In Dog We Trust is a touching and amusing tale of a man who finds himself unexpectedly in the heart of a murder investigation, with an unexpected partner.Professor Steve Levitan, an ex-con in his early forties and part-time professor of English and writing, is back at home in Northeast historical PA where he grew up. An unlucky set of circumstances plagues his quickly-slipping-into-middle-age life.After getting caught hacking into credit bureaus to save his wife from economic self-destruction, he spends time in prison in California. During his incarceration, his father dies and his wife leaves him. He's not a thief and means no harm, but he does have a talent for getting into virtual places he should not.Now, alone and without much of a future prospect, Professor Levitan finds himself living a rather boring and lonely life. In addition, he's under the strict supervision of a parole officer who watches his every online move and insists Steve work on a "business plan" of how he's going to make a living going forward.The humdrum of Steve's daily routine is shattered one evening when he finds himself on the scene of a murder. His neighbor, a woman named Caroline that he had become friends with and even had some romantic feelings for, is gunned down one evening as she walked her golden retriever, Rochester. Steve, the only witness to the crime, sees a large, black SUV vehicle speeding away from the scene.The incident changes Mr. Levitan's circumstances drastically. Feeling sorry for Rochester, he adopts a dog he had previously not even liked. It wasn't that he hates animals, he just was never a pet person and didn't appreciate the big and sometimes overbearing retriever. But rather than see Rochester go to the pound, he becomes a dog owner, if only temporarily.Professor Levitan quickly finds out that Rochester has a knack for finding clues. Together, they unwittingly find themselves playing amateur gumshoe and trying to figure out who killed Caroline. Working with a high-school buddy who had become a police detective, Steve works on the case between his teaching assignments and getting his business plan together.Along the way, Steve finds himself getting back into hacking, a dangerous hobby he's still addicted to. Secretly using Caroline's computer, he begins sleuthing around in places he's not supposed to be; activities that could send him back to prison. But he's doing this for a couple reasons, including trying to help a former teacher of his who has found herself the victim of identity theft and fraud.Neil Plakcy weaves an intriguing tale that gets more and more complicated as we go along. What appears to be multiple investigations turn out to have ties to each other. It also turns out that if it were not for the help of Rochester, a golden retriever that Steve Levitan ends up growing to love, as well as Steve's willingness to put everything on the line to find a killer, the case would not get solved. Along the way we meet an array of interesting characters from all sorts of backgrounds.In Dog We Trust, by Amazon best-selling author Neil S. Plakcy, is now available as an audiobook as well. Just go to Amazon's Audible site and search by title or author and enjoy. This book is currently the first book you find on the New York Public Library e-book lending site when you look at mysteries. There are 50 people on the wait list.I don't have that kind of patience, and I have enjoyed so many other books by Neil Plakcy, so I went looking to purchase instead.I am so glad I did. This is a full length mystery novel regardless of what the cost leads you to believe. Not to mention it is a great read.This is not a romance unless you count Steve falling in love with Rochester, the dog. It is a good, complicated mystery. The characters are likeable, and very human.
What do You think about In Dog We Trust (2000)?
Loved it! Will definitely read the next one in the series.
—idafriberg711
It was a fair mystery, but it is helpful if you like dogs.
—Phylea
