Dogged Pursuit - Andy Carpenter #31

 

Dogged Pursuit is the 31st Andy Carpenter legal procedural mystery by David Rosenfelt. Due out 7th July 2025 from Macmillan on their Minotaur imprint, it's 288 pages and will be available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links throughout.

For current fans of the series, this is a good one. It's full of the same sarcastic, warm humor and the same ensemble cast as previous entries in the series. Although it's the 31st book, it's actually a prequel and the story involved Andy's first forays into being a criminal defense attorney, putting him at odds with his wife and in-laws, as well as his meetups with the folks who will be returning throughout the series. This is such a long running and consistently well written series that saying it's "more of the same, worked around a different mystery" should be enough of a recommendation by itself. Although it's the 31st book, the mystery is self contained and the necessary back-story is written in without major spoilers for previous books. I heartily recommend the whole series, but this particular entry is very strong and for folks who are new to the books, it's a great entry point. 

This is pure comfort reading. It's got a likable protagonist, an engaging mystery, humorous dialogue, and a solid climax, denouement, and resolution. Andy's support team, especially Marcus and Laurie (not yet his wife as in the later books) are introduced with their own back stories.

The audiobook has a run time of 6 hours and 30 minutes and is expertly narrated by Grover Gardner who manages to juggle the various accents and characters of all ages and both sexes without problems. There are actual laugh out loud moments in the read, and it's always delightful to hear his sarcastic banter. The read was definitely enhanced by the narrator. The sound and production quality are high throughout the recording.

Five stars for both the text and audiobook versions. All around fun read. It would be an excellent choice for public library acquisition, home reading, or a long (long!) binge/buddy read project.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.