David Rosenfelt

"There is nothing like a golden retriever. I know, I know, it's a big planet with a lot of wonderful things, but golden retrievers are the absolute best. Mine is named Tara . . . The only problem she has ever caused is that I spend so much time with her in the mornings that I am almost invariably late for work." Whether dueling with new forensics or the local old boys' network, irreverent defense attorney Andy Carpenter always leaves them awed with his biting wit and winning fourth-quarter game plan. But Andy prefers the company of his best friend, Tara, to the people he encounters in the courtroom. Tara, a golden retriever, is clearly smarter than half the lawyers who clog the courts of Passaic County. However, just as it seems Andy has everything figured out, his dad, New Jersey's legendary ex-D.A., drops dead in front of him at a game in Yankee Stadium. The shocks pile on as he discovers his dad left him with two unexpected legacies: a fortune of $22 million that Andy never knew existed . . . and a murder case with enough racial tinder to burn down City Hall. Struggling to serve justice and bring honor to his father, Andy must dig up some explosive political skeletons-and an astonishing family secret that can close his case (and his mouth) for good.

Open and Shut

Dachshund Through the Snow

Nominated for the Edgar and Shamus awards, Rosenfelt's debut novel, "Open and Shut," introduced irreverent lawyer Andy Carpenter. Now, Andy must save the love of his life, lead P.I. Laurie Collins, when she's framed for the murder of a cop.

First Degree

I watch sixteen football games over nine hours. It's an extraordinary accomplishment...With the remote secure in the palm of my hand, or more often resting on my chest, I am all powerful. I haven't missed an important play since the Carter administration. His streak of murder case acquittals made him a regular on cable talk shows. His recent $22 million inheritance bought him a dog rescue operation named after his beloved golden retriever. Now after turning down cases left and right, attorney Andy Carpenter feels like he's facing a midlife crisis. And just when he decides he needs some real work, a newspaper owner friend asks Andy to protect his star reporter. Daniel Cummings is being used as a mouthpiece by a serial killer...but the reporter gets way too close to his story when he's found near the murderer's latest victim. Quickly working to save what's left of Cummings's rep, Andy soon makes news himself when he starts receiving death threats-and moves dangerously close to becoming tomorrow's big obituary.

Bury the Lead

Lawyer Andy Carpenter’s true passion is the Tara Foundation, the dog rescue organization he runs with his friend Willie Miller. All kinds of dogs make their way to the foundation, and it isn’t that surprising to find a dog abandoned at the shelter one morning, though it was accompanied by a mysterious anonymous note. But they are quite surprised when they scan the dog’s embedded chip, and discover that they know this dog. He is the “DNA dog.” Two and a half years ago, Jill Hickman was a single mother of an adopted baby. Her baby and dog were kidnapped in broad daylight in Eastside Park, and they haven’t been seen since. A tip came in that ID’d a former boyfriend of Hickman’s, Keith Wachtel, as the kidnapper. A search of his house showed no sign of the child but did uncover more incriminating evidence, and the clincher that generated Wachtel’s arrest was some dog hair, notable since Wachtel did not have a dog. DNA tests showed conclusively that the hair belonged to Hickman’s dog. Wachtel was convicted of kidnapping, but the dog and baby were never found. Now, with the reappearance of the dog, the case is brought back to light, and the search for the child renewed. Goaded by his wife’s desire to help a friend and fellow mother and Andy’s desire to make sure the real kidnapper is in jail, Andy and his team enter the case. But what they start to uncover is far more complicated and dangerous than they ever expected, in David Rosenfelt's Collared.

Collared

After Laurie Collins left him and headed west, New Jersey defense attorney Andy Carpenter didn't expect to ever see her again. So he's shocked when his ex-girlfriend appears on TV--and then calls him pleading for his help. Two coeds in Wisconsin have been found brutally stabbed to death. As the town's acting police chief, Laurie had to arrest a young college student with a carful of bloodstains who argued with one of the victims just before her death. Yet Laurie strongly believes that the suspect, Jeremy Davidson, is innocent. Trading the refineries and factories of Paterson for the frozen pastures of Findlay, Wisconsin, Andy soon finds himself in a small town handling a big-time double homicide case. He looks into Jeremy's romance with one of the victims--and the possible involvement of a bizarre religious cult--one that may sanction the most unholy, and vicious, of acts. While Andy tries to save Jeremy, make sense of his love life, and find a decent pizza for his beloved dog, Tara, the secrets of an ultra-religious community begin to rain down on him like bricks from a cracked fortress. But as Edgar®-nominated Rosenfelt proves to us once again, the path to the truth is littered with lies and misdirection. And before it's all over, the unexpected is the only thing Andy can count on.

Dead Center

A German Shepherd police dog witnesses a murder and if his owner--an Iraq war vet and former cop-turned-thief--is convicted of the crime, the dog could be put down. Few rival Andy Carpenter's affection for dogs, and he decides to represent the poor canine. As Andy struggles to convince a judge that this dog should be set free, he discovers that the dog and his owner have become involved unwittingly in a case of much greater proportions than the one they've been charged with. Andy will have to call upon the unique abilities of this ex-police dog to help solve the crime and prevent a catastrophic event from taking place.

Dog Tags

- David Rosenfelt's previous novel. "Bury the Lead, was published in Mysterious Press hardcover in 6/04, and was a "Today show Book Club Pick chosen by Janet Evanovich.- "First Degree (Mysterious Press, 5/03) won raves from national publications, including "Entertainment Weekly, and starred reviews from both "Kirkus Reviews and "Publishers Weekly.- The author's debut novel. "Open and Shut (Mysterious Press, 2002), was nominated for an Edgar Award for Best First Novel and was praised in the "New York Times.- David Rosenfelt's previous three books were Featured Alternates of The Mystery Guild," with foreign rights sold in Bulgaria, France, Germany, and Japan.

Sudden Death

In this Christmas mystery, lawyer Andy Carpenter and his golden retriever, Tara, are on the beat after a body turns up in the snow and a journalist is the prime suspect. Christmas has come early to the town of Paterson, New Jersey, in the form of a snowstorm that dumps two feet of snow on the ground. Lawyer Andy Carpenter likes snow – white Christmas and all that – but it can cause problems for the walks he takes his dogs on every day. When Andy’s golden retriever, Tara, goes to play in the snow and instead discovers a body, Andy ends up on the phone with the local newspaper editor. The murder victim is Mayor Alex Oliva, who had an infamous relationship with the newspaper. Last year a young reporter published an expose, and Oliva had him fired for libel. Now, the young reporter – and prime suspect – is in need of a lawyer. Andy agrees to take the case, though it’s not looking good this holiday season. The evidence is piling up faster than the snow in Best in Snow, the next Christmas mystery in the bestselling Andy Carpenter series from David Rosenfelt.

Best in Snow

In David Rosenfelt's Andy Carpenter mystery, Muzzled, Andy and his beloved golden retriever, Tara, are back on the case as a favor to a friend. Andy Carpenter is a lawyer who would rather not practice law. He'd rather spend his time working with the Tara Foundation, his dog rescue organization, and being with his family and his two dogs, Tara and Sebastian. But when a friend asks him for a favor that involves both dogs and his lawyerly expertise, he can't say no. Andy's friend Beth has found a stray that seems to have belonged to a murder victim--in fact, the man and two of his colleagues died in an explosion a few weeks ago. But when the murdered man contacts Beth, asking for his dog back, Andy knows there must be more to the story. The man claims his life is in danger, and that's why he disappeared. As much as Andy doesn't want to get involved--anything to avoid a new case--he can't help but come to the rescue of a man who'd risk everything, even his life, to reunite with his dog. Once again, David Rosenfelt delivers suspense and laughter in equal measure in another engaging mystery from "one of the most unforgettable voices in the genre." (Associated Press)

An Andy Carpenter Mystery

Muzzled

Silent Bite

"Author David Rosenfelt's hero, Andy Carpenter, plunges into a high-profile murder case with a golden retriever as his key witness"--Provided by publisher.

Play Dead

For six years Noah Galloway has lived with a horrible secret and the fear that his rebuilt life could be shattered at any moment. Now his dread has become a certainty, and he has been arrested for the arson murder of twenty-six people. What he needs now is defense lawyer Andy Carpenter, who most definitely is not in the market for a new client. So Noah plays his hole card: a shared love for Andy's golden retriever, Tara, and the knowledge of what her life was like before Andy rescued her. Because Andy wasn't her first owner—Noah rescued Tara first, and when he wasn't able to care for her any longer, he did everything in his power to make sure that she was placed in the right home: Andy's. With that knowledge, Andy has little choice but to take Noah on, and he soon learns that the long-ago event that may destroy Noah's life is only the beginning of an ongoing conspiracy that grows more deadly by the day. Andy will have to pull out all of his tricks to get to the bottom of this cold case turned white hot in One Dog Night, the latest in David Rosenfelt's popular mystery series.

One Dog Night

"Edgar-award nominated author David Rosenfelt's hilarious hero, Andy Carpenter, plunges into a high-profile murder case in which a Bernese puppy and his golden retriever play instrumental roles"--Provided by publisher.

New Tricks

In Holy Chow, the next Andy Carpenter mystery from bestselling author David Rosenfelt, beloved characters—both human and canine—are back on the case with plenty of the author’s trademark wit and humor...

Holy Chow

Citizen K-9

Defense lawyer Andy Carpenter usually tries to avoid taking on new cases at all costs. But this time, he’s happy—eager, even—to take the case that’s just come his way. Andy’s long-time friend Martha “Pups” Boyer takes in stray puppies that the local dog rescue center can’t handle, raises them until they’re old enough to adopt, and then finds good homes for them. Not everyone admires the work Pups does as much as Andy does, however. With Christmas just around the corner, one of Pups’s neighbors has just reported Pups to the city for having more than the legal number of pets in her home under the local zoning laws. Andy happily takes Pups’s case, and he feels confident in a positive outcome. Who could punish someone for rescuing puppies, after all, especially at Christmastime? But things get a lot more complicated when Randy Hennessey, the neighbor who registered the complaint against Pups, turns up dead. Pups had loudly and publicly threatened Hennessey after he filed his complaint, and Pups was also the one to find his body. All the evidence seems to point to Pups as the killer, and suddenly Andy has a murder case on his hands. He doesn’t believe Pups could be guilty, but as he starts digging deeper into the truth behind Hennessey’s murder, Andy may find himself facing a killer more dangerous than he ever imagined. With his trademark wit, larger-than-life characters, and clever plotting, David Rosenfelt delivers another gripping mystery.

The Twelve Dogs of Christmas

An account of the author's cross-country move and role in establishing a dog rescue foundation describes the unanticipated challenges encountered while transporting more than two dozen dogs to a new home in Maine.

25 Rescues, 11 Volunteers, and 3 RVs on Our Canine Cross-Country Adventure

Dogtripping

Asked to care for the orphaned 4-year-old son and Bassett hound of a murdered ex-convict, defense attorney Andy Carpenter finds his circumstances further complicated when his friend, police officer Pete Stanton, is wrongly accused of the crime. 40,000 first printing.

Hounded

In Rescued, David Rosenfelt again delights his readers with the charm and wit they’ve come to expect. Even the most fervent fans of the sardonic Andy Carpenter and his team will be enthralled by this latest case, where the stakes have never been higher. Defense lawyer Andy Carpenter is reluctant to take on any more cases. He’d much rather spend his time working for his dog rescue organization, the Tara Foundation, than find himself back in a courtroom. However, when a truck carrying over seventy dogs from the South to the rescue-friendly northeast turns up with a murdered driver, Andy can’t help but get involved. Of course Andy is eager to help the dogs, many of whom come to the Tara Foundation while awaiting forever homes – it’s the man accused of murder who he has a problem defending. The accused just happens to be his wife Laurie’s ex-fiance; her tall, good looking, ex-Marine ex-fiance. Even though he acknowledges having argued with the victim, he swears that he is not a killer, and though he would rather not, Andy has to admit he believes he's telling the truth. For Andy, even with dozens of successful cases behind him, this case that his wife insists he take may prove to be his most difficult.

David Rosenfelt

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