Andy has to defend a friend and dog lover accused of killing for a second time. ( )

David Rosenfelt, as always, keeps the reader engaged with his light-hearted novels. He uses laugh aloud humor plus plot twists as his characters solve the puzzling situation at hand.

Andy Carpenter and his usual cast of supporting characters appear together again in this fun, easy-to-read and entertaining mystery. Santa’s Little Yelpers can be read as a standalone even though it is a part of a delightful, ongoing series, featuring this wealthy, benevolent, dog-obsessed lawyer who gets involved in solving quirky mysteries.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read this enjoyable ARC. ( )

In this 26th Andy Carpenter mystery, an employee of Andy’s dog rescue foundation, a disbarred lawyer, is accused of murder. Andy, a reluctant lawyer himself, agrees to represent him and begins an investigation. This was a more complicated and satisfying legal mystery then the silly title led me to believe. Lots of snarky humor, an interesting case, dogs, and the Christmas season (not to mention the northern NJ setting) made it a winner for me. Having only read the first three books in the series, I didn’t feel at a loss at all. A light, entertaining legal mystery. Fans of Chris Grabenstein’s John Ceepak series may enjoy the similar tone.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martins/Minotaur for the egalley. ( )

This is #26 in the Andy Carpenter crime/legal procedural series that always manages to get me laughing out loud in spite of brutal and complex crimes.

Andy thinks of himself as a retired lawyer, but when a case comes along that somehow involves a dog, he can’t resist getting involved, as much as he pretends he doesn’t want to. In this instance, Andy is asked to help Chris Myers, an employee at Andy’s Tara Foundation for dog rescue. Chris is a former attorney who served a two-year sentence for involuntary manslaughter. He wants to be exonerated and Andy agrees to help him. After all, Chris has just agreed to foster a new litter of eight puppies, or “Santa’s Little Yelpers,” in honor of the Christmas season.

Chris claims he did not commit the crime for which he served time, and indeed, as the series progresses, Andy seems to be specializing in defending people who had been framed. (Or one could also conclude in New Jersey, a lot of innocent people are framed.). Chris informed Andy that the key witness against him two years before recently told Chris he was paid to lie, and he was willing to recant as long as it could be kept confidential.

Alas, the witness, Charlie Burgess, abruptly cancelled his scheduled recanting. Chris went to see him to find out why, and perhaps convince him otherwise. While Chris was at Charlie’s house, however, Charlie was shot in the head with a bullet that came from outside. Chris, scared and worried he would be blamed at the least, or at worst, killed also, ran out of the house. He was sighted by neighbors, and before Andy could even get started on Chris’s exoneration for his old crime, he was accused of this new murder.

Clearly something deeper and more sinister is going on, and Andy and his crew are determined to find out what. They suspect it all has something to do with Chris’s former law cases, and they set out to investigate some of the dodgier clients Chris handled before his conviction.

As the investigation proceeds, Andy uncovers a convoluted plot of corruption and of course also has his own life threatened. As usual, he is saved by his much braver wife Laurie and Laurie’s muscle, the always amusing, albeit usually taciturn and unintelligible Marcus. But can Andy save Chris? It’s up to the jury, and the outcome is unclear until the very end.

Evaluation: I look forward to new entries in this series, which, by the way, you don’t really need to read in the order they were written. Andy’s sarcasm and wit are unfailingly entertaining, as are his relationships with the rest of his team. I also appreciate the way he presents legal principles and complicated crimes in a way even I can follow. For a quick, diverting read that challenges you at the same time, you can’t go wrong with David Rosenfelt’s Andy Carpenter series. ( )

Andy may be a great defense lawyer, but he sure is a failure at retiring. He has picked up another case that he thinks shouldn’t take too long. Chris Myers wants to get his convection overturned so he can practice law again. The only witness is ready to recant, but then things go horribly wrong, and he is arrested - again. Now Andy and the K Team goes into overdrive, just before Christmas. It may take a Christmas miracle to free Chris, or maybe it will just take a lot of digging and Andy’s smarts to make it happen. This mystery, like all the other ones in this marvelous series, is very well written and sprinkled with wit and humor. The characters feel like real people, the canines seem real as well, and all the elements in the story go together like clockwork. The entire series is highly recommended. The only thing I hate is finishing one of the books and having to wait months for the next one. Please write faster, Mr. Rosenfelt! ( )