ISBN: 1890862436

The following review was contributed by:

*Emily Burson:  Click Here To Read Emily's Reviews

The Secret is in the Snarl

“As Dog is my Witness” begins simply enough—a man taking his beloved dog, Dalma, on a walk. The promise of a warm reception by his wife has him distracted, so he doesn’t see the stranger approaching him. The next thing the reader knows, the man is dead, and an unlikely suspect gets freelance writer Aaron Tucker involved in trying to solve the crime.

The suspect is a young man of 22 with a unique autism-like illness called Asperger Syndrome. Tucker’s son also has the illness, so he knows something about the way these children think and behave and soon begins to feel that it is unlikely that the suspect really had anything to do with the crime. While researching the crime for a magazine piece, Aaron finds himself in the middle of a complicated case and a cast of brazen characters.

While it is close to Christmas (which Aaron doesn’t celebrate as he and his family are Jewish), Aaron still uses every opportunity he can to talk to the family and friends associated with both the victim and the suspect. And it’s much easier to investigate the murder with his brother-in-law and his family in town, whom he is none to fond of in the first place.

It is a seemingly insignificant character, Dalma the dog, which finally helps provide the clues Aaron needs to solve the murder, along with some help from an unlikely source-his 12 year old son, Ethan, who is also an Asperger’s child. But, what is the mob connection? Is the mysterious Shapiro a person, a myth, or a little of both?

What is most captivating about “The Dog is my Witness” is the love with which each character is created. There is an authenticity to the characters that makes the reader truly believe they could be friends with these fictional people.

“As Dog is my Witness” is a quick and easy read that manages to be both entertaining and completely satisfying at the same time. Delightful characters and authentic details make the story truly unique—completely believable fiction.

Author Jeffrey Cohen is the author of two other Aaron Tucker novels, “A Farewell to Legs” and “For Whom the Minivan Rolls.” His is also the author of a non-fiction book entitled “The Asperger Parent: How to raise a child with Asperger Syndrome and maintain your sense of humor.”