“Do you think we go through high school in an intense fog?” Heck, yes. That’s the only way most of us can survive high school. In the thirteenth Chet and Bernie mystery, Bark to the Future, Bernie discovers most of what he remembers from high school is wrong.
Chet the dog, the narrator of this series, sees everything from a dog’s point of view, so both he and his partner in the Little Detective Agency, Bernie Little, miss clues that the other one picks up. Chet hears and smells clues that are beyond the ability of humans. But, his reactions to human behavior and conversations are so funny because he misses those clues completely.
Chet and Bernie are on the road in Bernie’s new souped up car, the beast, when they take the ramp at the interstate, and see a homeless man asking for handouts. But, the man doesn’t want to take Bernie’s money because he recognizes him. He has to give Bernie some clues because he’s so unrecognizable, but Rocket Saluka and Bernie played a memorable baseball game when they were at Chisholm High School. together.Bernie’s girlfriend, Weatherly Wauneka, a police sergeant, warns Bernie that whatever he discovers happened to Rocket, it won’t be good. Bernie wants to help Rocket, though, and he tracks him down to a homeless camp behind a small church.
Padre Doug is very protective of the people in the homeless camp, but Rocket is gone. There’s only a switchblade in his tent, one that Chet uncovers. And, that switchblade knife leads Bernie back to Chisholm High School, and into murder investigations that were never labeled as murder. Someone is very clever.
All clues seem to lead back to the high school and one class of AP Chemistry students. They all remember Bernie, but their memories of him as a confident jock liked by everyone isn’t how Bernie remembers school. But, the longer he searches for Rocket, the more he suspects that class and the switchblade lead to the answers.
Although I guessed the killer the first time the person appeared in the book, Bark to the Future is still an intriguing search into Bernie’s past. It makes the reader look back at high school, and wonder what was really going on. Yes, we’re all so caught up in getting through each day, caught up in ourselves. Bernie discovers his viewpoint isn’t how others remember those years. I think we really do go through high school in a fog.
Spencer Quinn’s website is https://www.peterabrahams.com/
Bark to the Future by Spencer Quinn. Forge Books, 2022. ISBN 9781250843272 (hardcover), 320p.
FTC Full Disclosure – The publisher sent a copy of the book, hoping I would review it.
