SILENT BITE is David Rosenfelt’s 22nd entry in his Andy Carpenter mystery series, and it’s just as engaging and entertaining as the first 21. I must admit that I’ve now read all of them, and I still can’t help laughing out loud at the extraordinarily humorous phrases, sentences and stories that grace virtually every page. As a matter of fact, “LOL” now has a home, and its name is Andy Carpenter. But the beauty of these novels lies in the simple realization that they’re both funny and suspenseful. And keeping readers in suspense while they laugh is quite a feat.

"[T]he beauty of these novels lies in the simple realization that they’re both funny and suspenseful. And keeping readers in suspense while they laugh is quite a feat."

In SILENT BITE, attorney Andy’s client is Tony Birch, a former gangbanger who has served prison time because of a manslaughter charge of which he was wrongly accused and convicted. At his trial, two fellow gang members acted as eyewitnesses to his alleged crime, and their incriminating testimonies taken together were the coup-de-grace. Also, Tony had become so enraged at their fake testimony that he loudly threatened to kill one of them. Now, six years later, both of them have been murdered, and Tony is obviously the prime suspect, even though he has straightened out his life in the intervening years and is now a respected small business owner. So Andy takes on his case, this time at the urging of one of his dear friends, Willie Miller, whom he had successfully defended in an earlier novel.

As always in these mysteries, Andy and his friends and crew are all sharp, tough, streetwise and very funny. Each character continually either displays or is the object of Rosenfelt’s own unique sense of humor. They, of course, include the ubiquitous canine pet/investigative assistants. One of them, for example, is the K9 partner of investigator Corey Douglas, whose team works for Andy. No spoilers here, so I won’t tell you the dog’s name, but here are a couple of hints: His initials are SG, and when he stretches (after a doggie-nap, for instance), he forms a virtual bridge over troubled waters.

So Andy and the gang investigate; get themselves into all kinds of perilous, even life-threatening situations; patiently and doggedly(!) accumulate clues; and invariably take us on a roller-coaster ride of suspense and laughter. And even though each of these novels is a fascinating and complex mystery, there remains one thing we know for sure: When all is said and done, Andy Carpenter and David Rosenfelt will emerge as the winners every time.