Created by Spencer Quinn
Pseudonym of Peter Abrahams
A clever update on Norbert Davis’ Doan and Carstairs dog-and-dick team, Spencer Quinn’s CHET AND BERNIE series goes the old pulpster one better: the stories are actually narrated by the pooch.
And the ever-upbeat, irrepressible Chet has quite the voice, pragmatic and non-judgemental, but in its own way saucier than a bowl of Gravy Train. A dropout from the police academy’s K9 program (something about a cat–but let’s not go there), this 100-pound mutt, with his one white ear and his one black one, is clever and loyal to a fault, and fronts a suitably doggy ‘tude that says he’s seen it all, but just doesn’t understand humans sometimes. And, like his “master,” he’s an ace detective. You ought to see him sniff out clues.
His boss and partner, Bernie, meanwhile, is the head of the Little Detective Agency, a down-but-not-out gumshoe toiling under the relentless sun of the unnamed “Valley,” somewhere on the West Coast, trying to cope with the all-too-human problems of divorce, child custody battles and overdue bills. Yet Bernie’s an all-round decent guy, a dogged investigator and still the “best all-around guy in any room, any time” (at least that’s the way Chet sees it).
One caveat.
Although Quinn dodges the cutie-pieness and mawkish sentimentality of so many pet-and-detective cozies, he can’t quite dodge sub-genre’s penchant for excruciating puns (aka “puns so bad I wish I had thought of them”). I mean, really. A Fistful of Collars?
Now that’s GENIUS!!!
Chet and Bernie’s creator, Spencer Quinn, lives on Cape Cod with his dog, Audrey. Or does he? Quinn is actually the pseudonym of suspense author Peter Abrahams.
UNDER OATH
- “The most winning detective duo since Shaggy met Scooby.”
— Christian Science Monitor - “I have been a Chet and Bernie fan from the start… suspenseful, laugh-out-loud funny in places, and surprisingly tender. Chet is a wonderful narrator ― top dog, you could say ― but he never descends to cuteness, and Bernie is as tough a PI as Spade or Marlowe, a man as quick with his .38 as he is with a Slim Jim for his sidekick. I’m already jonesing for the next one.”
— Stephen King
NOVELS
- Dog on It (2009) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
- Thereby Hangs a Tail (2010) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
- To Fetch a Thief (2010) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
- The Dog Who Knew Too Much (2011) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
- A Fistful of Collars (2012) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
- The Sound and the Furry (2013) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
- Paw and Order (2014) | Buy this book. Buy the audio | Kindle it!
- Scents and Sensibility (2016) | Buy this book | Buy the audio | Kindle it!
- Hearts of Barkness (2019) | Buy this book | Buy the audio | Kindle it!
- Of Mutts and Men (2020) | Buy this book | Buy the audio | Kindle it!
- Tender is the Bite (2021) | Buy this book | Buy the audio | Kindle it!
- It’s a Wonderful Woof (2021) | Buy this book | Buy the audio | Kindle it!
- Bark to the Future (2022) | Buy this book | Buy the audio | Kindle it!
SHORT STORIES
- “A Cat Was Involved” (August 2012, digital) | Kindle it!
- “The Iggy Chronicles, Volume 1” (August 2013, digital) | Kindle it!
- “Tail of Vengeance” (July 2014, digital) | Kindle it!
- “Upper Story” (2022, Short Tails)
- “The Iggy Papers” (2022, Short Tails)
- “The Numbers After Two” (2022, Short Tails)
COLLECTIONS
- Short Tails: Chet & Bernie Short Stories (2022) | Kindle it!
Contains “Upper Story,” “The Iggy Papers” and “The Numbers After Two.”
FURTHER INVESTIGATION
- ChetTheDog.com
The author’s officlal site. If you frequently go apeshit over dogs, this is the site for you. - Going to the Dogs
The Great Mutts of Detective Fiction
Report respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith.
