Chet & Bernie: A Series Refresher

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By Alison Bunis

Forge is thrilled to be the new home of Spencer Quinn’s delightful Chet & Bernie mystery series, with the upcoming Heart of Barkness available on July 9. We know a lot of fans have been eagerly waiting to see what happens next, but maybe some of you don’t remember everything that’s happened so far in the series. Or maybe you haven’t read the Chet & Bernie series, and you want to know what’s going on in time for Heart of Barkness.

Either way, we’ve got you covered with a quick series refresh!

Dog On It: Chet & Bernie #1

Meet Chet, the lovable canine narrator who works alongside Bernie, a down-on-his-luck private investigator. Chet may have flunked out of police school, but he’s a detective, and he’s found his human in Bernie. Though Chet doesn’t fully understand Bernie, or the issues that distract him―like divorce, cash flow, and child custody―they remain a loyal, tightly-bonded pair through all the suspense and intrigue. Crime has never been so much fun.

Thereby Hangs a Tail: Chet & Bernie #2

When threats are made against a pampered show dog named Princess, who better to investigate than the PI duo of Chet & Bernie? What starts off as a lark of a case takes a serious turn when Princess and her owner are abducted, and gets even worse when Bernie’s on-again off-again girlfriend, reporter Susie Sanchez, disappears. When Chet is separated from Bernie, it’s up to the canine to put everything together and save the day.

To Fetch a Thief: Chet & Bernie #3

When Bernie takes his elephant-crazy son Charlie to see the traveling circus, the ever-loyal Chet tags along. But by the time they get there the headlining elephant and her trainer have gone missing without a trace―not even a witness. How does an elephant disappear from the circus in the middle of the night? No, it’s not a riddle. It’s the mystery Chet & Bernie have to solve in the third installment of their delightful series.

The Dog Who Knew Too Much: Chet & Bernie #4

As Bernie is invited to give the keynote speech at the Great Western Private Eye Convention, he and Chet are also hired to find a boy who’s gone missing from wilderness camp. The boy’s mother thinks his father―her ex―has snatched him, but Chet isn’t so sure. And things get more complicated when a stray puppy that looks suspiciously like Chet shows up. Affairs of the heart collide with the job, and Chet & Bernie depend on each other like they never have before.

A Fistful of Collars: Chet & Bernie #5

Hollywood has really gone to the dogs. When bad-boy movie star Thad Perry is in town shooting a big-budget Western, Chet & Bernie have to keep him out of trouble. But Thad has a mysterious connection to the Valley, and the people who know his secrets keep turning up dead. But worst of all, Thad comes with a cat, and his feline friend Brando has taken an instant dislike to Chet.

The Sound and the Furry: Chet & Bernie #6

As a favor to an old friend Frenchie Boutette, Chet & Bernie head to New Orleans to find Frenchie’s brother Ralph, a reclusive inventor who’s disappeared, along with his houseboat, from the bayou. What starts off looking like a family dispute over stolen shrimp leads to big oil, black ops figures, and a shadowy gang called the Q’s―plus Iko, a legendary bayou gator with a big appetite. It seems like the more Chet & Bernie find out about Ralph and what he knew, the less chance they have of surviving to do anything about it.

Paw and Order: Chet & Bernie #7

When Chet and Bernie are visiting Bernie’s girlfriend, Suzie Sanchez, a reporter living in Washington D.C., one of Suzie’s sources runs into trouble of the worst kind, and Bernie suddenly finds himself under arrest. As Chet befriends a powerful D.C. operative who may or may not have the goods on an ambitious politician, dog & PI are sucked into an international conspiracy, battling unfamiliar forces under the blinking red eyes of a strange bird that only Chet seems to notice.

Scents and Sensibility: Chet & Bernie #8

Chet and Bernie return home to find their elderly neighbors are being investigated for possessing a cactus illegally transplanted from the desert. When Chet and Bernie go deep into the desert to investigate their cactus-smuggling neighbors they discover things far worse than plant trafficking. Everything is connected to a strange festival, a long-ago kidnapping that may not have been a kidnapping, and a charismatic criminal with a cult following―a criminal who immediately sees what Chet and Bernie mean to each other, and knows how to exploit it…