I'm glad Andy comes into this as a sort of 'addition' to a great story---thanks to Laurie as one of the main characters. GREAT, as usual with a Rosenfelt book. ( )

The K team, which usually tries to solve cold cases for the local police department, undertakes to learn who really killed their former colleague and uncover the true story behind the apparent murder suicide of that cop's wife and another former colleague. As we might expect, the story becomes increasingly complicated. Fun to have Andy Carpenter on the sidelines too, with his usual irreverence. ( )

This is the fourth book in Rosenfelt’s “K Team” series, a spinoff from the entertaining Andy Carpenter mystery series. Andy Carpenter is a very successful criminal defense attorney in Paterson, New Jersey, who only works when he gets roped into it, usually because a dog is somehow involved and Andy has a soft spot for dogs. Laurie, an ex-cop, is his wife. Laurie has now teamed up with a recently retired policeman from the Paterson force, Corey Douglas; his K-9 partner, Simon Garfunkel; and Marcus Clark, Laurie’s muscle, to form a private investigating team called the K Team.

In the previous book in the series, Citizen K-9, the Paterson New Jersey homicide department, headed by Andy’s friend Pete Stanton, asks the K Team to work for the department as consultants handling cold cases. They agreed, and successfully closed their first case. After Corey saw the next list of possible cases to tackle, he jumped at the chance to investigate the death of his former mentor, a cop named Jimmy Dietrich. Jimmy was allegedly involved in a murder-suicide along with Susan Avery, the wife of another cop - Danny Avery, who had been killed shortly before that. No one believed it wasn’t actually murder, but no one had been able to prove anything.

In the course of their investigation, a lot of pancakes are consumed, and the K Team discovers a nefarious plot that ends up involving the Department of Homeland Security. Of course they unravel it all, but not before Corey is involved in a number of life-threatening circumstances.

Evaluation: Rosenfelt continues to develop Corey into a distinctive character, and adding more action for Simon, both of which are pluses. Andy plays the smallest role in this book so far, but is always there in the background, walking the dogs and buying pizzas for everyone. Corey, like Andy, is smart, funny, and dedicated to justice, even if he doesn’t come up to Andy’s level in any of those traits. The plots of these books can be complicated, but Rosenfelt manages to tie everything together neatly in ways readers can follow as the story unfolds. ( )

The K-Team excels at solving cold cases, and in this thriller, they hit a triple. Three deaths are linked together. One is the murder of a cop, the other two are the cop’s widow and a retired cop. The K-Team believes all three were murdered by person or persons unknown. Others believe the last two deaths were a murder-suicide. Now Cory Douglas and his partners, Laurie Collins (Andy Carpenter’s wife), Marcus Clark (the quiet muscle), Sam Willis (computer expert, not always law-abiding) and Simon Garfunkel (retired police dog extraordinaire) must go back even further than these deaths to uncover the real reason these people were murdered. This tightly written and suspenseful tale will draw readers into the story from chapter one. Andy makes a cameo appearance or two, mostly to get, and pay for, food, and adds his sparkling humor to the mix. But the focus is definitely on Cory, and his dogged pursuit to clear the names of his fellow cops and bring the killers to justice . . . if they live that long. Beware you criminals - the K-Team is on the way! ( )

I have to admit that I am addicted to the plots and snarky humor of both Andy Carpenter and The K Team. But you don't need to follow in any kind of order to enjoy (just ask my friends!).
This one is more convoluted than most as there are three interconnected cold cases to investigate under the oversight of Captain Stanton of the Paterson Homicide Department. It just keeps on getting crazier and more complicated. No spoilers! Just enjoy and try to solve the mess!
I requested and received an EARC from St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books via NetGalley. Thank you!
That was February 28, 2023. Now I have been lucky to also get the audio version from Macmillan Audio via NetGalley! Fred Berman continues to do a fine job as Corey Douglas and the K Team. ( )