As always, thanks so much to Minotaur Books for letting me read another K-Team novel early! I have read all four of them and do enjoy these fast paced detective stories with at least one K-9 takedown per story 😅
Bookish Quick facts:
- Title: Good Dog, Bad Cop
- Series: K Team Novels #4
- Author: David Rosenfelt
- Publisher & Release: Minotaur Books, 03/14/23
- Length: 288 pages
- Rate & Recommend: ⭐⭐⭐✨ for fans of snarky detective stories
Here’s the synopsis from Am*zon:
For the K Team, playing “good dog”, “bad cop” is all fun and games… until there’s a body on the scene, in the next K Team Novel by bestselling author David Rosenfelt.
The K Team enjoys investigating cold cases for the Paterson Police Department. Corey Douglas, his K-9 partner Simon Garfunkel, Laurie Collins, and Marcus Clark even get to choose which cases they’d like to pursue. When Corey sees the latest list of possibilities, there’s no question which one to look into next.
Corey’s former mentor, Jimmy Dietrich, had his whole identity wrapped up in being a cop. When Jimmy retired three years ago, his marriage quickly deteriorated and he tried–and failed―to get back on the force. Jimmy was left to try to adjust to life as a civilian.
Not long after, two bodies were pulled from the Passaic River. A local woman, Susan Avery, and Jimmy Dietrich. With no true evidence available, the deaths went unsolved and the case declared cold. This didn’t stop the whispers: an affair gone wrong… a murder-suicide committed by Jimmy.
Corey never believed it. With this case, the K Team has the opportunity to find the real murderer, and clear Jimmy’s name. Bestselling author David Rosenfelt returns in Good Dog, Bad Cop, where there’s little to go on, but that won’t stop Paterson, New Jersey’s favorite private investigators from sniffing out the truth.
My thoughts:
I do have some mixed feelings about these books but I keep reading! Rosenfelt writes fast paced books with snarky characters that can be read in a few (or fewer 😅) sittings. They’re relatively short but I tend to be thrown off by the lack of chapter headings – that said, the finished copies may be different from the ARCs.
This story once again features the Corey and Dani relationship when they aren’t solving cases. He can’t say the word, but he is thinking about “M…ing” her now and it’s hilarious that he’s thinking about it like that.
I like the case itself. I didn’t see the answers coming at all, except for those that Rosenfelt gives us as foreshadowing. That said, my least favorite part is his bad guy “foreshadowing” chapters. He just gives us a few of the answers and then lets the detectives work back to that point, or not, but the readers know either way. I just don’t love that style and he does it in many of his books.
I also didn’t think the “big threat” in Good Dog, Bad Cop was handled well. It was presented as one big bad guy and then didn’t impact the case at all, nor did it add a lot of threat for me since no one was that worried about it. The cases that the K Team were working on were fun though and it was interesting to see the clues come together.
So…I don’t *love* these books but I keep reading because I love K9 detectives and they’re quick, fun books. I still wish Simon got more page time but I’ll always applaud when he gets to take down a bad guy.
Overall: not a perfect read but lots of fun to be had with the K Team, with appearances from Andy Carpenter. Would recommend for fans of fun detective novels with fairly high stakes and cold cases.
Thanks for checking out my book review of Good Dog, Bad Cop by David Rosenfelt. I received my early digital copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review and as always, all opinions are my own ♥️
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