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Jack and Jamie #6
Like a Dog With a Bone
Returning to Maine after a blissful honeymoon in Mexico, kennel owner Jack Field and his smart and sexy bride, chief medical examiner Dr. Jamie Cutter, are ready to fulfill a promise made to a new friend they met there. The daughter of retired general Lamar MacLeary asked dog expert Jack to help her father "rewire" his wired wire-haired fox terrier, Molly, whose incessant digging is driving the general crazy. But Jack arrives to find Molly's most recent excavation has unearthed something nobody expected: the bones of a human hand belonging to the general's wife, who supposedly ran off to Mexico twenty years ago.
The police think the distraught World War II hero killed her in a jealous rage, but Jack and Jamie aren't so sure. And in their dogged determination to dig up the truth, the newlyweds begin unearthing hints of corporate fraud, high-level corruption, the terrifying return of a cold-blooded killer, and some buried MacLeary family skeletons that could lead to more death . . . Jack's and Jamie's included.
The police think the distraught World War II hero killed her in a jealous rage, but Jack and Jamie aren't so sure. And in their dogged determination to dig up the truth, the newlyweds begin unearthing hints of corporate fraud, high-level corruption, the terrifying return of a cold-blooded killer, and some buried MacLeary family skeletons that could lead to more death . . . Jack's and Jamie's included.
258 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2007
About the author
Lee Charles Kelley
10 books12 followersI'm a dog trainer, songwriter, voiceover actor, and bestselling mystery novelist* living in New York City. I've been using Natural Dog Training techniques since 1992. I write words and music, mostly for Sinatra-style songs and have a few minor songwriting credits (very minor, I'm afraid) including the libretto for a full-length musical comedy. I've been doing voice work since I was 17 (I'm now in my mid-50s) and still do radio commercials and TV voiceovers. I also write a series of dog mysteries featuring ex-NYPD detective turned dog trainer, Jack Field, and his smart and sexy ladylove, state medical examiner Dr. Jamie Cutter. My books are best described as a combination of murder mystery, romantic comedy, and dog training manual, all rolled up into one great read. *(My 4th novel, TWAS THE BITE BEFORE CHRISTMAS was a bestseller.)
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
March 9, 2009
This book started off simple enough. It began as a mystery. A really simple mystery. A dog trainer goes to the house of a retired general to help train his fox terrier who is digging constantly. While there, the dog digs up a bone...a human bone. And it turns out the skeleton is of the general's wife who supposedly disappeared to Mexico 25 years ago. This should be simple enough -- rest of the book is about who killed her, right? Except...it's not. At this point, I would normally cut for spoilers, but seriously? This book was SO BAD I don't think anyone would bother reading it. I struggled through it and ultimately finished it only because I didn't want to feel like I had totally wasted my time.
The major problem with the book was that there were simply too many characters and too many subplots. I would put the book down at night, pick it up the next morning, and not really be clear on who was who and what was going on. There's the murdered wife issues...but then somehow you pick up some drug dealers, corrupt politicians and police officers, some dude with beagles who has something to hide, murdered high school students (who maybe were involved in the drug dealing or not), conspiracy theories, a daughter who tries to kill her father, an old man faking a coma and a guy faking being drunk, some random Korean evil dude, a "hunting lodge" where some sort of nefarious things go on, a woman who had an affair with a politician when she was only 15...and more. Add to this a main character who was entirely unlikeable -- arrogant and uninteresting. I'm quite sure he was the author's Mary Sue. And then mix in random plot points that were so utterly unbelievable. I mean, here's this guy. A dog trainer. In a mystery novel. He gets locked up into a room by the corrupt politicians and on the table there's a magazine and a book. The book? It's a mystery about a dog trainer. Um really? Because these things are pretty common, right?
And then you toss in a really stereotyped black foster kid. Every sentence this kid said had the word "yo" in it. Really. Every time he spoke it was like "yo, and with eggs and bacon, yo." I didn't even know he was supposed to be black until halfway through and then when I found that out, my reaction was "ohhh that explains the horrible stereotyped speech." The kid also had NO POINT in being in the story. He was just...there. Of course, he had his own subplot entirely not related to any of the random mysteries going on. But he could have been dropped from the story without anyone even caring.
I should also add that the main character (and, I'm assuming, the guy who wrote it) has some whacko ideas about dog training too. At one point in the book, he brings along a male dog to meet another male dog who is aggressive to male dogs. This is the first time he's met this dog. And how does he "treat" the problem? By taking them out for a walk together. And then suddenly, the dog is CURED. Really? Aggression cured just by taking one walk? The dog goes from threatening all male dogs to going out to strip clubs and drinking shots of bad whiskey with them. I bet real animal behaviorists would laugh their asses off over that one.
The whole book was really just an exercise in frustration. I wouldn't recommend it to my worst enemy. And that's being kind to the book.
The major problem with the book was that there were simply too many characters and too many subplots. I would put the book down at night, pick it up the next morning, and not really be clear on who was who and what was going on. There's the murdered wife issues...but then somehow you pick up some drug dealers, corrupt politicians and police officers, some dude with beagles who has something to hide, murdered high school students (who maybe were involved in the drug dealing or not), conspiracy theories, a daughter who tries to kill her father, an old man faking a coma and a guy faking being drunk, some random Korean evil dude, a "hunting lodge" where some sort of nefarious things go on, a woman who had an affair with a politician when she was only 15...and more. Add to this a main character who was entirely unlikeable -- arrogant and uninteresting. I'm quite sure he was the author's Mary Sue. And then mix in random plot points that were so utterly unbelievable. I mean, here's this guy. A dog trainer. In a mystery novel. He gets locked up into a room by the corrupt politicians and on the table there's a magazine and a book. The book? It's a mystery about a dog trainer. Um really? Because these things are pretty common, right?
And then you toss in a really stereotyped black foster kid. Every sentence this kid said had the word "yo" in it. Really. Every time he spoke it was like "yo, and with eggs and bacon, yo." I didn't even know he was supposed to be black until halfway through and then when I found that out, my reaction was "ohhh that explains the horrible stereotyped speech." The kid also had NO POINT in being in the story. He was just...there. Of course, he had his own subplot entirely not related to any of the random mysteries going on. But he could have been dropped from the story without anyone even caring.
I should also add that the main character (and, I'm assuming, the guy who wrote it) has some whacko ideas about dog training too. At one point in the book, he brings along a male dog to meet another male dog who is aggressive to male dogs. This is the first time he's met this dog. And how does he "treat" the problem? By taking them out for a walk together. And then suddenly, the dog is CURED. Really? Aggression cured just by taking one walk? The dog goes from threatening all male dogs to going out to strip clubs and drinking shots of bad whiskey with them. I bet real animal behaviorists would laugh their asses off over that one.
The whole book was really just an exercise in frustration. I wouldn't recommend it to my worst enemy. And that's being kind to the book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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August 27, 2007I have tried to read this and one other of Kelley's books, and I find the hero so annoying I didn't bother to finish either one. It isn't often that I dislike a character that much, but this one comes across as smug, patronizing, and know-it-all (e.g. talking about his new wife's "little murders"--she's a pathologist, for heaven's sake).
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April 22, 20202 stars - it was ok.
I'm not going to click a star rating (and perhaps unfairly drag down the rating) for 2 reasons.
1. This is the 6th book in the series and I haven't read any of the others.
2. It's COVID and my attention span and concentration are garbage right now.
I picked this up because I like dogs and mysteries and wanted something that wasn't going to be too heavy or emotional when I'm feeling stressed. I really should have started with book 1, as there seemed to be a lot of references to characters and events from earlier books. But I had a couple of issues with this book that were unrelated to that. There were just a LOT of characters that were really hard to keep straight. And as the mystery started coming together there were a ridiculous number of coincidences put in place to make everything all turn out to be related. It got annoying.
But at least there were good dogs in it.
I'm not going to click a star rating (and perhaps unfairly drag down the rating) for 2 reasons.
1. This is the 6th book in the series and I haven't read any of the others.
2. It's COVID and my attention span and concentration are garbage right now.
I picked this up because I like dogs and mysteries and wanted something that wasn't going to be too heavy or emotional when I'm feeling stressed. I really should have started with book 1, as there seemed to be a lot of references to characters and events from earlier books. But I had a couple of issues with this book that were unrelated to that. There were just a LOT of characters that were really hard to keep straight. And as the mystery started coming together there were a ridiculous number of coincidences put in place to make everything all turn out to be related. It got annoying.
But at least there were good dogs in it.
September 8, 2008
Lee Charles Kelly's character, Jack Field, is one of a kind. Former NYPD detective, he's now in Maine, running a dog training and boarding business. Simply for his "alpha is a load of crap" training methods, these books are gold. Add in genuine characters and plenty of drama, and they're fabulous.
When a terrier digs up a 20-year-old skeleton in a retired General's garden, Jack and his lovely new wife (the state medical examiner) get pulled in to the mystery. How does it tie in with old drug cases, and villains that Jack had thought were gone for good?
Here's the spoiler. If you've read these books and came to enjoy the character "Farrell," this one will get you. Viet Nam vet, war hero (K9 corps!), post-traumatic stress victim, former drug (weed) dealer, in love with Tulips, the dual PhD beauty battling her own drug problems... well, Farrell goes out a total hero again. And his pack of 10 beagles, the Super Group, does a 10-beagle salute at the cemetery. "Beagles, Ten Hut!" They sit, in formation. "Beagles, Speak!" and they bay their farewell to their leader. I cried like an idiot.
When a terrier digs up a 20-year-old skeleton in a retired General's garden, Jack and his lovely new wife (the state medical examiner) get pulled in to the mystery. How does it tie in with old drug cases, and villains that Jack had thought were gone for good?
Here's the spoiler. If you've read these books and came to enjoy the character "Farrell," this one will get you. Viet Nam vet, war hero (K9 corps!), post-traumatic stress victim, former drug (weed) dealer, in love with Tulips, the dual PhD beauty battling her own drug problems... well, Farrell goes out a total hero again. And his pack of 10 beagles, the Super Group, does a 10-beagle salute at the cemetery. "Beagles, Ten Hut!" They sit, in formation. "Beagles, Speak!" and they bay their farewell to their leader. I cried like an idiot.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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August 13, 2012Early on - the author calls the incoming 'sheriff'- Peggy Doyle and the next page he calls her Katie Doyle. Whoops - someone didn't catch that change. She was Peggy for the rest of the book BTW.
The book was a decent read - not mind blowing or awesome - a good book overall. I don't know how I truly felt about the characters - they were perhaps too real and not heroic enough. The storyline though was quite good - all things coming together for one fired up ending. And I loved all of the dogs!!
I also liked that the author didn't just leave us hanging and wondering - but wrapped up all the characters unfinished business before writing "The End". Well done.
The book was a decent read - not mind blowing or awesome - a good book overall. I don't know how I truly felt about the characters - they were perhaps too real and not heroic enough. The storyline though was quite good - all things coming together for one fired up ending. And I loved all of the dogs!!
I also liked that the author didn't just leave us hanging and wondering - but wrapped up all the characters unfinished business before writing "The End". Well done.
April 4, 2008
If you enjoy dogs, these mysteries are fun. He borrows a bit from Patricia Cornwell, but not quite the same caliber. Sometimes corny, but I think he might be poking a bit of fun at himself. Definitely want to read his books in order b/c the plots and characters all build off of each other.
March 8, 2009
This is another good book in the Jack Field, (though I skipped Dogged Pursuit and Murder Unleashed I think), I will do that book at some point. This has good bits of drama and suspense. I wonder if there's more books in the series, since that came out in 2007.
July 15, 2010
couldn't finish it...
October 11, 2008
Murder mystery w/ dogs in the story.
May 26, 2010
I cannot believe this series has ended!! I want more, alas, this last one was published in 2007 and I doubt Lee Charles Kelley has been writing any more.
February 27, 2011
Dog trainer, Jack Field, is on the case again when a body is dug up by a dog in a retired general's yard.
Like the dog training aspect and the characters.
Like the dog training aspect and the characters.
December 29, 2012
Easy read. Not a lot of depth to the characters.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews