Chet The Dog

Posts Tagged ‘Of Mutts and Men’

Sale!

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant deduction.

As Watson to Holmes, so is Chet the dog to Bernie Little. Well, at least if Watson had been a canine. Chet’s viewpoint and simple logic highlights Bernie’s complex intellect the way aged cheese completes a fine wine. Wine does appear in this story, but not as a featured character. The villains, though, are a twisty little passage of complexity that only Bernie can untangle. Savory, as Chet might put it.

Very well, I repeat myself.

Have I already mentioned this? The digital version of Of Mutts And Men is on sale! sale! sale! for the month of June across all platforms for just $2.99! $2.99! $2.99. What’s the book about? Answer: the hydrology of the American West. Does that sound somewhat dry to you heh heh? Remember that Chinatown, one of the best ever movies, is about the same subject.

Salesmanship: From Of Mutts And Men

“Can’t you sell that a little better?” Gudrun said.

Uh-oh. Bernie’s selling ability. That had come up once before, actually last Christmas, when Bernie’s mom paid us a visit, accompanied by her boyfriend, fiance, or husband, something we never got quite clear, named Tommy Trauble, owner of Tommy Trauble’s Auto Mile Dealerships in Flamingo Beach, Florida, which was where Bernie’s mom lived. Tommy Trauble had the deepest tan I’d ever seen on a human face, tiny bleached-out eyes, and shoulder-length white hair that gleamed. But, according to Bernie’s mom, he was also the greatest salesman in the whole state, and – well, it went something like this: “Bernie? I’ll have another one of those lovely old-fashioneds you mix. He really does have all sorts of talents, Tommy, but his problem is he just doesn’t sell himself. Can you explain to him, honey, how important that is?”

And things went downhill from there. Was there a point when Tommy Trauble challenged Bernie to an armwrestling contest? Something Bernie would never consider, not with an older gentleman. But one thing led to another, until finally the ER doc said the break was nice and clean and Tommy would have that cast off his arm in no time.

[And guess what? The digital version of Of Mutts And Men is on sale! sale! sale! for the month of June across all platforms for just $2.99! $2.99! $2.99!]

Beginnings

On Sundays we do beginnings, taking a look at the start of a Peter Abrahams novel, including those written under the Spencer Quinn moniker™. Since Of Mutts And Men – in the digital edition, meaning Kindle, NookBook, iTunes, etc. – is on sale for the entire month of June for $2.99! $2.99! $2.99! – we’ll go with it. Of Mutts And Men is a novel in the Chet and Bernie series (readable in any order!) and $2.99 can be found under the couch cushions. Here’s how it starts:

A rooftop chase? Who’s got it better than me?

Chasing down perps is what we do, me and Bernie. We’re partners in the Little Detective Agency, Little being Bernie’s last name. I’m Chet, pure and simple. When it comes to chasing down perps, rooftop chasing is what you might call a specialty within a specialty, if you see what I mean. And if you don’t then … then actually I’m right there with you. The point is that rooftop chases don’t happen often, so when they do you’ve got to enjoy them with all your heart. No problem. Enjoying with all my heart is one of my best things, right up there with leaping and grabbing perps by the pant leg.

There are two kinds of perps who get involved in rooftop chases. The first kind – and most perps are the first kind – realize pretty quick that it’s game over unless you’re up for doing something daring, and they’re all dared out by that time: you can see it in their eyes. The second kind of perp believes somewhere deep down that he can fly. What we had on this particular warehouse rooftop in the most rundown section of South Pedroia, which is the most rundown part of the whole Valley, was the second kind of perp.