Chet The Dog

Posts Tagged ‘business cards’

Tennis Lesson (From Thereby Hangs A Tail)

The tall blond guy took a ball from the bucket and hit it to Ganz. Ganz wore white shorts, had skinny legs like sticks. He swung his racquet and hit the ball back. The tall guy let it go by, took out another ball. “Brush up, Shermie, brush up. Spin on the ball, always spin on the ball.” He hit the ball over the net. Ganz swung, this time missing the ball completely. “Brush up but through, up but  through, up but through,” said the tall guy, sending over another ball. Brush? I knew brushes, saw none around. Maybe tennis was tougher than it looked, but I didn’t worry about that because a ball came bouncing over in our direction – we were now beside the court – and I snatched it out of the air, and who wouldn’t have, the ball being right there practically saying, “Catch me.” And then – this part was a bit harder to understand – I was on the court, racing toward the net. Up and over: not much of a challenge, tennis nets turning out not to be very high, but still it felt so great, being airborne and all, that I kind of twisted around still up there, if you see what I mean, and landed facing back at the net, and the next thing I knew I was jumping over it again, from the other direction, and, yes! doing the spin move once more, and when I landed this time, somehow with two balls in my mouth now – how had that happened? – I –

“Chet!”

From Admin – for all those who requested Little Detective Agency business cards (see January 16 post) the process for getting them to you has started. Anyone who doesn’t have one in say, 10 days or so, please get back to spence.quinn@gmail.com. Same email for new requesters.

Also, at Friends of Chet: some great new photos.

Potpourri (Whatever That Is)

First, to Cosmo – good to hear from you, buddy. As for delish – I picked that up from Bernie’s mom. A piece of work, maybe more on her later. And as for Rachael Ray and cooking shows, we watch them sometimes, me and Bernie, but I always get hungry right away and head for my bowl.

Also, about our Little Detective Agency business cards (scroll down to January 16) – anyone who wants one, just send a mailing address to spence.quinn@gmail.com and you’ll get one!

Finally, Spence says RIP to Robert Parker “who made it look easy.”

And gave such a nice generous quote for Dog On It – Admin

We Almost Have A Winner! (But Close Enough)

Bernie says there are at least one hundred billion galaxies in the universe, and if that’s what he says I believe it. What it means is anybody’s guess. But that’s the only question Rebecca Rice and Megan, in combo, missed on the pop quiz, part two, and who cares, anyway? Did I make a rule about no combos? Or any other rule at all? So if each of them will send a mailing address to spence.quinn@gmail.com, a copy of Thereby Hangs A Tail, signed by Spencer Quinn and stamped by me, Chet, will be on its way.

Note from Admin: We’re working on the business card distribution idea. (Card appears on January 16th post.)  Also, everyone here is pulling for Cosmo.

Thereby Hangs A Tail Review – Fredericksburg.com

“How,” says Spence, “are we going to get the business cards out to people who want them? Did you think of that?” Admin gives him a cold look. They don’t always get along, Spence and Admin. Meanwhile Bernie wants me to post this review. “Fredericksburg,” he says. “Big Civil War battle.” Uh-oh. I love Bernie, of course, but don’t get him started on Civil War battles.

DETECTIVE DUO UP TO THEIR USUAL TRICKS

January 17, 2010 12:36 am

IT’S ALWAYS a good sign when your friends and co-workers beg to read the first in a new mystery series after you review it.

And you know the sequel is every bit as good–if not better–when the wag who usually sniffs that he normally reads nothing but nonfiction barely comes up for air once he cracks it open.

Such is the case with “Thereby Hangs a Tail,” Spencer Quinn’s howlingly funny follow-up to “Dog On It.” The appeal here is the narrator, a mixed breed bruiser of a canine named Chet, who is all dog. No human characteristics for this pup, no sir.

Here’s a sample:

“I barked again, no real reason. We were on the job, out in the night, driving fast. Anything better than this? You tell me.”

Chet’s partner in taking a bite out of crime–and criminals, in Chet’s case–is one Bernie Little. He’s a former Marine and policeman with a penchant for booze, bad investments and a broad named Susie Sanchez who mysteriously disappears halfway through their latest case.

Luckily for Chet, Bernie is also smart, savvy and good at what he does, and the pair is gaining attention for their detective skills. Their work attracts the attention of Countess Adelina di Borghese, who hires Little Detective Agency to serve as bodyguard for Princess, a tiny ball of fluff entered in the Great Western Dog Show, and to sniff out why someone is mailing her threatening letters.

The case looks like an easy way to earn a couple grand a day–until Chet impulsively nabs a treat meant for Princess. He and Bernie are fired on the spot, but Bernie convinces Adelina’s husband, the Count di Borghese, to hire them back when she and Princess go missing.

The search for the abductors will lead them to a desert ghost town, cause a separation that will nearly send Chet to Alaska, and touch off a frantic search for Susie, who disappears while tracking down a story about the di Borgheses for her paper.

Along the way there’s a subplot about Bernie’s hasty bet on tin futures that will involve several trips to Mr. Singh’s pawnshop to cover his position and Chet’s hilarious confusion about various famous people’s names.

“Wild Bill Hickock?” he says at one point. “Sounded like a perp, although I didn’t remember him; but hard to remember them all–we’d cleared so many cases, me and Bernie.”

Do any other doggone mysteries get better than this? You tell me.

Cathy Jett