4.5★s
The Good Dog is the third book in the Detective Zoe Mayer series by best-selling Australian author, Simon Rowell. Macedon Station police respond to reports of two shots fired, and find wealthy local home owner, Piers Johnson dead at the Mount Macedon war memorial cross, with a single gunshot wound. When DS Zoe Mayer, her partner of two weeks, Detective Senior Constable Ben Tarro and, of course, her service dog Harry, arrive on the scene, it’s Harry, finely tuned to distress, who finds the second victim, minutes before he dies.

The man who has bled out from what, at first, appears to be a self-inflicted wound to the neck is Johnson’s long-time friend and lawyer, Antony Peterson, who successfully defended him against fraud charges six months earlier. Beside him, a ghost gun, 3D printed. But before very long, Zoe has dismissed the murder-suicide implication and is looking at the four investors whose hefty losses give them the perfect revenge motive against the investment advisor and his counsel.

Frustratingly, the two business people who sustained the largest losses, owner of a road construction company and an industrial shed maker, have cast-iron alibis. Of the minor investors, the Macedon pub owner’s alibi seems to hold up, while the former police sergeant had committed suicide after Johnson’s acquittal meant his life savings could not be redeemed. All three remaining investors have either a police record, or connections with ex-cons, so aren’t quite in the clear.

But the case seems to be going nowhere. Johnson’s Mount Macedon house is robbed and ransacked, adding to the puzzle. Then Peterson’s teenaged daughter is plucked from the street in broad daylight, and Zoe knows they will have to find her fast: a ransom call indicates it is linked to the fraud, and it’s clear these perpetrators are ruthless, having killed twice already.

Harry is once again a star in this instalment, the title being very apt as he proves himself to have more talents than his accepted role. Rowell gives the reader a twisty plot in which all the regular cast play to their strengths while the new addition begins to find his place. There’s plenty of action and lots of phone tapping, leading up to a dramatic climax (or two) and a reveal that only the most astute reader will see coming. More of this addictive Aussie crime series will be most welcome.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Text Publishing.