Published by Forge Books on July 6, 2021
Chet the Jet is back in the eleventh installment of Spencer Quinn’s Chet and Bernie series. Bernie Little is the only human employee of the Little Detective Agency. Bernie is much loved by Chet, his large and loyal canine partner. Chet helps solve crimes, often inadvertently, while puzzling about the mysteries of human behavior.
To Chet’s dismay, Bernie decides to investigate a mystery without a paying client. The story begins with a young woman named Mavis following Bernie, working up the courage to speak with him. When Bernie asks whether she needs his help, she flees, apparently frightened off by a political bumper sticker that she sees on the floor of Bernie’s car. Bernie, who has no interest in politics or politicians, has no idea where the bumper sticker came from until he learns that one of his neighbors dropped it into his car. The top is always down on Bernie’s Porsche, making it all the easier for Chet to jump in and out.
Bernie gets a plate number as Mavis drives away. His police contacts advise him that the car is registered to Johnnie Lee Goetz. He also learns that Johnnie Lee has a restraining order against Mickey Rottoni. Sensing a mystery that needs his attention, Bernie goes in search of Johnnie Lee, hoping to find Mavis.
The restraining order was served by Weatherly Wauneka, who has a dog that looks very much like Chet. Weatherly might become Bernie’s new love interest. Series fans will know that Bernie’s former girlfriend, Suzie Sanchez, married someone else, although she pops up for a cameo in Tender Is the Bite.
The plot involves a ferret, a Russian thug named Olek, a potential client who wants to hire Bernie for a job in Kauai, a senator and his horse-loving wife, the eventual disappearance of Mavis and Johnnie Lee, a dead body or two, and a blackmail scheme. All of that (minus the ferret) might be standard fare for a crime novel, but the story differs from traditional crime novels because it is narrated by Chet, who has no use for ferrets or perps.
After eleven novels, many of Chet’s opinions will be familiar to readers, including his animosity toward horses, bears, and birds. We know that Chet wants to go through every door first, that he wants to sit in the Porsche’s shotgun seat (forcing human passengers to sit on the back bench), and that he’s certain Bernie is the smartest human in the room. At times during Tender Is the Bite, I thought Quinn should make a greater effort to develop new material, as many of Chet’s observations seem to be recycled from earlier books. Still, the Chet and Bernie novels are always a joy, at least for dog lovers, if only because Quinn has nailed the way we imagine dogs would think if they had the vocabulary to express their thoughts.
The plot is as credible as it needs to be in a novel that is narrated by a dog. Action scenes give Bernie and Chet the chance to save each other from harm. Chet even tries to climb a rope ladder, a difficult task since he hasn’t yet mastered regular ladders. I’ve probably read about half of the Chet and Bernie novels and have never found one I wouldn’t recommend to dog lovers, although some are better than others. I would rank Tender Is the Night in the middle of the pack.
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