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Deal of the Century (More)

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August 24th, 2019 Posted 9:31 am

Here’s the Buffalo News on Ruff vs. Fluff:

Spencer Quinn, author of the amusing Bowser and Birdie mystery series (narrated by Bowser the dog) ups his game in the laugh-out-loud first book of a new mystery series, alternating narrators between arch rivals Arthur the dog and Queenie the cat. As he did in Bowser and Birdie, Quinn – a pen name for mystery writer Peter Abrahams – shows a real flair for inventing a mystery scenario that allows his animal detectives to credibly unearth clues (say, chewing up a wallet, thus exposing a fake ID) to point their humans in the general direction of solving the crime.

While Arthur and Queenie intensely dislike each other, they adore 11-year-old twins Harmony and Bro and their divorced mom, who runs the struggling Blackberry Hill Inn near the Canadian border. A rude guest arrives shortly before Christmas (cat and dog both instantly dislike him), bearing an old map and a handgun and insisting on hiking a treacherous trail on nearby Mount Misty. When he fails to return, the incompetent local sheriff arrests the twins’ cousin, sending the family and their pets on a quest to find the real perpetrator. Harmony uses Queenie’s charms to cajole clues out of the cat-loving local librarian and an elderly nursing home resident. Arthur has his own role to play, which includes a stint in the local pound and some heroic tracking. The narration by scheming cat and clueless hound is hilariously spot on. Queenie observes: “There’s a quiet dignity about me that I’m sure goes unnoticed by nobody.” And here’s Arthur: “Yes, my growl for sure, low and rumbly. Grrr. Grrr. The party on the other end of that growl must have been shaking in his boots. I wondered who it could be.” Appealing characters, a vivid setting and a well-crafted plot inspired by booze-smuggling of the Prohibition years make this series launch a winner.

(for deal details see yesterday’s post)