Your dad dies suddenly and mysteriously, and his brother starts making the moves on your mom. Before you know it, your charming Uncle Claude has moved in, taken over the family business, and is calling you "son." You are more than a little grumpy about this.

Then one dark and stormy night, you see some sort of apparition in the rain. He ... it ... can't be your father, and yet ... you know it is. Before the night is over, you realize that your dad was murdered. And you know exactly how that snake Claude did it.

Who are you? You could be Prince Hamlet from Shakespeare's tragic play. Or perhaps you are Edgar Sawtelle.

In David Wroblewski's new novel, "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle," 14-year-old Edgar lives on a farm where his parents breed, raise, and train dogs. The time and place are the 1970s in rural Wisconsin, but you'd barely know it. This coming-of-age story has a timelessness and otherworldliness that gives it the quality of a fable, or a fairytale--or a Shakespearean play.

This is "Hamlet" with dogs. You don't need to know Hamlet in order to love this book, but if you do, so much the better! Wroblewski doesn’t hide the Hamlet connection; his characters Claude (Claudius) and Trudie (Gertrude) put it right out there.

However, this book is not a mere Hamlet retread. Whereas Shakespeare’s prince never shuts up, Edgar is silent. Born mute, he cannot speak or even make a vocal sound. To express himself, he uses sign language or writes on paper. But he is particularly skilled at communicating with the dogs his family raises. A fictional breed, the Sawtelle dogs have extraordinary intelligence and intuition. The most beautiful passages in this book are told from the point of view of Almondine, Edgar’s own devoted dog.

Like "Hamlet," this book is rather long. But I found it hard to put down. The writing is gorgeous and the author is a master storyteller. Unlike "Hamlet," this novel is not a masterpiece. There are some unresolved story lines and some plot points just feel wrong. A lot of readers hate the ending, and I can see their point. But all in all, I loved "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle," and I say read it. Then let me know what you think about the ending.