The start of a new series, and quite good. The dog in question is Randolph - an intelligent Lab who reads Dante. It reminds me of some of the early "Cat Who . . . " mysteries - except the dog is smarter. The story is very character driven; there is an interesting mystery to solve, but it takes a back seat to learning what makes the characters tick. I have the second book in the series, A Dog Among Diplomats, that I'll be reading shortly, and Englert goes on the short list of authors I buy as soon as a new book comes out.