lawyer protagonist’s cozy mystery.

Truman, a healthy French Bulldog, is brought into a vet clinic to be euthanized. The vet asks one his patient’s fur daddy, defense attorney Andy, if he is legally obligated to kill Truman after the dog’s chip reveals that the man who dropped him off is not his owner. In fact, the owner is recently murdered. Andy says no and takes Truman in to his rescue association to be placed in a forever home.

Laurie, Andy’s wife, encourages semi-retired Andy to look into the death of Truman’s owner, James Haley, including defending the possibly innocent boy in jail for the crime. Andy finds layer upon layer of murder.

Bark of Night is the fastest paced cozy mystery I’ve ever read—and I’ve read a lot of them. There are four murders and one attempted dog “murder” before the 25% mark. The perspective is unique too. We hear first person from Andy about what he is discovering. However, we also get an omniscient third person narrative about the murders. Despite that viewpoint, there aren’t any explicit or graphic scenes of violence within the book.

I enjoyed the unusual narrative structure. It’s rare in cozies to know more than the main character does. I also liked the easy wordplay and dynamics between Andy and Laurie. Andy’s snarky asides about his hatred of vegetables and karaoke add some needed humor into the plot. The mystery is complicated and a challenge to solve. I would have appreciated more involvement by Andy’s two dogs and Truman in the book. Overall, Bark of Night is an excellent cozy mystery choice. 4.5 stars!

Thanks to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

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