'Twas the Bite Before Christmas: An Andy Carpenter Mystery

Written by David Rosenfelt

Narrated by Grover Gardner

"Listening to Grover Gardner narrating a David Rosenfelt novel is like sliding into favorite slippers at the end of a long day: One feels the joyful gratification of a perfect fit." —AudioFile on Bark of Night

In National Bestseller David Rosenfelt’s ‘Twas the Bite Before Christmas, all through the Carpenter house, five dogs are stirring, and not even Andy can get out of working this next case at his door.

Reluctant lawyer Andy Carpenter is at the Tara Foundation’s annual Christmas party. The dog rescue organization has always been his true calling, and this is one holiday tradition he can get behind because every dog that’s come through the rescue—and their families—are invited to celebrate.

This year’s party is no exception. But before the stockings can be hung by the chimney with care, homicide detectives ruin the evening. Derek Moore, one of the foundation’s best foster volunteers, is arrested for murder.

Andy discovers Derek—whose real name is Bobby—is in the witness protection program after giving evidence against his former gang. The police believe Bobby murdered a member. But Bobby swears to Andy he didn’t do this. He’s built a new life, a new business, has two new dogs after being a double foster-failure.

There isn’t much Andy likes about this case, but he likes Bobby. If he’s innocent, Andy wants to help. Before Andy can settle down for his long winter’s nap, he has a client’s name to clear, a murderer to catch, and two new dogs to look after: a golden and a Dalmatian. Andy’s golden retriever, Tara, will have to adjust to not being the only golden at the house while Andy gets to the bottom of this one…

A Macmillan Audio production from Minotaur Books.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Macmillan Audio
• Release date: Oct 10, 2023
• ISBN: 9781250909824

David Rosenfelt

DAVID ROSENFELT is the Edgar-nominated and Shamus Award-winning author of more than twenty Andy Carpenter novels, including One Dog Night, Collared, and Deck the Hounds; its spinoff series, The K-Team; the Doug Brock thriller series, which starts with Fade to Black; and stand-alone thrillers including Heart of a Killer and On Borrowed Time. Rosenfelt and his wife live in Maine with an ever-changing pack of rescue dogs. Their epic cross-country move with 25 of these dogs, culminating in the creation of the Tara Foundation, is chronicled in Dogtripping.

Reviews for 'Twas the Bite Before Christmas

[Randi Robinson · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

David Rosenfelt at his snarky humorous best. The case involves Andy’s friend and Tara Foundation volunteer Derek who is accused of murder. The case is complicated and involves the mob but as usual Andy saves the day. Rosenfelt’s characters are wonderful. Marcus even speaks again! Grover Gardner does his usual superb narration. He IS Andy Carpenter. I love this series not just because it is funny and interesting, but because David Rosenfelt is a dog rescuer in real life.

[Emily Lassiter Branch · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I fell in love with this series back in 2017 when I stumbled upon and listened to the first book in the series (Open and Shut) and have been enjoying it ever since. And all the elements that I've enjoyed in the previous books remain here in this newest addition to the series. Andy Carpenter is a lawyer who'd love nothing better than to stop being a lawyer. He could easily afford to stop working, but these pesky friends/acquaintances/strangers (and their dogs) keep popping up that need his legal help, and his inherent sense of decency and justice won't let him turn them away. As always, there's a good mystery involved, a client accused of murder who swears he didn't do it - he's in the witness protection program and swears he's turned his life around since giving testimony in a murder trial. Andy and his cast of quirky supporting characters are on the case, and it's another mix of interesting mystery and Andy's sweetly snarky observations about himself, his friends, and life in general. While I'm sure these books would be excellent to read from the page, I can't recommend the audiobook version highly enough - Grover Gardner voices Andy Carpenter perfectly and his narrations have truly added to my enjoyment of this series.
Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for providing a copy for an unbiased review.