Bernie Little has been invited to give the keynote speech at the Great Western Private Eye Convention, but it's his dog, Chet, that the big-shot in charge has plans for. Meanwhile, Chet and Bernie are hired to find a kid who's gone missing from a wilderness camp - a case that Chet's always reliable nose sends in a new and dangerous direction. Then matters get complicated at home when a stray puppy looking suspiciously like Chet shows up in the neighborhood....

"Chet the dog, "the most lovable narrator in all of crime fiction" (Boston Globe) and P.I. Bernie encounter heartache and much worse in the world of country music. They're both music lovers, so when Lotty Pilgrim, a country singer from long ago, turns up at a local bar, they drive out to catch her act. Bernie's surprised to see someone who was once so big performing in such a dive, and drops a C-note the Little Detective Agency can't afford to part...

Holiday time in the Valley, and in the holiday spirit―despite the dismal shape of the finances at the Little Detective Agency―Bernie refers a potential client to Victor Klovsky, a fellow private eye. It’s also true that the case―promising lots of online research but little action―doesn’t appeal to Bernie, while it seems perfect for Victor, who is not cut out for rough stuff. But Victor disappears in a rough-stuff way, and when he doesn’t...