Spencer Quinn. The Spencer Quinn Reader’s Companion. Atria, 2016.
———. “A Cat Was Involved.” Atria, 2012.
———. “The Iggy Chronicles.” Vol. 1, Atria, 2013.
———. “Tail of Vengeance.” Atria, 2014.

We had another review titled “3 Chet and Bernie Mysteries” which reviewed three novels narrated by Chet the Dog about his private investigator partner, Bernie Little. This review is different because these four publications are not novels. One is a freebie. The other three are short stories only available in e-book format for about a dollar.

This reviewer recommends The Spencer Quinn Reader’s Companion for those who might be interested in reading a Chet and Bernie story. It has excerpts from the first six Chet and Bernie novels. The idea, of course, is to get the reader to start a story so that he or she wants to get a hold of the book to find out what happens. If nothing else, the reader gets a sense of Chet’s voice. It is free. The reader can check it out. I suspect that many will want to keep reading.

The other three titles are short stories. I would not have known about them if they had not been mentioned in The Spencer Quinn Reader’s Companion. That freebie also mentions a Chet and Bernie Christmas novel, apparently only available in e-book format.

If anyone has read any Chet and Bernie mystery, he or she can probably guess what “A Cat Was Involved” is about. Chet uses that clause in virtually every book when he describes how he flunked out of K-9 school. It is the Chet and Bernie origin story.

In it, Bernie helps a policeman buddy solve a car theft. The policeman has custody of Chet. As in many of the stories, Chet discovers a clue fairly early in the story but has no way communicating his discovery to humans. We get the details of Chet’s last day in K-9 school and how Bernie is impressed with Chet’s help. For those following the detective duo, this answers a few questions.

“The Iggy Chronicles, Volume 1” focuses on Chet’s next door neighbor and best pal Iggy. Mr. Parsons, Iggy’s owner, asks Bernie to help him find Iggy, who is missing. They had spent much of the previous day in the hospital with Mrs. Parsons who is a patient there. The story humorously focuses on Iggy’s escapades as he gets loose in the hospital.

When Chet, Bernie, and Mr. Parsons visit the hospital the next day, we find out that a number of patients in the hospital have had valuables stolen from them. One woman wakes up from sedation to find her engagement ring gone from her finger. Bernie uses true detective skills to both locate Iggy and solve the robberies. Of all the Chet and Bernie tales, this one is the most like something Sherlock Holmes might have figured out.

“A Tail of Vengeance” at first sounds like a complicated divorce investigation. Readers know that Bernie does not do domestic investigations because he himself is divorced. But (1) he needs the money, as always, (2) Lt. Stine of the Valley Police recommended him, and (3) it’s not exactly a domestic case. Sherry Caputo thinks her boyfriend, not her husband, has been two-timing her.

It turns out that her boyfriend is a rich business owner Bernie knows about. Bernie likes Porsches, and drives an old beat-up one. Sherry’s boyfriend collects Porsches and owns about thirty of them, all much more pristine than Bernie’s. Bernie parks near a motel to discover what he needs to—a typical domestic case. And then it gets complicated. Sherry’s boyfriend’s wife comes into the picture. Without giving too much away, “A Tail of Vengeance” has a hilarious climax. Here, revenge is sweet indeed.