Book: ‘Twas the Bite Before Christmas

Author: David Rosenfelt

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an advanced audio copy. 

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I am drawn to every David Rosenfelt book simply because there are dogs on every cover. I can’t help it. I love dogs and if there are dogs on the cover of your book I’m going to want to read your book. In my first book by him, I was shocked by just how little the book had to do with dogs and was too distracted by that to fully enjoy the story. Now I know what to expect and I can confidently say ‘Twas the Bite Before Christmas is my favorite book by the author.

This is the in 28th book in the Andy Carpenter series. I have not read them all, I am at a total of 5 so you definitely do not need to know them all to enjoy this. I would say this is just fine as a standalone although I did have prior attachments to the characters which did help my enjoyment. 

The story again follows Andy while he tries to prove his friend’s innocence in a murder charge. Andy is hunting for who the real murderer is all while this case is on trial. I really loved both the trial side of this story and the investigation side. Both sides are written perfectly. You are given a huge amount of detail but it was never so much where you would be overwhelmed. 

I really like Andy as a character. I see him as a mix between Nick Pirog’s Thomas Prescott character and then Andy Griffith’s Matlock. In between chapters, I found myself humming the tune to Matlock like we were going to a commercial break. I wish this was a joke and I was making it up but it’s really what I found myself doing.

In the other books I read by Rosenfelt I didn’t find any of the endings to be shocking or have a twist. This time I found the ending to be a shock and I really enjoyed it. I like how Andy explains the process of how he got the conclusions he got to.

The Andy Carpenter series is a series with great characters and even better covers. This is a great entry into the series and is friendly for newcomers. 

Final Score 5/5