Andy Carpenter Books in Order: How to read David Rosenfelt’s Series?

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Written by American author David Rosenfelt, the Andy Carpenter series is about a lawyer and his faithful golden retriever, Tara. Never really in the market for a new client, defense attorney Andy Carpenter is a reluctant lawyer who prefers working to save dogs.

And, with the help of his beloved golden retriever Tara, Andy solves cases and wins courtroom battles. When he doesn’t practice law, he likes to help dogs in need.

How to read the Andy Carpenter Series in Order?

Every entry in the Andy Carpenter book series works as a standalone story, but the lives of the different characters evolve from one novel to the other.

  1. Open and Shut – Defense attorney Andy Carpenter prefers the company of his best friend, Tara, a golden retriever, to the people he encounters in the courtroom. However, just as it seems Andy has everything figured out, his dad drops dead in front of him at a game in Yankee Stadium. The shocks pile on as he discovers his dad left him with two unexpected legacies: a fortune of $22 million that Andy never knew existed . . . and a murder case with enough racial tinder to burn down City Hall.
  2. First Degree – When his chief investigator and love interest joins a long list of suspects in the grisly murder of a dirty New Jersey cop, lawyer Andy Carpenter must do some fancy footwork in the courtroom to clear her name.
  3. Bury the Lead – Asked to help safeguard the innocence of a reporter who has been selected as the mouthpiece for a serial killer, defense attorney Andy Carpenter finds his job proving more difficult than anticipated when the reporter is arrested for the murders.
  1. Sudden Death – The victim is Tony Preston, wide receiver for the New York Jets, and the suspect is Kenny Schilling, the New York Giants’ star running back who is clamoring for Andy Carpenter’s services. The upcoming high-profile murder case will be the bench-warming Andy’s chance to get back into the legal game.
  2. Dead Center – After Laurie Collins left him, Andy Carpenter didn’t expect to ever see her again. So he’s shocked when his ex-girlfriend calls him pleading for his help. Two coeds in Wisconsin have been found brutally stabbed to death. As the town’s police chief, Laurie had to arrest a young college student. Yet Laurie strongly believes that the suspect, Jeremy Davidson, is innocent.
  3. Play Dead – After he astonishes a New Jersey courtroom by successfully appealing another golden retrievers’ death sentence, Andy Carpenter discovers that this gentle dog is a key witness to a murder that took place five years before. Andy pushes the boundaries of the law even further as he struggles to free an innocent man by convincing an incredulous jury to take canine testimony seriously.
  1. New Tricks – Attorney Andy Carpenter is about to represent an adorable Bernese mountain dog puppy, whose owner was brutally murdered, in a custody fight. Andy is determined to keep Waggy from falling into the wrong hands. But this playful pup possesses a valuable secret that some people will resort to violence to obtain.
  2. Dog Tags – A German Shepherd police dog witnesses a murder and if his owner–an Iraq war vet and former cop-turned-thief–is convicted of the crime, the dog could be put down. Andy Carpenter decides to represent the poor canine.
  3. One Dog Night – For six years Noah Galloway has lived with a horrible secret and the fear that his rebuilt life could be shattered at any moment. Now his dread has become a certainty, and he has been arrested for the arson murder of twenty-six people. What he needs now is Andy Carpenter.
  1. Leader of the Pack – Andy Carpenter has lost a few cases. But that doesn’t mean he forgets his clients. Andy has always been convinced that Joey Desimone was innocent. While there isn’t much Andy can do for him now, Joey suggests that he check up on his elderly uncle. The old man’s memory is going, but when Andy tries to explain why he’s there, his comments leave Andy wondering if he just might hold the key to Joey’s freedom.
  2. Unleashed – Andy Carpenter’s accountant, Sam Willis, receives a surprise call from Barry Price, a friend he hasn’t spoken to in years. Barry needs Sam’s financial acumen and Andy’s legal expertise. But soon after, they learn that Barry’s plane has crashed. Barry was in far more serious trouble than either of them knew, and the trouble is only beginning.
  3. Hounded – Andy Carpenter isn’t sure what to think when he gets a mysterious phone call from a good friend Pete . He certainly isn’t expecting to show up at a crime scene. Pete has just discovered the body of ex-convict Danny Balfour. Upstairs are Danny’s now orphaned four-year-old son and basset hound. And that, Andy discovers, is why he and Laurie were called to the scene Pete wants them to take care of the boy and the dog so they won’t get thrown into the system.
  1. Who Let the Dog Out? – Andy Carpenter’s true passion is the Tara Foundation, the dog rescue organization he runs with his friend Willie Miller. So it’s frightening when Willie calls him to say the alarm has gone off at the foundation building, and there’s clearly been a break-in. It turns out that a recently rescued dog, nicknamed Cheyenne since her arrival at the foundation, has been stolen.
  2. Outfoxed – Lately, Andy Carpenter has been especially involved in a county prison program where inmates help train dogs the Tara Foundation has rescued to make them more adoptable, benefiting both the dogs and the prisoners. One of the prisonersis Brian Atkins, who has been helping to train Boomer, an adorable fox terrier. One day, Andy arrives at the prison to discover that Brian has used Boomer to make an ingenious escape.
  3. The Twelve Dogs of Christmas – Andy Carpenter’s long-time friend Martha “Pups” Boyer takes in stray puppies and raises them until they’re old enough to adop. Not everyone admires the work Pups does as much as Andy does, however. With Christmas just around the corner, one of Pups’s neighbors has just reported Pups to the city for having more than the legal number of pets in her home under the local zoning laws.
  1. Collared – All kinds of dogs make their way to the Tara foundation, and it isn’t that surprising to find a dog abandoned at the shelter one morning, though it was accompanied by a mysterious anonymous note. But they are quite surprised when they scan the dog’s embedded chip, and discover that they know this dog. He is the “DNA dog” who is connected to a 2-year old case.
  2. Rescued – When a truck carrying over seventy dogs from the South to the rescue-friendly northeast turns up with a murdered driver, Andy can’t help but get involved. Andy is eager to help the dogs – it’s the man accused of murder who he has a problem defending. The accused just happens to be his wife Laurie’s ex-fiance.
  3. Deck the Hounds – Seeing a dog next to a homeless man inspires Andy Carpenter to give the pair some money to help. Soon after, man and dog are attacked in the middle of the night on the street. The dog defends its new owner, and the erstwhile attacker is bitten but escapes. But the dog is quarantined and the man, Don Carrigan, is heartbroken. Laurie can’t resist helping the duo after learning Andy has met them before…
  1. Bark of Night – When Andy Carpenter’s veterinarian asks to speak to him privately, the last thing Andy expects is Truman. Tiny, healthy, French bulldog Truman was dropped off days ago with instructions to be euthanized. But now the owner is nowhere to be found.Thanks to Truman’s chip, it’s discovered that the man wasn’t Truman’s owner at all… Truman’s real owner has been murdered.
  2. Dachshund Through the Snow – It’s Christmas and Andy Carpenter wants to a child named Danny. Danny asked Santa for a coat for his mother, a sweater for his dachshund, Murphy, and for the safe return of his missing father. It turns out Danny’s father doesn’t want to be found, he’s on the run after just being arrested for a murder that took place fourteen years ago – a murder that Danny’s mother swears he didn’t commit.
  3. Muzzled – Andy Carpenter’s friend Beth has found a stray that seems to have belonged to a murder victim–in fact, the man and two of his colleagues died in an explosion a few weeks ago. But when the murdered man contacts Beth, asking for his dog back, Andy knows there must be more to the story.
  1. Silent Bite – Lawyer Andy Carpenter can finally take a breath; he’s back on dry land after a family Caribbean cruise forced on him by his wife, Laurie, to get into the Christmas spirit. Of course the family’s first stop is to the Tara Foundation, the dog rescue organization that has always been Andy’s true passion. But when Andy arrives, his partner, Willie Miller, needs his help. Willie’s old cellmate, Tony Birch, has been arrested for murder. Andy doesn’t necessarily believe in Tony, but Willie does. And Andy believes in Willie, which is why Andy decides to take the case.
  2. Dog Eat Dog – Lawyer Andy Carpenter and his wife, Laurie, enjoy walking their dogs, Tara and Sebastian. By this point in their marriage, it’s routine. When out for one of their strolls, their simple ritual isn’t so simple anymore. Across the street, a man is mistreating his dog. Three things happen at once: Andy yells, Laurie runs to stop the abuse, and so does a closer passerby, who so thoroughly beats the owner that both are arrested when the cops arrive.
  3. Best in Snow – Christmas has come early to the town of Paterson, New Jersey, in the form of a snowstorm that left over two feet of snow on the ground. Lawyer Andy Carpenter likes snow – to a point – but he misses the walks he takes his dogs on every day. When the snow starts to melt, and a body is discovered, Andy ends up in the office of the local newspaper editor.
  1. Holy Chow – About a year ago, Rachel Morehouse calls Andy begging for a favor: If Rachel dies, will Andy take care of Lion, an older Chow Chow, if her stepson cannot? Andy agrees, no questions asked, and promptly forgets about it… until he receives a call from Rachel’s estate to attend her will reading. Which is where he meets Rachel’s stepson, Tony, who is promptly arrested for his stepmother’s murder. And he wants Andy to prove his innocence.
  2. Santa’s Little Yelpers – Myers, a newer employee at the Tara Foundation, did time for a crime he swears he didn’t commit. When Myers discovers a key witness against him lied on the stand, he goes to Andy to ask for representation in getting the conviction overturned. Myers thinks they can have this wrapped up by Christmas, no problem. But when the witness is murdered, and Myers is arrested for the crime, things go from bad to worse.
  3. Flop Dead Gorgeous – Retired lawyer Andy Carpenter remembers every dog that’s come through the Tara Foundation’s doors, but the most well-known alum of the dog rescue organization that Andy founded in Paterson, New Jersey, may be Mamie. Adopted by famous actress Jenny Nichols―Andy’s high school girlfriend―the miniature French poodle is now practically a starlet in her own right. Andy doesn’t hold it against his friend. In fact, he and his wife, Laurie, have dinner with Jenny while she’s in town filming her next big hit. But after an eventful meal, there’s a plot twist the next morning that none of them see coming: Jenny’s costar is found dead, a knife in his back. It’s not long before Jenny is arrested for the murder and finds herself in need of Andy’s legal services.

  1. ‘Twas the Bite Before Christmas – 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.

If you like our article about the Andy Carpenter reading order, don’t forget to bookmark it! You may also check out our guide to the Kate Shugak mystery series or the Vet Volunteers books.

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5 Comments

  1. You mixed up “who let the dog out” and “the 12 dogs of Christmas” summaries. I just re-read “12 dogs” last week and its summary is the one you have for “who let the dog out” Just thought you might want to correct the order.

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