It all starts when Judge "Hatchett" Henderson assigns Andy a pro bono case: a Bernese Mountain dog puppy is in a custody battle after his owner was murdered. Andy is all for helping find the perfect home for Waggy, a very active puppy.

He happens to be at the home of the widow discussing the matter and meeting the estranged son who is there arguing with his stepmother when the house explodes killing the widow and narrowly missing Andy and Waggy.

The custody case should be easy except a third party, the former dog show partner of the murdered man, files his own claim for custody of the puppy and the son is arrested for the murder of his father and stepfather.

Andy takes on the case of the son and needs to prove that he didn't kill his father or stepmother despite all the evidence pointing toward him if he wants Waggy to have a happy home. And it seems that someone wants Waggy dead. An assassination attempt on the dog hits Andy's long-time girlfriend Laurie and almost kills her.

This story was filled with twists and turns and is also filled with Andy's usual snark. I really enjoyed this story. ( )

The Andy Carpenter mysteries are consistently entertaining, especially on audio. I love Grover Gardner’s narration—he captures Andy’s snark and comic timing perfectly. Based on the changes in cover art, and the last couple of books having a dog feature prominently in the plot, I feel like this was maybe the point when the series turned a corner and just went all in with the dog stuff. I don’t mind it. The author loves dogs and describes them humorously and affectionately, and the mysteries still feature lots of interesting human characters and some surprising twists. Andy’s behavior in court is always enjoyable, and I love his closing arguments. I figured out a couple of things this time, but not everything.
Fun series—not too fluffy, but not too gritty either. ( )

David Rosenfelt is a dog lover (mainly Golden Retrievers I believe), and strangely enough, so is Andy Carpenter, famous lawyer of dogs and people. Dogs always play a major part in this series, so if you don't love dogs, you may not enjoy it as much as the rest of us.

This story follows the formula, where a dog plays a major part in a murder case, and in fact, is one of the targets of one shooting. The reason for this is the key to the story, so I'm not going to tell you.

The same group of lovable characters are in this as the previous books, and if you liked them, you'll probably like this. ( )

Why is everyone dying around this crazy dog, "Waggy". I thought I read this before and that the dog had the dead dad's DNA and that Steve was Waggy's "brother". Is this in a later book? Sigh. I read through this book fast and enjoyed it. It was a refreshing diversion from all seriousness. ( )

One thing is true for me when it comes to novels about lawyers, and that's if the books are written by John Grisham or David Rosenfelt, I'm sure I'll enjoy them. Grisham's books tend toward the true-to-life, and are either fictionalized versions of actual events, or so closely resemble actual situations that they could be actual events. Rosenfelt's series of books about Andy Carpenter don't make you think they're true-to-life situations, and may never be turned into made-for-TV movies, but are easy reads, entertaining, and often keep me in a state between smiling and breaking into laughter. Admittedly, part of my liking the Andy Carpenter series is based on my familiarity with the North Jersey and NYC locations where they take place, so I can "see" or imagine the places described. Add in the fact that the Andy Carpenter is a such a dog lover and something of a smart-aleck just makes these books that much more enjoyable to me. "New Tricks" is one of a series of Andy Carpenter books, but even though this is one of a series, that doesn't mean they need to be read in any particular order. This one, the seventh in the series, involves him defending a young man falsely accused of murdering his famous scientist father and step-mother, supposedly for the fortune he could inherit, and also requires him to protect and care for the deceased's show-dog quality puppy. The fact that the crime isn't as believable as in a typical Grisham novel isn't important to me, the fact that Rosenfelt keeps me chuckling throughout is. ( )