Dog Helps Those (Golden Retriever Mysteries #3) (2024)

Ok Read

2 1/2 stars

Sometimes when I get a free book, I need to remember that oftentimes I get what I paid for.

In this case the story was just OK. Slow paced and it seem to meander around in the guise of looking for clues to a murder.

I was excited when we get into the book because the location is just a few dozen miles from where I grew up. Unfortunately I did not relate to most of what it was and especially eastern university.

It wasn’t bad but it just was OK!

And tentatively recommend

Steve went to prison for a computer crime, but now he is working at a college in Pennsylvania. I'm new to the series, but understand that his golden retriever Rochester had helped to solve some mysteries in earlier novels. Steve and his friend Rick, a local cop, take their dogs to an agility training class, and are dismayed when the instructor, Rita, is so nasty and dismissive. When they learn that Rita is dead, so many questions arise. Did her death relate to her dog clientele, or her investment work? Who would have used such an unusual method to kill someone? With so many haters, it's up to Steve and Rochester to help narrow down the field of suspects. I liked that Rochester was such an important character in this book--if you like mysteries with dogs, I think you would enjoy this one.

In the third book of this series Rochester how smart he is and Steve is beginning to understand he must be the tip dog. Steve has taken a job in the PR department where Rochester can be during the day. A prominent alumn, Rita Gaines is murder and Rick has the case. Rita's personality is caustic so she has enough. First is her dog business, clients are very unhappy. The neighbors resent the smell and noise of kennels. Her financial services is about to collapse hurting the college. It is graduating time and none of the college comps are working making huge lines of seniors. Steve and Rochester must work underhand in order to save the situation. I felt this book should have 4.5 stars as there is a lot of improvement. I recommend this book and I have the next one in my reading list.

A highly abrasive member of Eastern College's board of trustees is found dead, and Steve and Rochester are on the case! They nose through the potential suspects and use their own special skills to find the killer.

This is the third book in the Golden Retriever mystery series, and it's best enjoyed after reading the first two books. I loved Rochester, the doggy detective with a nose for mystery. The college setting is a good one, and I liked learning about the inner workings of the administration office and financial services. The agility training was interesting, and so were the alpha dog training tips. I'm probably not the only dog mamma who decided to eat before feeding their dog after reading this one!

The narration was done well, the narrator has the perfect voice for Steve, and immersed me in the story. I received a copy of the audiobook at my request, and have voluntarily left this review.

I still like the setting and the characters, however, Steve's romance with Lili seems so stiff and unnatural. The mystery itself - about the horrible alumna was great. However, I must admit that I felt I lost track at some point to the end, when all of the sudden everyone was sure whodunit and I felt like "what? when did that happen?". Overall - enjoyable visit with known, likable characters, in cozy (and slightly crazy) setting of both university grounds and various other locations.

Can't get enough of Steve and Rochester

It is impossible not to fall in love with them. The story holds your interest and you laugh at their antics

Plakcy is a master wordsmith. He not only creates memorable characters with unique voices, but uses a vocabulary the befits the character’s station in life. This is in itself a very special and very rare talent for an author to possess. Plakcy’s way of writing description turns telling into showing because the reader has no difficulty visualizing what he is describing. His narrations turn words into vivid pictures. Every writer struggle to achieve this skill, few manage to achieve it. Plakcy is one of the truly gifted few.

Dog Helps Those pick up where Kingdom Of Dog leaves off, which picked up where In Dog We Trust left off. These stories build on one another so it would be best if you read them in the order they were written, beginning with In Dog We Trust. Although the main plots change from one book to the next, the thing that keeps the reader coming back are the relationships developing between the main characters.

The plots to these Golden Retriever Mysteries are all so convoluted that they will keep you glued to the edge of your seat, guessing who the murderer is. The plots thicken and the tension builds to a fever pitch as Steve and his faithful dog, Rochester, uncover more and more clues as they raced to help their friend, Rick, to solve the case. These stories are straight up thrillers, nonstop, roller-coaster thrill rides. They are genuine adrenalin rushes in their own right. The only thing that qualifies these stories to be called cozy mysteries is the fact that Rochester, a Golden Retriever, is the true protagonist, the one that finds the clues, and solved the murders. Steve and Rick are Dr. Watson’s to Rochester’s Sherlock Holmes.

If you love dogs the way I do, you will love all the books in The Golden Retriever Mystery Series. Now I’m off to read Dog Bless You, Book 4 in the series.

This is the third of Neil Plakcy's books that I have read, which follow the adventures of Steve Levitan and his idiot savant golden retriever, Rochester. I liked the first two fairly well, but I had some issues with this one. It's silly the things that bother one. I understand fiction isn't necessarily "real", but things more-or-less should happen as they would in the real world.

My first problem, came when Steve and his friend Rick went to a snooty dog-training Nazi's location to check out her agility training course. Rick had been taking lessons from the woman. Well, immediately, the idiot savant Rochester went through the course with only a few mishaps. The problem here for me is that, in real life, a dog-training Nazi would never let a dog that hadn't even had the most basic behavioral training—sit, stay, come, heal, down—get within a mile of her agility training course. She would know instantly that Rochester lacked even the most elementary training because he was on a retractable leash. No one who understood even elementary level dog training would ever use a retractable leash.

Well, perhaps I'm being a bit severe. Rochester is, after all, rather an idiot savant of a dog. The thing that really bugged the crap out of me is that Steve went outside at one point and looked up to see the constellation Orion. What's wrong with that? Well, in the book we're nearing graduation. Trees have leaves and cast shade. That means we're talking about May or June. There's no way in hell one is going to see Orion in May or June. Nope, Orion is a winter constellation that one sees in December and January. Neil Plakcy should do a little research before he puts his fingers on the keyboard. For shame!

This book is really ***- rather than a plain ***.

There is something really wrong with the computer software at Eastern University and Steve decides to help a student who finds incriminating evidence on the person who purchased the faulty program. Everyone is afraid of Verri M. Parshall because of her wicked temper and her supposed support from the university president.

Steve and his cop buddy, Rick, take their dogs to an agility training course in spite of the fact that the trainer is a real harridan. When she is murdered by an injection of snake venom, suspects abound. Her neighbours hated her for all the noise and smell her dogs caused, the people she sold dachshunds to hated her because of her attitude, she bullied the owners of the dogs in her agility program, and she was also a supposedly brilliant fund manager although Steve learns that 3 of her 6 big clients were in trouble.

Steve gets closer to photography professor Lili.

The author seems to be having a lot of fun with names in this book. In the past we have met Candy Cane, but in this book we also get to know Verri M. Parshall, Yudame (which we are told is pronounced "You Dummy", Lili's ex boyfriend Van Dryver, Faye Tallity, and Don Kashane. I have to admit, though, that my favourite was the character in a previous book named "Dee Gamay" (Dígame), who was annoyed that frequently she would answer the phone to hear people ramble on in Spanish. LOL

•audiobook•

5 Stars

I listened to the books out of order; so it took me a few minutes to remember the status of the growing relationship between Steve and Lily. Otherwise, these books are stand alone and solid.

I liked how we learn more about Lily’s past. I like how we see both Steve and Lily as wonderfully wholesome, slightly flawed individuals who are growing from their mistakes, failures, and disappointments. Their communication with one another is very mature and realistic.

Rochester seemed to have less of a nose to help with the mystery, but mostly because this was more cyber complex.

As I’ve mentioned, I’ve read the eight books in the series (to date) and applaud the author for the creativity, depth, and details given to unraveling the truth. As the clues are discovered, we learn the identity of the killer, so it’s difficult to guess who it is or why until the end.

I really enjoy this series and hope to see more this year! I strongly encourage and recommend this book/series to mystery lovers who want something to captivate them in a light hearted way, without being silly or superficially eye rolling.

Dog Helps Those (Golden Retriever Mysteries # 3)— Neil S. Plakcy/Narrator: Kelly Libatique (30 chapters) May 8, 2022

In book three, a cranky alumna who is also a dog agility trainer is murdered and a corrupt software program has Steve hopping in trying to figure out whodunit, with a Rochester assist at the end.

In this third book, I am losing interest in the series. Rochester, the gold retriever is playing a much diminished role as a big assist to Steve working on the mysteries and I am not sure how much more I can take of the fluff that surrounds these stories that aren’t very relevant to the case at hand.

This book was going to be two stars, but the last few chapters buoyed it to three.

I loved the first book in this series, but I have so many To Read books, I sadly don’t see myself spending any more time with this series. I loved the collegiate location, and it was a joy to read about an English professor and the happenings on what seems like a authentic writing on a small college campus, but the repetition of backstory and the constant dithering about his love life (again, I felt that was authentic and well written,) but it just wore me down.

Three stars.

I loved the first two books in this series, but was disappointed in this one. Rochester is still a smart, talented dog who nevertheless behaves like a dog. Steve and Rick, along with the other regulars and some newcomers, are well developed and likable but flawed. The plot is intelligent and interesting. Okay, so why three stars instead of four or even five? In this book Plakcy chose to give quite a few of the guest characters puns as names. The first couple were clever, but the gimmick got old fast. My other problem was with the terrible software application, Freezer Burn. The problems it caused for the faculty and students of Eastern are a thread that runs through the entire story, but we never learn its purpose. This frustrated for the whole book. Still, I will definitely read the next book.

free ebook of series i like

he works at a college, he got arrested for hacking into a credit card co so his wife wouldnt overspend again after her miscarriage. she divorced him

when he got out he moved into his dads condo, his dad died while he was in prison.

he got the dog when his neighbor was murdered, they both solved her case

this time he had met this obnoxious lady at a art show for the campus. he saw her later at her farm where she did agility training for dogs. she was murdered. his friend from HS who is a cop is working on the case. she was killed with cobra venom. its used to treat dogs with open wounds.

he and his dog helped solve the case!
good book!

Steve is back with Rochester & the rest of the gang. When Rita Gaines, a trustee at Eastern is murdered, who us responsible! Could it be a disgruntled dog owner, another dog trainer or someone they haven't though of! And what's going in a Eastern with all the computer problems that are worse as student try to figure out if they will graduate. Any connection? I'd give it 5 stars but the language is a bit rough and adds nothing to the story.

Love, Love these books. A great series of mysteries and well done with Rochester the Golden Retriever detective. The author uses very clever means for the dog to find "clues" that help solve the murders. They are page turners, quick reads and great entertaining read, like candy for your brain. When you get to the end it leaves you wanting more.

Rochester and Steve have had an excellent adventure in Dog Helps Those. Highly recommended reading for any dog lover.

Rochester proved that he is a very good boy and saved the day for Steve and Rick (Steve's cop buddy). Interesting characters and a well plotted story, make this mystery a fun read. Enjoy!

Ahhh! Another great mystery

As always with Plakcy's books, I consider the writing (excellent), the charactors (well-defined), the murdered person (yipes, what a troll), the twists and turns of the mystery (really great red herrings along the way), and Rochestor and Steve's relationship (super cool); all of this leads to my 5-Stars! Great book. Read it!

Golden are golden

I chose this rating because the main characters were strong and I am a dog lover. The story line was okay. However, I think the fillers with constantly going to pee and for walks was unnecessary. I will probably read another one of his books just to see who is in charge now.

This series continues to improve

Having the main character interacting with an increasing circle of friends, more faculty & staff, & having some students use him as a sounding board makes him more interesting, and fills out the story better, as well. A complicated mystery, that doesn’t truly untangle until the very end kept me reading straight through, wanting more details!

I love these to pieces. Here is a message to one of the reviewers for a little think: The past tense of lie is lay, but not because there is any overlap between the two verbs. So when you say, “I lay down for a nap,” you're actually using the verb lie, not lay, despite the way it sounds. ... Lied, however, refers to the past tense and past participle form of lie when it means “to make an untrue statement.”

Excellent

If you like dogs and mysteries, topped with murder this will be a good book to read. There are university-wide computer system failures, bribery, censorship, all affecting the campus and staff. Add in two competitive dog breeders-trainers, in a town that has an abundance of dog owners and you have a complex and interesting story.

Golden Retriever Book 3

Another good one in the series! I love Rochester!! And I like the characters and Steve's relationships with them. A fun series and I look forward to book 4

I love these books

As the world around us moves in a wobbly way (2019), reading these books helps me relax and enjoy what is safe. Neil Plakcy is an enjoyable author and I thank you for writing these mysteries.

Rochester, Steve and Lili

Rochester the golden retriever is still a detective and contributes once again to solving a murder mystery. Steve and Lily’s relationship is progressing and Eastern College is once again featured prominently.

Better then the previous book

I can honestly say this book was better than the previous books. The plot was laid out better and I didn't know who was the killer until nearly the end. Now it makes me wAnt to read the next one.

These get better and better

I like this series. When I started I was thinking it would be about a dog that somehow solves the crimes….and it is but so much more. Mr Plakcy has a way that speaks to me as a dog owner who las a dog that acts like Rochester…..

Another great story of Rochester

I really like this story just as much as I did the first 2. It is cleverly written and the characters are great especially Steve and his awesome Golden retriever Rochester.

Hero dog

First book by this author. The cover with a dog on it made me want to read it. I really enjoyed the plot of the story. The author kept you involved with the story and didn't want to put it down

Great book to take on a cross-country flight

The book was recommended by a passionate mystery fan. It did not disappoint. Excellent character development , interesting plot twists and a lovable golden retriever. Third book of a series that I plan to read this year.

We’ll Neil did it again

I’m new to his Golden Retriever mysteries and they just get better and better. I’ll start number 4 tonight and I hope I’ll be able to put it down some I can get some sleep.