When Bernie is invited to give the keynote speech at a private investigator convention, his intrepid canine companion is secretly targeted by the high-profile person in charge, an agenda that is complicated by a missing boy and a familiar-looking puppy.

"When Chet the dog and his partner, PI Bernie Little of the desert-based Little Detective Agency, arrive to a meeting with hydrologist Wendell Nero, they find his body. What did the hydrologist want to see them about? Is his death a random robbery, or something more? Chet and Bernie begin to look into Wendell's work, a search that leads to a struggling winemaker who has received an offer he can't refuse."--Provided by publisher.

Chet and Bernie are contacted by a terribly scared young woman who seems to want their help. Before she can even tell them her name, she flees in panic. But in that brief meeting Chet sniffs out an important secret about her, a secret at the heart of the mystery he and Bernie set out to solve. It's a case with no client and no crime and yet great danger, with the duo facing a powerful politician who has a lot to lose. Their only hope lies with a ferret...

"When Chet the dog, "the most lovable narrator in all of crime fiction" (Boston Globe), and his human partner, PI Bernie Little, are approached by down-and-out older man with a cardboard sign at an exit ramp, Bernie is shocked to discover the man is a former teammate from his high school baseball team. Chet and Bernie take Rocket out for a good meal, and later, Bernie investigates Rocket's past, trying to figure out what exactly went wrong. Then,...