Library Journal Reviews A Fistful of Collars
Quinn makes this reviewer laugh. Maybe it’s because I am a dog lover, or maybe it’s because he writes from the dog’s point of view. Maybe it’s because he is just plain funny. In their latest adventure (after The Dog Who Knew Too Much), PIs Chet (a border collie) and Bernie (his human companion) are hired to “babysit” Thad Perry, a movie star with a partying streak. Deaths occur, some mourned more than others, and Bernie finds hints that Thad has links to a cold case. As always, Chet and Bernie are true partners who love each other unconditionally. No one can come between them, and no one can put things over on them. You would think that by the fifth series title, which this is, Quinn might have run out of ideas and quips—he hasn’t. VERDICT Although readers will be able to identify the villain before the dénouement, they will enjoy the ride getting there. Fans of Janet Evanovich or Donna Andrews will enjoy Quinn’s humorous and entertaining mysteries.—Susan Hayes, Chattahoochee Valley Libs., GA
Welcome Falcon & Holly from Pender Island, BC, and Fred, a rescue who landed on his feet.
Tags: A Fistful of Collars, Library Journal, review
This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 11th, 2012 at 7:43 am and is filed under Chet The Dog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
9:03 am on July 11th, 2012
Good review, except for the BC comment. Chet is NOT a Border Collie!
Here is a picture of Lily with her Seed Box which she loved.

G & B asked us to post one. Hope Gus is OK.
9:14 am on July 11th, 2012
Spence has not stated in any of the books that Chet is a border collie. That misstatement is extremely irritating.
Lily is lovely.
Good morning all.
9:20 am on July 11th, 2012
Good Morning!
Love that pic of Lily. She is beautiful.
Chet is not…I repeat NOT…a border collie.
9:20 am on July 11th, 2012
It is a good sign that Gus ate some breakfast this morning.
9:23 am on July 11th, 2012
Thanks for bringing that to our attention, Bee. That is a good sign.
9:35 am on July 11th, 2012
Greetings All!
Lily is a lovely girl, and it’s a great picture!
BooBear and Karen, my the creator hold Gus tenderly in his arms, and restore him to good health. May his healing touch also comfort you both at this difficult time.
9:41 am on July 11th, 2012
Good Morning All.
We missed A LOT last night!
Hi Liz!!! So happy to hear from you!
Very positive news that Gus wanted breakfast.
Barb&Magpie: A lovely photo of Lily with her seed box.
OMD: Chet is NOT a Border Collie! My hackles are up now.
9:41 am on July 11th, 2012
(Whispering) I don’t believe that Spence is the one who is funny. It is Chet, pure and simple.
Yay! Gus ate breakfast!
Lily is lovely!
10:06 am on July 11th, 2012
Howlers: Please check your SDD.
10:16 am on July 11th, 2012
Bella, SDD checked and responded.
10:16 am on July 11th, 2012
Dawson and I were laughing like crazy after reading this.
10:18 am on July 11th, 2012
B&M: A lovely seed box for a lovely girl.
BooBear: Thank you for the early morning post about Gus. I am glad to hear that Gus roused enough for a bite of breakfast.
Wolfie: I wonder who is funnier—Spence or Admin?
10:23 am on July 11th, 2012
That is too funny, Staff!
We will be back later, appraiser is coming in half hour. Paws crossed!
10:33 am on July 11th, 2012
Golinka, Staff, Dawson, please check SSD.
Go GUS!
Staff, kick the nurse.
10:42 am on July 11th, 2012
Melanie – checked, responded.
Barb – Lily is lovely, so glad you are going to be able to be closer to see her grow up into a beautiful woman.
Gus – you go, little guy! We know you still have things to do in this world. Just get stronger, and feel back to yourself soon.
And LIZ!!! Hi and welcome back and please give Cricket lots of skritches and tummies for us.
Staff – HEH!
Gotta go for now – time to start the show packing process.
10:56 am on July 11th, 2012
Staff, now that is funny!
11:03 am on July 11th, 2012
Oh Gasp, Chet is not a Border Collie. The cover of The Dog Who Knew Too Much has come back to haunt all of us. How can a person read the Chet and Bernie series and not have a general idea of what Chet really looks like. It is a good review otherwise.
BooBear, Thanks for the update on Gus. We are very happy to learn he is eating. Keep up the good work, Gus. All of us are pulling for you.
Lily is growing!
Staff, Mom says that is funny. I don’t get it, but mom does.
11:03 am on July 11th, 2012
This would be nice if it actually works. .
http://gajitz.com/sniffle-no-more-scientists-create-a-universal-allergy-vaccine
HI LIZ!
Barb and MagPie, which house is getting appraised?
11:13 am on July 11th, 2012
I finally took the color test from yesterday. I scored a 12.
Coach, Bev and I went to an outdoor theater last night and saw Hairspray. It was great! Last week we saw Disney’s Alladin. Next year they are doing Camelot; that was the movie Coach took Bev to on their first date. I think they are already planning on a date night next summer.
11:21 am on July 11th, 2012
Staff: Heh! Thanks for the laugh.
Liz: Wintertime Down Under?
B&M: Paws crossed!!!
11:45 am on July 11th, 2012
Hi Liz! I received your email.
11:50 am on July 11th, 2012
Wha!?…Border Collie?…snort!…I’m not going to read the review – but from others comments it is not to be trusted anyways…grump!
12:38 pm on July 11th, 2012
Riö, you are ever the optimist.
I have just ordered a wireless door bell with two buttons. We will put the chime thing in the front hall. A button will go next to Dan’s bed. And I believe I will put the other on a lanyard for him to have with him downstairs.
It has a 150 foot range.
Now for lunch.
12:58 pm on July 11th, 2012
Melanie, smart idea for Dan!
Barb, hope Lily liked the seed box as much as we like her pic! What a pretty girl! Good luck on the appraisal.
Mom can’t wait for 5 today so she can get home to check on Gus.
BooBear
1:03 pm on July 11th, 2012
Staff, that’s always how my exams go! Why do doctors scales weigh so heavy? And why do clothes shrink hanging in the closet?
Boo’s Mom
1:11 pm on July 11th, 2012
Re the Color Test. My dad opened it, took one look, and shut it down again. He figures his score would be about 105.
Wookie
1:16 pm on July 11th, 2012
Wookie!…Get yer Maw to take the test…snort!..I bet she will do very well on it…heh!
2:50 pm on July 11th, 2012
Rebecca: I sent you an email message (to Snowhook).
3:09 pm on July 11th, 2012
SDDs!…There sure is a lot of SDD’s flying around…grump!…How come no one is including me on these special messages…huffle!puffle!
3:46 pm on July 11th, 2012
Rio: My email was only about auction items and payments.
3:48 pm on July 11th, 2012
Rio, I’m not included either. We are left out.
3:59 pm on July 11th, 2012
Plunderers: I think we should start bombarding Rio and SH with email messages.
3:59 pm on July 11th, 2012
ARC!…I bet you are all conspiring to read the ARC without me…grump!
4:07 pm on July 11th, 2012
SiberH!…That’s okay SiberH, we can take comfort in knowing that the Rockies are tied with the Cubbies in the Standings…gruffle!
4:36 pm on July 11th, 2012
Rio, please check your SDD.
5:25 pm on July 11th, 2012
Rose!…Don’t be pulling my tail now…grunt!
5:31 pm on July 11th, 2012
Rio: Please check your email.
5:39 pm on July 11th, 2012
Grunt!…Youse guys are just pulling my tail…huffle! …It must be a slow yakkity-yak day…heh!
5:40 pm on July 11th, 2012
Rio: Heh!
6:04 pm on July 11th, 2012
Melanie, The bank that is doing the mortgage for our buyer sent out the appraiser. If it doesn’t appraise for as high as the lady paid, than the bank will refuse the loan. We might have to come down more, even tho we agreed on a price already. She agreed to 182K but if it appraises at 175K then we have to renegoiate. The problem is that it is hard to find “comps” for a property like this, plus the ones he can find are low. It has nothing to do with how much Barb has invested in this property. What a stressful thing this is. Never again!!
7:18 pm on July 11th, 2012
They have always told me that they are not really eating dogs. Now I know differently.
7:44 pm on July 11th, 2012
Barb, thanks. Also can I cut the bunching onions like chives?
7:47 pm on July 11th, 2012
Right now our assessment on the house is much higher than any price we could get on this house in this market if we were selling. We have 4 houses and one lot for sale in in our village. They haven’t even been looked at.
7:56 pm on July 11th, 2012
Macy, that is one funny picture! 🙂
8:10 pm on July 11th, 2012
That poor little puppy!
BELLA! Check your SDD.
8:11 pm on July 11th, 2012
I took the color test. Oh dear. I got 88. Next Tuesday I see the doctor about my cataract surgery so I thought it would be interesting to take the test before and after.
8:14 pm on July 11th, 2012
Golinka says Hi and Bye. She is on some meds and is going to bed now.
8:19 pm on July 11th, 2012
Rio, is your tail still getting pulled? 🙂
8:20 pm on July 11th, 2012
We just got back from a short walk. Why was it short? Because Sasha insisted on coming along! This was very cool…all 4 of us together again!
Time to make burgers! Good night if we don’t get back here.
8:21 pm on July 11th, 2012
Mollypop’s Mom: Do you know when the surgery will be?
8:31 pm on July 11th, 2012
MollyPop’s Mom, are you having both eyes done at once?
I’m out of here friends! Been a busy day. Not much time to be on the computer but the pool is very clean. Patsy went in with no trouble!
Dan watched from the sidelines.
TTFN
8:47 pm on July 11th, 2012
Downstairs!…And no game because it is the All-Star Break…grunt!…So we are watching some Mad Men episodes we missed early in this new season…snort!…Love this show!
Stuff!…My friend drug home some personal stuff from the busy-place tonight…sniff!…She says she is bringing home everything she doesn’t absolutely need there. I think she is really serious about leaving that crap dept as soon as humanly possible…heh!heh!
8:51 pm on July 11th, 2012
I don’t know yet when the surgery will be. I do know it should be before it starts getting dark early because I can’t see in the dark very well. I’ll have one eye done and then the other a week later.
8:56 pm on July 11th, 2012
Annabelle up top at FOC.
The O.Howlers reminding us it’s time for supper.
See you tomorrow – Ber
8:57 pm on July 11th, 2012
Bear
8:57 pm on July 11th, 2012
Melanie, We may be too late to respond to your questions. We have never cut the bunching onions like chives, maybe Staff knows. Would think you could.
Also, on your taxes, I know that people go in and try to get their taxes lowered based on comparison sales, so you might try it. Have also heard of hiring an appraiser who specializes in the area of taxes. In our area it costs around $350.00 for that type of appraisal. Then you take that in with you to the tax assessor.
Night all, we are heading to bed soon.
9:08 pm on July 11th, 2012
Dark!…My friend ca?n’t see in the dark either, does that mean she has kat-eracts too…gasp!
9:38 pm on July 11th, 2012
Hi, guys. Gus is no better but no worse either. We just have to hope the potassium stabilizes his condition. He is showing the signs of potassium deficiency. Thoughts here are that the lasix wasn’t working on the fluid in the chest catagory, but on his essential fluids. All that is just a guess. We just hope he can get back to himself soon and has no further complications(at least for a while.)
Barb, when Mom and Dad sold their house a couple of years ago, the realtor listed it according to comps, but the appraiser told Dad it was way too low and it appraised for more that we asked. BUT the house we bought appraised for $10,000 less that the price we had agreed on, and we were able to revise our offer down that amount. Maybe you will get lucky and that will happen for you!
9:52 pm on July 11th, 2012
1960’s!…We, as you all know by now, are watching Mad Men before our walks…heh!…There is a scene where two of the guys (in their country dinner jackets because they are in the suburbs) are looking at the one guys new Stereo …heh!…Its seven foot long and Wilt Chamberlain could lie down it it, says one…Why would he want to do that says the other…snort!…Well my TV is sitting on one of these 7 foot babies right now…grunt!…Someones mother will never part with it for some reason…wheeze!
9:53 pm on July 11th, 2012
Hey, y’all! I was almost a hero today, but Dad wouldn’t listen to me. I started growling and trying to warn him that we had an intruder, but he just ignored me. Then tonight when he was taking the trash out, he realized something was missing. Someone walked onto our front porch this morning — in broad daylight! — and stole a 3-foot tall elephant ear plant! Mom’s really mad. One of her co-workers gave her the bulb for her birthday, and she’s been growing it ever since. A few years ago, someone came up on our porch and took some plastic chairs, so when Mom and Dad got a wicker set, they actually took a cable and locked it to the porch. Unfortunately, though, they didn’t lock the plants up!
We live on a corner across the street from a park and a funeral home, so sometimes when there’s an event at the park or a big funeral, people park in our yard. So Mom and Dad had thought about getting a fence put around the front yard instead of just the back yard like it is now. But we haven’t had a problem in a while, so Mom thought we would be OK without more fencing. But now the front yard fence is back on the table!!!
10:05 pm on July 11th, 2012
Melanie: Checked. Beefcake. Responded.
10:12 pm on July 11th, 2012
Creator, please help Gus to get better. His family needs more time with him and we all love him.
10:16 pm on July 11th, 2012
KirbyT: You are the bark of reason. When will they listen.
BooBear: Thank you for the updates about Gus. Trying to find the right balance of medication is always difficult.
10:21 pm on July 11th, 2012
Kirby, You were a hero today. Maybe some poor soul needed a potted plant to take to a funeral, but that is no excuse.
Rio, about the 7 foot stereo. Mom had to try to find a new home for one of those when she cleaned out her folks house. The Animal Humane thrift store wouldn’t take it because they said it wouldn’t sell. Goodwill wouldn’t take it for the same reason.
It went to the dump, which seems a shame, but there was no other choice.
10:34 pm on July 11th, 2012
Thoughts to Gus and family for a peaceful night.
Rio – mom just discovered Mad Men and ordered season 1 from Amazon. They sure smoke a lot.
Kirby – I bet they listen next time you growl.
Meet you all tomorrow night at the usual time.
10:47 pm on July 11th, 2012
Speaking of the prayer offering tomorrow, shall we all just say a prayer in our own way, or should someone (I’ll do it unless someone else is interested) write up a prayer that we all follow like Golinka usually drafts?
11:02 pm on July 11th, 2012
Rebecca!..You can write the prayer me thinks…snort!
11:09 pm on July 11th, 2012
Soaked!…We all got soaked tonight!…snort!…This is after we meeted and greeted some “new” neighbors up the street…wheeze!…Those two bark!bark!bark! at us every evening so my friend in all her wisdom thought we should get closer and meet…heh!heh!…Beau and I were on our best behaviour but the defending team was in an up-roar…chorkel!…She talked to the two-leggeds while we sat and stared at the other two guys while they made a ruckus…sniff!sniff!…The neighbors thought Beau and I were perfect Angels…chorkel!…Anyways when we came home she lead us through the back gate as usual. Low n’ behold the sprinklers were still on in full force…wheeze!…I ran like hell and Beau sat there thinking about the situation for a bit. He got SOAKED…heh!heh!…Her and I made it to the patio with a lot of water damage, but nothing like ole Beau…chorkel!…SOAKED!
11:12 pm on July 11th, 2012
Yeah, Rebecca. You can write the prayer please.
11:22 pm on July 11th, 2012
Rio: When Dad took me for my walk this morning, we got about a block from home when it started raining. Dad was laughing at me because I turned around and started tugging him back home. What’s so funny about being smart enough to get out of the rain?
Rebecca: Go for it!
11:26 pm on July 11th, 2012
Barb: Mom thought about you and all the other tomato lovers on this blog when she read the paper today:
http://www.thestate.com/2012/07/11/2349087/kelly.html
Too bad you’re not here to go to the festival — and too bad Mom is here and could go to the festival, but won’t because she hates tomatoes! (Unless they’re cooked and totally mashed into sauce — absolutely no tomato chunks in her spaghetti sauce!)
11:33 pm on July 11th, 2012
Kirbs!…Even Beau and I will eat chunks of cooked tomatoe if it is on some spaghetti on top of our dry stuff…wheeze!…Anything we get that is not our dry stuff, we eat…heh!heh!
11:34 pm on July 11th, 2012
BluKat!…We here are thinking we need to order the first year of Mad Men too!…snort!…Seems like we missed quite a few episodes of that first year…wuffle!
11:46 pm on July 11th, 2012
Night All
11:51 pm on July 11th, 2012
SiberH!…Gosh! I thought you were in bed a long time ago…heh!heh!…In fact we are making moves to go upstairs and see how warm it is in our soft beds right now…gruffle!sniff!
11:53 pm on July 11th, 2012
Oh!…Goodnight SiberH!…snort!…And all youse other guys…heh!heh!..We have dried out now and can go to bed without sticking to it…chorkel!
12:03 am on July 12th, 2012
Kirby mom and I are with y’all on the tomato question, or at least mom is. No one has ever offered me any maters.
12:13 am on July 12th, 2012
Macy: Don’t bother — they’re yucky!
I’m off to bed now — good night, y’all!
6:25 pm on July 12th, 2012
Rio: Check you SDD, for real!
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