Revisiting “A Dog About Town” by J.F. Englert and Giveaway

Last year, I was delighted to discover Randolph, the mystery-solving black labrador that writes his own books and even has his own blog. This year, Randolph has come out with a new book, and in order to celebrate, his human dependent, J.F. Englert, is sponsoring two giveaways on my blog, with three winners for each!

This week, I’m reprinting my review of the first book and then, if you like what you read, you can enter the giveaway for it. Next week, I’ll do the same with the second book, so be sure to come back! And now, without further ado:

Review of A Dog About Town

“A Dog About Town” is a delightful mystery told from the point of view of a very proper, educated (self-taught from training newspapers) dog. As Randolph explains, “You see, I am a dog – not a scoundrel, a cad, a rascal – no, not a dog in that sense, but an actual dog, Canis familiaris.”

This black Labrador retriever and his master Harry are suffering from the disappearance of Imogen, Harry’s girlfriend and Randolph’s original owner. Harry doesn’t realize Randolph is sentient, and Randolph himself doesn’t quite understand the phenomenon, but quietly nurtures his love of Dante and Auden in stolen moments when Harry is asleep or not at home.

When a murder occurs, Randolph finds himself in the thick of things, since his ability to analyze scents far outstrips that of humans. As Randolph observes when entering the house of a suspicious person,

The smells carried a cast of characters and bore a kaleidoscopic range of human emotion: excitement and joy; despair and hate; the bitterness of death and the hope of birth. And this was just in the entranceway.”

In desperation, Randolph nudges Harry along in the investigation by nosing Alpha-bits cereal pieces into clues for him to read. Harry never seems to catch on, thinking Randolph is guided by the “spirit world.” This is all to the good as far as Randolph is concerned, since he doesn’t relish being sold or promoted as a freak.

This enjoyable romp through the concerns and occupations of a dog who loves philosophy, Chinese food, and rolling in dead animals will leave you looking forward to more of the same. Fortunately for the reader, another mystery, “A Dog Among Diplomats,” follows on the heels of this one.

J. F. Englert and his dog, R. Englert

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GIVEAWAY

To enter this contest to win one of three copies of A Dog About Town, do any of the following:

1. Leave a comment on this post about a pet you have had or that had you, or a person who seems to you like a pet. You must include an email address in your comments. If I can’t find a way to contact you I will draw another winner. (1 entry)

2. Blog about this giveaway. (Posting the giveaway on your sidebar is also acceptable.) Leave a separate comment with a link to your post. (1 entry)

3. Subscribe to my rss feed, and/or follow me on Google Reader (current subscribers are eligible too). Leave a separate comment for this. (1 entry)

4. Subscribe to Randolph’s blog, and/or follow him on Google Reader (current subscribers are eligible too). Leave a separate comment for this. (1 entry)

5. Tweet this post on Twitter. Leave me a separate comment with your twitter user name. (1 entry)

There are a lot of ways to enter (maximum of five entries), but you must LEAVE A SEPARATE COMMENT for each one or they will not count. I will be using random.org to pick THREE WINNERS from the comments.

This contest is open to entries from the U.S. only. (I don’t believe that Immigration allows dogs to fill out customs forms.) The deadline for entry is midnight, November 10. I will draw and post the winners’ names on November 11th.

Note: Don’t forget to come back next week to enter the giveaway for the second book in this mystery series!