The Chet and Bernie Mystery Series is a collection of books by the best-selling author Spencer Quinn. Well, actually, Spencer Quinn is the alter ego of Peter Abrahams.
Peter started writing novels such as Lights Out, Oblivion, End of Story and The Fan. The Fan was filmed by Tony Scott and the cast included Robert De Niro. To say he did quite well would be an understatement as famous horror writer Stephen King quoted Peter Abrahams as “my favourite American suspense novelist” !!
Later on a comment was made in the L.A. Times that dogs often appeared in Peter’s novels. That got him thinking and his wife told him that he should do something with dogs. That was the birth of Spencer Quinn and the beginning of the Chet and Bernie series.
Chet is the wise and lovable canine narrator in the series. He works alongside Bernie who is a down on his luck private Investigator. Chet had flunked out of police school as in his words “I’d been the best leaper in K-9 class, which had led to all the trouble in a way I couldn’t remember exactly, although blood was involved”. However, he is a detective through and through.
Chet is extremely prone to mischief and intensely loyal to Bernie. There is genuine suspense and intrigue, combined with horror and deep insight into the bond between dog and man. From a dog’s eye perspective, crime has never been so much fun.
My wife has read every one of the series and even has amazon notifying her when the next book is released. They are fantastic entertainment, and if you want tears of laughter, coupled with suspense, then this series is for you.
Please see below the definitive collection.
The first book of the New York Times bestselling Chet and Bernie mystery series, an “enchanting one-of-a-kind novel” (Stephen King) that is “nothing short of masterful” (Los Angeles Times).
Chet, the wise and lovable canine narrator of Dog on It, and Bernie, a down-on-his-luck private investigator, are quick to take a new case involving a frantic mother searching for her teenage daughter. This well-behaved and gifted student may or may not have been kidnapped, but she has definitely gotten mixed up with some very unsavoury characters. With Chet’s highly trained nose leading the way, their hunt for clues takes them into the desert to biker bars and other exotic locales–until the bad guys try to turn the tables and the resourceful duo lands in the paws of peril. Spencer Quinn’s irresistible mystery kicks off a delightful new series that will have readers panting for more.
In the irresistible second instalment of the New York Times bestselling Chet and Bernie mystery series, which has been hailed as “enchanting [and] one-of-a-kind” (Stephen King), Chet gets a glimpse of the show dog world turned deadly.
What first seems like a walk in the park to wise and lovable canine narrator Chet and his human companion Bernie–to investigate threats made against a pretty, pampered show dog–turns into a serious case when Princess and her owner are abducted. To make matters worse, Bernie’s on-again, off-again girlfriend, reporter Susie Sanchez, disappears too. When Chet is separated from Bernie, he’s on his own to put the pieces together, find his way home, and save the day. Spencer Quinn’s “brilliantly original” (Richmond Times-Dispatch) and “masterful” (Los Angeles Times) series combines genuine suspense and intrigue with humour and insight for a tail-wagging good time readers won’t soon forget.
In the third instalment in the brilliant New York Times bestselling series featuring a lovable and wise dog narrator, Chet and Bernie go under the big top to solve the most unlikely missing persons (and animals!) case ever.
Chet has smelled a lot of unusual things in his years as trusted companion and partner to P.I. Bernie Little, but nothing has prepared him for the exotic scents he encounters when an old-fashioned traveling circus comes to town. Bernie scores tickets to this less-than-greatest show-on-earth because his son Charlie is crazy about elephants. The only problem is that Peanut, the headlining pachyderm of this particular one-ring circus, has gone missing–along with her trainer, Uri DeLeath. Stranger still, no one saw them leave. How does an elephant vanish without a trace?
At first there’s nothing Bernie and Chet can do–it’s a police matter and they have no standing in the case. But then they’re hired by Popo the Clown, who has his own reasons for wanting to find out what has become of the mysteriously missing duo. After Chet takes a few sniffs in Peanut’s trailer and picks up her one-of-a-kind scent, he and Bernie are in hot pursuit, heading far away from the bright lights of the traveling show and into the dark desert night.
Some very dangerous people would prefer that Chet and Bernie disappear for good and will go to any lengths to make that happen. Across the border in Mexico and separated from Bernie, Chet must use all his natural strength and doggy smarts to try to save himself–not to mention Bernie and a decidedly uncooperative Peanut, too.
To Fetch a Thief shows why readers everywhere have fallen head-over-paws in love with the Chet and Bernie mystery series. Top-notch suspense, humour, and insight into the ways our canine companions think and behave make this the most entertaining and irresistible book in the series yet.
The fourth entry in the irresistible New York Times bestselling mystery series featuring canine narrator Chet and his human companion Bernie—“the coolest human/pooch duo this side of Wallace and Gromit” (Kirkus Reviews).
Combining suspense and intrigue with a wonderfully humorous take on the link between man and beast, Spencer Quinn’s exceptional mystery series has captured widespread praise since its New York Times bestselling debut, Dog on It. The Dog Who Knew Too Much marks the duo’s triumphant return in a tale that’s full of surprises.
Bernie is invited to give the keynote speech at the Great Western Private Eye Convention, but it’s Chet that the bigshot P.I. in charge has secret plans for. Meanwhile Chet and Bernie are hired to find a kid who has gone missing from a wilderness camp in the high country. The boy’s mother thinks the boy’s father—her ex—has snatched the boy, but Chet makes a find that sends the case in a new and dangerous direction. As if that weren’t enough, matters get complicated at home when a stray puppy that looks suspiciously like Chet shows up. Affairs of the heart collide with a job that’s never been tougher, requiring our two intrepid sleuths to depend on each other as never before. The Dog Who Knew Too Much is classic Spencer Quinn, offering page-turning entertainment that’s not just for dog-lovers.
The fifth instalment in the New York Times bestselling mystery series that 
the Los Angeles Times says is “nothing short of masterful.”
Everyone’s favourite detective team returns in a new adventure as canine narrator Chet and his human partner P.I. Bernie Little find that Hollywood has gone to the dogs.
While Tinseltown bad boy Thad Perry is in town shooting a big-budget Western, Bernie and Chet have to keep him out of trouble. But soon they discover Thad has a mysterious connection to the Valley, and the only people who know his secrets keep turning up dead before they can talk.
As Bernie’s love life goes long-distance and Chet’s late-night assignations give rise to an unexpected dividend, it’s all our two sleuths can do to keep the actor in their sights. Worst of all, Thad is a self-proclaimed cat person, and his feline friend Brando has taken an instant dislike to Chet.
Like the winning books before it, this fifth book in the series combines a topnotch mystery with genuine humour and a perceptive take on the relationship between human and dog that will stay with you long after the case is solved.
In the sixth instalment in the New York Times bestselling mystery series that the Los Angeles Times called “nothing short of masterful,” Chet and Bernie are handed a hard case in the Big Easy.
Chet and Bernie, the best canine/human P.I. team in the business, encounter a prison work crew that includes Frenchie Boutette, an old pal they sent up the river. Frenchie begs Bernie to go find his brother Ralph, a reclusive inventor who has disappeared–along with his houseboat–from the bayou. Not long after, Bernie fends off a deadly attack from a member of a shadowy gang called the Q’s. The attacker dies without revealing anything.
In bayou country, Chet and Bernie meet the no-good Boutette family and their ancient enemies, the maybe-even-worse Robideaus. At first it looks like Ralph’s disappearance is tied to a dispute between the two families over a load of stolen shrimp. But Chet turns up a buried clue that sends them in a new and dangerous direction involving the oil business. The more they find out about Ralph and what he knew, the less their chances of surviving to do anything about it. Now they’re up against Big Oil, shadowy black ops figures, and the Q’s–plus Iko, a legendary bayou gator with a big appetite…
A top-notch addition to the “deliciously addictive” (Publishers Weekly) series, The Sound and the Furry is an irresistibly suspenseful and humorous read that will keep you begging for more.
In the seventh instalment in the brilliant New York Times bestselling mystery series, canine narrator Chet and PI Bernie Little journey to Washington, DC, and the dog-eat-dog world of our nation’s capital.
Stephen King has called Chet “a canine Sam Spade full of joie de vivre.” Robert B. Parker dubbed Spencer Quinn’s writing “major league prose.” Now the beloved team returns in another suspenseful novel that finds Chet sniffing around the capital city and using his street smarts to uncover a devilish plot.
Chet and Bernie pay a visit to Bernie’s girlfriend, Suzie Sanchez, an ace reporter living in far-off Washington, DC. She’s working on a big story she can’t talk about, but when her source, a mysterious Brit with possible intelligence connections, runs into trouble of the worst kind, Bernie suddenly finds himself under arrest.
Meanwhile Chet gets to know a powerful DC operative who may or may not have the goods on an ambitious politician. Soon Chet and Bernie are sucked into an international conspiracy, battling unfamiliar forces under the blinking red eyes of a strange bird that Chet notices from the get-go but seems to have slipped by everybody else. Most menacing of all is Barnum, a guinea pig with the fate of the nation in his tiny paws.
As Harry Truman famously quipped, “If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog.” Too bad he didn’t get to meet Chet!
In the eighth instalment in the New York Times bestselling mystery series that makes “even cat lovers…howl with delight” (USA TODAY), Chet and his human PI companion, Bernie Little, find themselves in a prickly situation when a mysterious case of illegal cactus smuggling comes to their attention.
In the latest entry in the immensely popular Chet and Bernie mystery series, Private Investigator Bernie Little and his canine companion Chet return home to encounter some alarming developments. First off, Bernie’s wall safe–normally hidden behind the waterfall picture in the office–is gone, and with it Bernie’s grandfather’s watch, their most valuable possession. And next door, old Mr. Parsons is under investigation for being in possession of a saguaro cactus illegally transplanted from the desert. Bernie and Chet go deep into the desert to investigate. Is it possible that such a lovely old couple have a terrible secret in their past?
Chet and Bernie discover bad things going on in the wilderness, far worse than cactus smuggling, and all connected to a strange but innocent-seeming desert festival called Cactus Man. They unearth leads that take them back to a long-ago kidnapping that may not have been a kidnapping and threaten a ruthless and charismatic criminal with a cult following, a criminal who sees at once what Chet and Bernie mean to each other and knows how to exploit it.
Every bit as “insightful” (Booklist), “humorous” (Library Journal), and “deliciously addictive” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) as Quinn’s previous books, Scents and Sensibility is a drool-worthy mystery that will have readers everywhere begging for more.
Spencer Quinn’s Heart of Barkness is the latest in the New York Times bestselling series that the Los Angeles Times called “nothing short of masterful”…
Chet the dog, “the most lovable narrator in all of crime fiction” (Boston Globe) and P.I. Bernie encounter heartache and much worse in the world of country music. They’re both music lovers, so when Lotty Pilgrim, a country singer from long ago, turns up at a local bar, they drive out to catch her act. Bernie’s surprised to see someone who was once so big performing in such a dive, and drops a C-note the Little Detective Agency can’t afford to part with into the tip jar. The C-note is stolen right from under their noses – even from under Chet’s, the nose that misses nothing – and before the night is over, it’s stolen again.
Soon they’re working the most puzzling case of their career, a case that takes them back in time in search of old border-town secrets, and into present-day danger where powerful people want those secrets to stay hidden. Chet and Bernie find themselves sucked into a real-life murder ballad where there is no one to trust but each other.
This is available to pre-order as it is not released until 7th July 2020
Spencer Quinn’s Of Mutts and Men is the latest in the New York Times and USA Today bestselling series that the Los Angeles Times called “nothing short of masterful”…
When Chet the dog, “the most lovable narrator in all of crime fiction” (Boston Globe), and his partner, PI Bernie Little of the desert-based Little Detective Agency, arrive to a meeting with hydrologist Wendell Nero, they are in for a shocking sight–Wendell has come to a violent and mysterious end. What did the hydrologist want to see them about? Is his death a random robbery, or something more? Chet and Bernie, working for nothing more than an eight-pack of Slim Jims, are on the case.
Bernie might be the only one who thinks the police have arrested the wrong man, including the perp’s own defence attorney. Chet and Bernie begin to look into Wendell’s work, a search that leads to a struggling winemaker who has received an offer he can’t refuse. Meanwhile, Chet is smelling water where there is no water, and soon Chet and Bernie are in danger like never before.
Well there we have it. The whole hilarious series of Chet and Bernie. The whole series is available in paperback, hardcover or kindle version on Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com.
I hope you enjoy them as much as we do.
Please feel free to leave any comments.
All the best and happy reading
David
