Gathering Mist by Margaret Mizushima

 

First Line: Weather could make or break a search and rescue mission, and the wind would play havoc with the scent trail today.

 

Deputy Mattie (Cobb) Wray and her dog Robo are summoned to Washington's Olympic Peninsula for an urgent search and rescue mission to find a celebrity's missing child. Mattie doesn't really want to go-- it's only a week before her wedding-- but she and Robo are needed.

 

The mission is a difficult one: dense forest, rain, and unfriendly locals all combine to hamper progress, and when one of the SAR dogs becomes ill, Mattie's fiancé, Cole Walker, suspects poison and quickly joins the team as veterinary support. 

As the teams search, secrets come to light. The missing child was kidnapped, and the search becomes a full-blown crime scene. The missing child has to be found before it's too late.

~

This latest installment of Margaret Mizushima's Timber Creek K-9 series is a nail-biter. Putting Mattie, Robo, and Cole in the unfamiliar territory of Washington's Olympic Peninsula certainly ratchets the suspense. The mystery is a strong one, too, so strong that I misidentified the bad guy, which doesn't happen often. 

But as good as the setting and mystery are, it's the characters that I always come back for in this series, and Gathering Mist is no exception. Of course, there are the wedding and family dynamics to deal with because there just has to be at least one person opposed to Mattie and Cole's wedding, but there's always more. 

Mattie and Cole's relationship and the relationships between Mattie and Cole's daughters and their indispensable housekeeper are very important, but I'm always drawn first to Mattie's relationship with Robo. Mizushima does such an excellent job of showing readers what goes into the training of search and rescue dogs and their handlers. Over and over again, this author shows me how indescribably valuable and wonderful these dogs are. But what touches me even more is how the closer Mattie gets to Robo, the harder it is to let him do his job. They get into so many dangerous situations that Mattie is afraid of losing Robo-- and readers certainly can't blame her.

If you enjoy atmospheric, compelling mysteries chockful of wonderful two- and four-legged characters, the Timber Creek K-9 series is one you should read. Due to character development, I would recommend that you begin with the first book, Killing Trail.

Gathering Mist by Margaret Mizushima

eISBN: 9781639108954

Crooked Lane Books © 2024

eBook, 256 pages

 

Police Procedural, #9 Timber Creek K-9

Rating: A

Source: Net Galley

Extinction by Douglas Preston

 

First Line: "Look-- over there," said the guide in a hushed voice, handing Olivia the binoculars.

 

Erebus Resort, deep in the Colorado Rockies, offers guests the chance to view woolly mammoths, Irish Elk, and giant ground sloths in their native habitat, brought back from extinction through the magic of genetic manipulation.

 

When a billionaire's son and his new wife are kidnapped and murdered in the Erebus backcountry, Colorado Bureau of Investigation Agent Frankie Cash partners with county sheriff James Colcord to track down what are believed to be eco-terrorists.

When the killings mount and Erebus Valley is evacuated, Cash and Colcord find themselves confronting an ancient malevolent presence bent on not just destruction but extinction.

~

I've long been a fan of Douglas Preston's thrillers. He always teams a first-rate cast with insider knowledge and an edge-of-your-seat story. Since I'm also a Jurassic Park fan, Preston's story, which revolves around a resort containing Pleistocene megafauna, was right up my alley, too.

The two main characters take some time to get used to each other. This is CBI Agent Frankie Cash's first case in Major Crimes. John Wayne lookalike Sheriff Jim Colcord takes one look at the heavy-set woman and mentally raises an eyebrow. It doesn't take long for him to learn that she has a razor-sharp mind... and that she's much fitter than he is. Cash loves Jurassic Park, but it's a bit of a bummer when she learns that the megafauna of Erebus have all had any aggressive genes removed, which has had the effect of turning them into scaredy cats. But that turns out to be a very good thing because something else is very wrong in this resort.

Strong interesting characters. Check. A fast-paced, thrill ride of a story. Check. A setting that not only involves huge creatures from another age but a movie being filmed in the valley as well as a labyrinth of old mines. Check. All this was a treasure trove for my imagination, and I did "watch" a lot of it on my mental movie screen. But. For some reason, I couldn't completely buy into the secret heart of Preston's story. Even though his Afterward was fascinating. (Don't miss it.) And since I couldn't willingly suspend 100% of my disbelief, Extinction became a very good story instead of a fantastic one. However, it certainly does give readers plenty of food for thought.

Extinction by Douglas Preston

eISBN: 9781250909763

Forge Books © 2024

eBook, 384 pages

 

Standalone Thriller

Rating: B+

Source: Purchased from Amazon.

Ambush by Barbara Nickless

 

First Line: The call came late on an August evening while Jeremy Kane was upstairs, rocking his infant daughter.

 

When she was in the Marines, railway cop Sydney Parnell made a promise to Malik, a young Iraqi boy. Unfortunately, Malik has secrets that an assassin Sydney knows only as the Alpha wants.

 

In order to keep her promise to the boy, Sydney travels to Mexico City and back to Denver, Colorado. With the help of her ex-war dog, Clyde, she is determined to track down the Alpha and keep her promise to Malik. 

 

~

 

Barbara Nickless certainly knows how to write compelling thrillers with strong main characters. Former Marine and railway cop Sydney Rose Parnell suffers from PTSD. In Iraq, she served in Mortuary Affairs, the detail that prepared soldiers killed in action to be returned to their families in the U.S. In her own words, "We were the Marines the other Marines avoided. The pariahs, the bad-luck charms. The ones no one wanted to risk being near." Combine that with her other combat experiences and it's no wonder that she has PTSD. At least, now in her job as a railway cop, she has her former war dog, Clyde, at her side to help her out.

Ambush centers on the promise Sydney made to a young Iraqi boy and the lengths to which she will go to fulfill that promise. The narrow escapes she has from the killer known as Alpha show how determined he is to keep his secrets, but they also show that Sydney refuses to quit. Her guilt and the promise she made to the Iraqi boy, Malik, prove that nothing will stop her in her quest to ensure a good life for the boy-- even if it means getting to the bottom of why Alpha will go to any lengths to cover his tracks. 

Sydney Parnell is a strong, nuanced character that readers can really sink their teeth into, and her investigations can really keep hearts racing. I know I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.

Ambush by Barbara Nickless

eISBN: 9781503901513

Thomas & Mercer © 2019

eBook, 356 pages

Police Procedural/Working Dogs, #3 Sydney Rose Parnell mystery

Rating: B+

Source: Purchased from Amazon.

Man Found Dead in Park by Margaret Coel

 

First Line: Catherine tapped the brakes and turned into a street filled with SUVs, black-and-white police cars, yellow and red lights flashing, and an ambulance idling on the side.

 

Journalist Catherine McLeod finds herself investigating the death of a man found in a park in a Native American neighborhood of Denver, Colorado. No one in the neighborhood is talking to the police, but-- due to McLeod's Arapaho heritage-- she does find someone willing to say just enough to get her started.

 

What she doesn't realize is that she's going to find herself in Wyoming's Wind River Reservation and in conflict with Mexican drug cartels.

 

~

 

I've been slowly savoring Margaret Coel's Wind River mysteries featuring Catholic priest John O'Malley and Arapaho lawyer Vicky Holden and felt it was high time I met journalist Catherine McLeod in the novella, Man Found Dead in Park. I'm glad I did. Coel is a magician when it comes to blending story, character, landscape, and culture into a reading experience that I simply can't resist.

The two main characters in this novella are McLeod, an investigative journalist in Denver. An Arapaho, Catherine was raised by a white couple from the age of five, and she wants to learn more about her heritage. Arapaho lawyer Vicky Holden uses the white man's laws to help her people. Both are strong, sympathetic characters who make a good team working to solve a mystery involving how Mexican drug cartels have moved onto reservations.

If you're already a fan of Margaret Coel's writing, you'll enjoy this fast-paced story. If you're new to this writer, you'll find Man Found Dead in Park to be an excellent stepping stone to both the mysteries featuring Catherine McLeod and the Wind River series with Holden and O'Malley. You have some excellent reading ahead of you, especially if you enjoy writers like Tony Hillerman.

Man Found Dead in Park by Margaret Coel

ASIN: B07FR2JPLJ

A.S.A.P. Publishing © 2018

eBook, 165 pages

 

Novella

Rating: B+

Source: Purchased from Amazon.

Blackwater Falls by Ausma Zehanat Khan

 

First Line: No death could have been more profound.

 

When the body of a young Muslim girl is found at a local mosque in Blackwater Falls, Detective Inaya Rahman and other members of Denver's Community Response Unit (CRU) are called in to take charge of the investigation. There have been sustained charges of the harassment of minorities filed against the local sheriff, and no one wants to see this town turn into a powderkeg. 

Rahman and her partner, former trauma therapist Catalina Rivera Hernandez, have barely begun when they learn that other young girls from the immigrant community have gone missing, and their fates have been largely ignored. Finding a link between the death of young Razan Elkader and the missing girls, Rahman discovers that the leader of the CRU, Lieutenant Waqas Seif, is finding ways to obstruct the investigation. Wary of his motives, she relies on her partner Catalina and local civil rights attorney Areesha Adams for help in finding the truth before another young girl goes missing.

~

When you open Blackwater Falls, you immediately fall into a story of racial tensions, faith, prejudice, and fear, and author Ausma Zehanat Khan is a master of pulling readers into an unfamiliar world and making them feel a part of it. This is the sort of book many of us need to read in order to understand what immigrants and minorities have to endure every day, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if some readers find it an uncomfortable experience.

Detective Inaya Rahman is an interesting character. Daughter of Afghan-Pakistani parents and sibling to two younger sisters, Inaya has only recently stopped wearing the hijab. Formerly of the Chicago Police Department, she fled an untenable situation to become a member of Denver, Colorado's Community Response Unit (CRU). Described by another character as being "as biddable as a musk ox," her stubbornness and tenacity make her a good investigator, but she needs to learn when to dig in her heels and when to make a strategic retreat. 

As good and compelling a read as Blackwater Falls is, I felt that it suffers a bit from Too Much Syndrome (TMS). In this case, much of the TMS is due to setting up her characters and the background, but let me give you an incomplete rundown of the plot elements. You'll find various immigrant communities (Somalis, Afghans, Pakistanis, Palestinians, Syrians, Lebanese) and their differences described, Inaya's Chicago backstory, her boss Waqas Seif's backstory, corrupt police officers, a spy in the CRU, Seif's real agenda, goings-on at a food processing plant, goings-on at an aerospace plant, the plight of refugees, hate crimes, a murder investigation, a missing persons case, an evangelical church complete with hate-filled sermons and its own biker gang enforcers, Inaya's mother trying to marry her off, Inaya being big sister, and romantic sparks between Inaya and Seif. As I said, this is an incomplete list. Whew! Sometimes, there was so much going on that my head spun.

But I value Khan's storytelling ability. She's proven to me that she's one of the best at creating complex investigations to solve in worlds that I'm unfamiliar with-- and becoming familiar with those worlds and their people is every bit as important to me as the crimes she asks me to solve.

 

Blackwater Falls by Ausma Zehanat Khan

eISBN: 9781250822390

Minotaur Books © 2022

eBook, 384 pages

 

Police Procedural, #1 Inaya Rahman mystery

Rating: B

Source: Net Galley

Striking Range by Margaret Mizushima

First Line: Today Deputy Mattie Cobb could interrogate the man who had once tried to kill her.

 

Deputy Mattie Cobb traveled to the Colorado state prison to find out if the man who tried to kill her also killed her father thirty years ago. But when she and cold case detective Jim Hauck show up for the interview, the man is found dead in his cell. After going through his things, Mattie can find only one clue: a marked map showing the rugged Redstone Ridge area right outside Timber Creek.

Mattie's used to working with veterinarian Cole Walker, but Cole is busy with the first litter of puppies sired by her K-9 partner Robo. She and Robo have barely started their search when they're called away to a nearby campground where the body of a young woman has been found. Identification of the deceased woman points to her recently having given birth, but no baby is to be found.

Mattie and her fellow police officers believe finding the young woman's killer will also find the baby. Unfortunately, they must begin their search in a storm that leaves the mountains covered in ice and snow. When Cole Walker goes missing, Mattie and Robo kick into high gear. Mattie believes Cole is stranded with a killer, and she's not about to let him go it alone.

~

 

Time can certainly fly when you're reading an exciting series filled with characters that you've grown to love. It's hard for me to believe that this Timber Creek K-9 series is already on book seven. Readers have been following Mattie Cobb's professional life as a police officer and K-9 handler as well as her training of Robo and her dealing with the emotional baggage of her personal life. We've also had much the same journey with veterinarian Cole Walker as he's dealt with divorce, raising two young daughters, and his busy practice. 

Mizushima does an excellent job of showing readers just what is involved in being a K-9 handler and keeping working dogs like Robo in top form. The relationship between Mattie and Robo is one of the reasons why I enjoy this series. I'm not one to care for much romance in my mysteries, but somehow this author manages to continue to develop a relationship between Mattie and Cole that brings real depth to both characters (and doesn't make me want to roll my eyes). Actually, it's been known to make me smile.

Even though I found the bad guy to be rather easily guessed, I still enjoyed the journey to this person's unmasking. I like watching the Timber Creek sheriff's department work together to get things done, and Striking Range wouldn't be another strong story in this series without an exciting chase/search/rescue high in the mountains.

If you're a reader who enjoys reading strong mysteries involving working dogs, the great outdoors, and an intelligent cast, you need to read Margaret Mizushima's Timber Creek K-9 series. You can read Striking Range as a standalone, but if you love character development, I'd advise you to start with the first book, Killing Trail-- and I won't be at all surprised if you then join me in my annual visit to the Colorado Rockies.

Striking Range by Margaret Mizushima

eISBN: 9781643857473

Crooked Lane Books © 2021

eBook, 288 pages

 

Police Procedural/Working Dogs, #7 Timber Creek K-9 mystery

Rating: B+

Source: Net Galley

Winter Counts by David Heska Wanbli Weiden

First Line: I leaned back in the seat of my old Ford Pinto, listening to the sounds coming from the Depot, the reservation's only tavern.

 

Virgil Wounded Horse skates along by working an endless variety of temporary jobs, but his real occupation is as an enforcer on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota. When the American legal system denies any Lakota on the reservation justice, they can hire Virgil to dispense his own-- painful and memorable-- brand of punishment.

Then heroin makes its way to the reservation and threatens Virgil's only family, his fourteen-year-old nephew, Nathan. Now it's personal, and Virgil enlists the help of his ex-girlfriend to learn where the drugs are coming from and how to make them stop. It's a journey that will force Virgil to face his own demons and to reclaim his Native identity.

~

As a rule, I avoid crime fiction involving drugs, but something told me that Winter Counts would be different. I was right. One of the greatest tools in a writer's arsenal is voice, and the voice of Virgil Wounded Horse immediately drew me into this story. You wouldn't think that a character whose main occupation is beating people to a pulp would interest me, but Virgil isn't your stereotypical violent musclebound oaf. No, Virgil has a strong moral compass which is easily seen when he's offered $5,000 to do a job for a member of the tribal council. $5,000 is more than Virgil makes in a year, but Virgil doesn't jump at the chance to earn all that money because the entire situation doesn't "smell right" to him.

Virgil, his teenage nephew Nathan, and Virgil's ex-girlfriend Marie show the effects of reservation life on three different types of people. Virgil represents what can happen to a poorly educated person on the reservation. Nathan shows us the dangers of reservation life for the young, and educated Marie shows us how many Lakota are trying to improve life on the reservation. All three characters are well-drawn and utterly believable.

Not only did I find myself immersed in the story, but Winter Counts was also a learning experience for me. I had an idea that the American legal system did Native Americans no favors, but I hadn't realized just how abysmally the law treats them. It should not have come as such a surprise. But the law wasn't the only area in which I learned new things. Winter Counts is rich in Lakota history, spirituality, culture, and food. (By the way, do not call the Lakota "Sioux"-- it's another one of those Caucasian derogatory terms.)

The only thing that kept this book from being one of my Best Reads of the year was the fact that, for a mystery, the identity of the chief bad guy and other elements were much too obvious. But with a character like Virgil and the other riches that the author serves up in Winter Counts, that's a small complaint indeed. I highly recommend this book, and I look forward to Weiden's next novel.

Winter Counts by David Heska Wanbli Weiden

eiSBN: 9780062968968

Ecco Books © 2020

eBook, 336 pages

 

Standalone Thriller, Native American mystery

Rating: A

Source: Purchased from Amazon.

Hanging Falls by Margaret Mizushima

First Lines: Friday afternoon, mid-July. A stitch in her side plagued Deputy Mattie Cobb as she jogged uphill, telling her that her level of anxiety and this form of exercise didn't mix.

When Deputy Mattie Cobb and her K-9 partner Robo accompany a Fish and Game officer up into the high country around Hanging Falls to check for trail damage, they find a body floating at the edge of a lake. When Robo catches the scent of a homeless man living in the forest, this person rapidly becomes suspect number one.

With the help of local veterinarian Cole Walker, Mattie identifies the victim and finds herself visiting some new residents to the Timber Creek area: an odd religious cult whose dress and manners hark back to the nineteenth century. As clues are gathered and the list of suspects grows, Mattie has a dream come true. She is visited by members of her long-lost family, and she's hoping that they will be able to shed light on the night when she was abducted at the age of two. 

Hanging Falls, the sixth book in Margaret Mizushima's enjoyable Timber Creek K-9 series, has more of what I always look forward to: wonderful outdoor scenes in the high country of Colorado, animals like Robo to enjoy, and catching up with some of my favorite fictional characters. 

I found the mystery in this book to be a bit pedestrian, but perhaps that's because I've read Betty Webb's Lena Jones mysteries. What is more important (besides those riveting scenes up in the mountains) is Mattie finding out more about what really happened during her traumatic childhood.

I've enjoyed this series, not just for its animals and high country action, but also because of its characters. Mattie's journey to put her past behind her touches the heart as does Cole Walker's attempts to balance a very busy veterinary practice with his home life and two daughters. He's trying very hard to be there for his two girls after they were abandoned by their mother. Mattie's fellow police officers also play important roles in the stories.

I'm slowly recuperating from my trek up to Hanging Falls, and now it's time to wait once more for Mattie and Robo's next adventure.

Hanging Falls by Margaret Mizushima

eISBN: 9781643854465

Crooked Lane Books © 2020

eBook, 288 pages

 

Police Procedural, #6 Timber Creek K-9 mystery

Rating: B+

Source: Net Galley

Bookscout by John Dunning

First Line: His name was Joel Beer, but even that was partly made up.

I have to admit that I read this short story about a man who spends six days a week hunting for books in Denver simply because I miss John Dunning's books. A lot of the things I learned about the value of first editions, etc., I learned from reading Dunning's superb Cliff Janeway mysteries, and if you haven't read them, I do hope you'll give them a try. (The first one is Booked to Die.)

Joel Beer could make a good living as a bookscout if he were the only one in Denver, but he's not. He's got stiff competition, especially from Popeye Lamonica. But when Joel and his partner Lacy-- a slow-witted vagrant-- are facing eviction, Joel is determined to find that elusive book that will pay all the bills and set them up.

What happens is all about truth, the human spirit, and the magic of books. As a rule, I am not a re-reader, but I may have to make an exception for John Dunning. The man is Good.

"Bookscout" by John Dunning

eISBN: 9781480456396

Open Road Integrated Media © 2013

Originally published in 1984.

eBook, 35 pages

Short Story, Standalone

Rating: A

Source: Purchased from Amazon. 

Dead Stop by Barbara Nickless

First Line: Her husband brought home little from the war.

When a woman is murdered on the train tracks and a child goes missing, Special Agent Sydney Parnell fears that she really isn't ready for another investigation since she hasn't fully recovered from a violent confrontation five months before. But she also knows that she's the only one who can lead the hunt for the child and the killer.

The Denver PD and the FBI chase their own tails, but Parnell follows a single cryptic clue that was left behind at the crime scene.

While the Denver area is being hammered by a series of thunderstorms that threaten massive flooding, Parnell and her K9 partner Clyde find themselves following a trail of murder that stretches back thirty years-- all to rescue a little girl and to catch a killer with a long memory.

Like the first book in the series, Blood on the Tracks, Dead Stop kept me enthralled from first page to last. The fast-paced story, the multi-faceted main character, and the information I learned along the way combined for a perfect read.

Among the things I learned? A bit of Colorado history, that Silly String isn't just for making messes, and bits and pieces of railroad lore and procedures. Don't mind me, trains click-clacking down the tracks lulled me to sleep as a child, and the book isn't chockful of railroad trivia if that's not really your thing. But all these things add depth to the setting and helped put me right in the middle of the action.

Dead Stop has an excellent mystery. I loved how all the various threads were woven together and how Parnell teased out all the clues. And the ending had my heart in my throat.

But the characters are what make the story work. FBI Special Agent "Mad Mac" McConnell worked well with Parnell, and as bits of her history were shared, I could see why McConnell was such a strong, interesting character. But it's ex-Marine Sydney Rose Parnell and her inherited ex-war dog Clyde who got most of the attention, as well they should. Both fought in Iraq. Clyde's handler was the love of Parnell's life, and she inherited Clyde when her lover was killed. Both woman and dog suffer from PTSD, and although they are a formidable team when they're on the job, it's not all about the job. This partnership runs deep because they both look to each other for emotional support, too.

The quotes that begin each chapter are from Parnell's classwork, therapy sessions, and her personal journal, and they shed light on the type of person she is. One of the best things this book-- and the series-- does is to help illustrate what soldiers returning from war go through.

I enjoy the author's blend of setting, story, and character so much that I'm really looking forward to the next book in the series. I hope you'll give these books a try, and I do recommend that you begin with the first book, Blood on the Tracks.
 

Dead Stop by Barbara Nickless

eISBN: 9781503943384

Thomas & Mercer © 2017

eBook, 388 pages

Police Procedural, #2 Sydney Rose Parnell mystery

Rating: A+

Source: Purchased from Amazon.


 

Tracking Game by Margaret Mizushima

First Line: Tonight, the stage had been set for love.

When a bomb explodes and the body of outfitter Nate Fletcher is found shot through the heart outside a community dance in Timber Creek, Colorado, Deputy Mattie Cobb and her K-9 partner Robo are part of the investigation.

The investigation takes them to the ranch of Doyle Redman, whose daughter is Nate's widow, but before they get much further, they receive an emergency call from a man who's been shot in the mountains. Mattie and Robo are first on the scene, and both are disconcerted when they hear the ominous growl of a large predator they've never heard before. What on earth is roaming the mountains around Timber Creek?

The animal must be tracked and caught before anyone is hurt, and as new players emerge, Mattie begins to understand the true danger that involves everyone in Timber Creek.

Margaret Mizushima's Timber Creek K-9 mysteries set in the high mountains of Colorado continue to impress me with their strong mysteries and charismatic main characters. She certainly knows how to set her stage: the tracking scenes in the high country had me on red alert, listening for the deep-pitched, rumbling growl of something that wanted me for dinner as I turned the pages.

The two main characters, Deputy Mattie Cobb and veterinarian Cole Walker continue to grow and change. Mattie lived through some traumatic incidents in her childhood and she's still working through the aftermath. In Tracking Game, Cole's two daughters are learning more than they want to know about the confusing and often devastating illness of depression. The secondary characters are solid, and I like the way the entire community reaches out to help others.

There are some excellent twists and turns in the plot of Tracking Game, so if you're in the mood for a strong mystery with three intelligent, likable lead characters (Mattie, Cole, and Robo) who live and work in a vivid high country setting, pick up a copy of Mizushima's latest Timber Creek K-9 novel.

Tracking Game by Margaret Mizushima

eISBN: 9781643851358

Crooked Lane Books © 2019

eBook, 320 pages

Police Procedural, #5 Timber Creek K-9 mystery

Rating: B+

Source: Net Galley

Breaking Wild by Diane Les Becquets

First Line: It was snowing already, in early November, after days of hot, clear fall weather.

When mother of two Amy Raye Latour doesn't return to camp deep in the Colorado wilderness, ranger Pru Hathaway and her dog Kona are one of many search and rescue teams to respond. Few leads and unexpected heavy snowfall turn the mission into a search and recovery. No one could survive those conditions with no provisions. No one. Especially a woman.

As time passes, Pru Hathaway is the only person who does not give up on Amy Raye. Pru has learned a few things about the missing woman from her attempts to track her, and she simply cannot give up. Against all the odds, Pru believes the woman is still alive, and that's a good thing. Miraculously, Amy Raye is still alive. But for how much longer?

You know how movies can have you sitting on the edge of your seat? Well, that's what Diane Les Becquets' Breaking Wild did to me. This book is, in part, an homage to the wonderful Colorado wilderness. In talking about grief and love and wild spaces, it is downright poetic. But much more than that, it is a survival story and a character study of two amazing women.

On the surface, the women seem to be opposites. Pru Hathaway has only had two relationships in her whole life, and now the BLM archaeological law enforcement ranger's son Joseph is about to finish high school. Hers has been a very self-contained yet rewarding life. Amy Raye Latour is a wife and the mother of two...and when it comes to men, she's made one disastrous choice after another. So many disastrous choices that her marriage is in very real danger. Pru looks within herself for what she needs; Amy Raye looks outside herself. The only two ways these women are similar is in their love of wild spaces and the fact that neither one of them knows how to give up.

In alternating chapters, we hear from both Pru and Amy Raye. When a cougar begins a cat-and-mouse game with Amy Raye, Les Becquets really tightens the thumbscrews on this tale of survival. I was so caught up in the story of Breaking Wild, that I cried at the end-- and that very seldom happens to me. This is an exceptional tale well told. If you're in the mood for a rollercoaster ride of a character study featuring beautiful wilderness and two fantastic women, don't wait to get your hands on a copy of Breaking Wild. Wow.

Breaking Wild by Diane Les Becquets

eISBN: 9780698411616

Berkley © 2016

eBook, 310 pages

Thriller, Standalone

Rating: A+

Source: Purchased from Amazon.


 

Blood on the Tracks by Barbara Nickless

First Line: His life wasn't worth spit in a hard rain.

When his fiancée is found murdered, the prime suspect is the Burned Man, a hideously scarred Iraqi war veteran. However, railroad police Special Agent Sydney Rose Parnell is convinced that there's more to this apparent crime of passion than meets the eye. Perhaps it's because she and her K-9 partner, Clyde, are also veterans of Iraq, but Parnell can't help digging deeper in the investigation.

The further Parnell and Clyde look into the crime, the further they descend into the underground world of a savage gang of rail riders until they uncover a conspiracy and a series of shocking crimes. Not only do these two have to protect themselves from a brutal Denver winter, but they also have to protect themselves from killers who do not wish to be exposed.

If there's one thing this hard-hitting, compelling mystery brought home to me once more, it's the fact that we ask too much of our two- and four-legged soldiers. We always have, and we have always given them too little in return.

I recently came across a list of seven mysteries featuring working dogs. Since I'd read four of the books and liked and/or loved them, I thought I'd get my hands on the other three. Blood on the Tracks is the first of the three I've read. I liked the sound of it because I had yet to read a book about a railroad detective. I suppose I thought hobos and all that had gone out with the Depression back in the 1930s. (Sometimes my thought processes need a good dusting.)

Even though I did roll my eyes a little at a few things in the book (the best time to track a killer out in the middle of nowhere is during the Storm of the Century; whodunit was a bit easy to piece together; and why does a female character have to have a love interest?), I was still blown away by this fast-paced, visceral story, and that has almost everything to do with the main character.

I immediately fell under the spell of Sydney Rose Parnell's voice. She may have inherited her fiancé's dog, and she may think "something was broken inside of Clyde," but she is the one who is truly broken. Each chapter begins with an excerpt from her private journals or college classwork, and these passages hammer home the damage her time in Iraq has done. Parnell was part of a team none of us want to think much about: Mortuary Affairs. As a member of that team, it was her responsibility to find every bit of a deceased soldier that she could in order to piece the body back together. If a part could not be found, it had to be "shaded out" on the proper form. Each time Parnell touches her heart with her hand and makes a dead soldier whole in her mind, it's a mind punch for the reader, and Parnell's world is brought into sharper focus.

Parnell's K-9 partner, Clyde, doesn't have quite as much to do in this book as working dogs have in similar books I've read, but I think his contribution will grow (and what he does do is choice). There are some unanswered questions about Iraq that should come to light in the next book in the series, and I'm looking forward to reading Dead Stop. I want to learn more railroad and hobo lore, and I definitely want to learn more about Sydney Rose Parnell. She's the type of character to get under a reader's skin and refuse to leave. I like that.

Blood on the Tracks by Barbara Nickless

eISBN: 9781503936867

Thomas & Mercer © 2016

eBook, 386 pages

Thriller, #1 Sydney Rose Parnell mystery

Rating: A+

Source: Purchased from Amazon. 

Burning Ridge by Margaret Mizushima

First Line: If Deputy Mattie Cobb had eaten supper at home with her K-9 partner, Robo, she wouldn't have noticed the rig parked illegally across the street from the Main Street Diner.

When a charred body is found in a shallow grave up on Redstone Ridge, Deputy Mattie Cobb and her K-9 partner, Robo, are called in to lead the investigation. As the pair continue to gather evidence in the mountainous terrain, more gruesome discoveries are made, but none will shock Mattie as much as when the first body is identified.

Then the killer begins playing a deadly cat and mouse game with Mattie. She could very well be the next victim on the killer's list, but there are two who will fight to the last to make sure that doesn't happen: Robo and veterinarian Cole Walker.

Margaret Mizushima's Burning Ridge is the fourth book in her Timber Creek K-9 mystery series, a series which relies on good strong mysteries (most of which take place in the glorious Colorado outdoors), the relationships between the characters, and exciting scenes that put readers right in the middle of the action. A theme throughout the series has been Mattie coming to terms with her difficult past, and Burning Ridge brings this theme to fruition. Not only does Mattie have to deal with her past, she also has to come to the realization that she now has people around her who truly care about her, people whom she can trust. It's how Mattie deals with these emotional questions that adds so much to this book (and the entire series).

After the last book, Hunting Hour, I was hopeful that Mizushima would steer clear of any further child jeopardy, and I'm happy to report that she did. She still delivers a tightly woven, exciting mystery that takes place in the mountains of Colorado. Every time Mattie had to saddle up a horse to head up to remote Redstone Ridge, I was reminded of some of my own trail rides. Mizushima can pull you right out into the great outdoors, which is something I enjoy. In many respects, I'm reminded of Nevada Barr's Anna Pigeon series, so if you're missing Anna as much as I am, I'd like to recommend the Timber Creek K-9 series. Good characters, good setting, good mysteries. Good stuff!

Burning Ridge by Margaret Mizushima

eISBN: 9781683317791

Crooked Lane Books © 2018

eBook, 279 pages

Police Procedural, #4 Timber Creek K-9 mystery

Rating: A

Source: Net Galley

Her Kind of Case by Jeanne Winer

First Line: Someone was knocking on her office door, but Lee didn't move or call out.

Lee Isaacs is about to turn sixty, and she's not quite sure how she feels about that. Perhaps in defiance of those advancing years, she decides to take on a tough murder case in which she will be defending a mostly uncooperative sixteen-year-old boy who has been accused of helping kill a gay gang member.

Her Kind of Case is my kind of book. The story is built around a slowly resolving mystery that captures the reader's attention and won't let go, but there's more to it than a good courtroom drama. It is a joy to see Lee Isaacs' personal story unfold.

Lee is an older single woman who has achieved career and personal success. She's still mourning the death of her husband, but she fights the good fight each and every day: taking on cases that interest her and doing her best to win them, going to the dojo to keep her skill in martial arts honed, and staying in touch with an interesting and supportive group of a few friends.

Lee is an introvert and very self-contained, and that black belt in martial arts means that she's used to pain and not showing it-- a very useful tool in the courtroom. Her dry sense of humor is delightful. Yes, the story is a very good one, but she is the real reason why I had to keep turning those pages. Lee brings readers right into the heart of what it means to be the type of lawyer that all those bad jokes are not about.

Her Kind of Case does involve social issues that confront us today, and one of the best things about the book is how the author treats the character of Jeremy, the teenage boy accused of the murder of a young gay man. Not only do readers' opinions of the boy change as the story progresses, but so do the attitudes of the characters around him. When I finished reading Jeanne Winer's book, the first thought in my mind was, "I hope she's writing another. I want to see more of Lee Isaacs!"

Her Kind of Case by Jeanne Winer

ISBN: 9781610882286

Bancroft Press © 2018

Hardcover, 320 pages

Legal Thriller, Standalone

Rating: A

Source: the publisher


 

A Season to Lie by Emily Littlejohn

First Line: On a cold and bitter night in February, twelve weeks after giving birth, I returned to what I knew best: death.

It's just what new mother Gemma Monroe needs on her first day back on the job: there's a blizzard howling outside and the station has received a report of a prowler at Valley Academy. She and her partner, Finn, think it's a prank, but when they do a check of the school property, Gemma discovers a grisly scene out in the snow. The dead man's true identity was meant to be kept a secret, but no one at the Cedar Valley Police Department knows how long that will last. Besides, that's the least of their worries because an ominous note was left with the body promising more deaths to come.

Like the first book in the Gemma Monroe series, author Emily Littlejohn proves in A Season to Lie that she can create a premise for a mystery that will keep readers turning the pages. Unfortunately, the story as a whole fell a bit flat for me, and there were two main reasons for this.

One was Gemma's personal life. She's a brand-new mother who's finally come to terms with the fact that she is and that she enjoys being a mother. But somewhere between having to stop and use a breast pump every couple of hours and her partner whining about being stuck at home with a baby, I just wanted her to forget she had a personal life and concentrate on the investigation. Which leads to the second problem.

Gemma's investigation of the death of a famous man who was incognito there in Cedar Valley really had my interest until I deduced the identity of the killer by the description of the character and how everyone reacted to the person. From there on in, my interest deflated like a slow leak in a snow tire. I don't like it when this happens because it's not always a sign of my superior deductive skills. Sometimes it's simply a matter of my suspicious nature.

But by all means, your mileage can certainly vary, so don't be hesitant about giving A Season to Lie a try-- especially if you've read the first book in the series.

A Season to Lie by Emily Littlejohn

ISBN: 9781250089410

Minotaur Books © 2017

Hardcover, 304 pages

Police Procedural, #2 Gemma Monroe mystery

Rating: B-

Source: Amazon Vine

 

Inherit the Bones by Emily Littlejohn

First Line: In my dreams, the dead can speak.

Cedar Valley, Colorado is filled with hikers and campers in the summer and skiers and snowboarders in the winter, but beneath the beautiful scenery that surrounds the residents lie some pretty gruesome secrets.

Almost forty years ago, two little boys disappeared without a trace until Detective Gemma Monroe uncovered their bones a few years back. Their murders remain unsolved, attributed to a ghostly monster locals call the Woodsman. Now a young man has been murdered in a seedy little traveling circus, and as Gemma tries to find justice for the victim, she's going to uncover secrets that will shake this Colorado community to its foundations.

This is a debut novel that doesn't read like one. Emily Littlejohn has a beautiful, lyrical writing style that captivated me from beginning to end. She's also created a nuanced main character that I definitely want to read more about. Gemma Monroe's parents were killed in a car wreck, and she was raised by her grandmother who is now in the grip of dementia. Gemma is pregnant, and her partner is off in the wilds of Alaska on a geological survey. Their relationship is complicated; Brody is a man Gemma loves deeply, and she trusts him with her life-- she just doesn't trust him with her heart. So she's got all sorts of personal troubles compounded by being forced to work with a fellow officer whose ethics have been questionable on more than one occasion.

Inherit the Bones has a fascinating premise that kept its hooks in me throughout the book, but it's one you can't really talk about for fear of giving things away. Whodunit was easily deduced by me this time around, but with the character of Gemma, the storyline, and the way Emily Littlejohn writes, I didn't care. I'm looking forward to more.
 

Inherit the Bones by Emily Littlejohn

ISBN: 9781250089397

Minotaur Books © 2016

Hardcover, 336 pages

Police Procedural, #1 Gemma Monroe mystery

Rating: B+

Source: Purchased at The Poisoned Pen.

Hunting Hour by Margaret Mizushima

First Line: "Whom do you trust, Mattie?" 

Deputy Mattie Cobb is having a difficult time dealing with issues from her past, and as a result, she's withdrawn from veterinarian Cole Walker and his family. Instead, Mattie focuses on work and on training her K-9 partner, Robo. Shortly after Robo and Mattie find the body of a missing school girl, another young girl goes missing, and this time it hits hard. The missing girl is one of Cole's daughters, and there's nothing Mattie won't do to find her. 

Deputy Mattie Cobb is more emotionally attached to her K-9 partner, Robo, than she is to anyone or anything else, and it's this attachment that makes them one of the best teams in crime fiction. However, in this third book in Mizushima's riveting series, Mattie is much too emotionally involved to be objective, and readers get to see her coming off the rails in her frenzy to find Cole's daughter. 

One of the reasons why Mattie loses her objectivity is because she really doesn't understand mental illness-- one of the issues Mizushima handles so well in Hunting Hour-- and this stresses the importance of proper training for all police officers, not just the four-legged ones. 

As in the previous two books, Hunting Hour is a superb look at working dogs in a police department, their training, what they're capable of doing, and how those capabilities could expand. The book also has the author's trademark action sequences that keep readers glued to the page, and the rich relationships between the main characters that make them so easy to care about.

Evidently my whodunit radar was in fine fettle when I read this because I spotted the villain immediately. Perhaps it's the work I did in a mental health institution so many years ago. I really don't know. Be that as it may, I enjoyed Hunting Hour, and was happy to see a small hint at the end that leads me to believe that Mattie and Robo could have new challenges in the future. I really think a new direction is needed because the series has been heavy on child jeopardy. After all, Cole's daughters have had more than their share of terror!

If you're a fan of small town Colorado settings, action that gets your adrenaline pumping, solid mysteries, wonderful dogs, and a fine cast of characters, you're in for a treat with Margaret Mizushima's Timber Creek K-9 series. Start at the beginning with Killing Trail! 

Hunting Hour by Margaret Mizushima

eISBN: 9781683312789

Crooked Lane Books © 2017

eBook, 320 pages

Police Procedural, #3 Timber Creek K-9 mystery

Rating: A

Source: Net Galley

Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore by Matthew Sullivan

First Line: Lydia heard the distant flap of paper wings as the first book fell from its shelf.

Young Joey Molina is a proud member of the BookFrogs, regulars who spend a lot of their free time at the Bright Ideas Bookstore. When Joey commits suicide in one of the bookstore's upper rooms, the life of his favorite bookseller, Lydia Smith, begins to come unglued. 

Lydia has spent her life hiding in plain sight. She is bequeathed Joey's meager possessions, and when she begins to go through his books, she finds them to be defaced. The defaced books are disturbing on their own, but they also seem to contain messages to Lydia. What did Joey want Lydia to know?

As Lydia tries to find out, memories from her own violent childhood begin to surface. You see, there's a reason why Lydia has been hiding, and it not only takes Joey's death, but the reappearance of her father, a police officer, and a murderer known as The Hammerman to bring the truth to light.

Although it's undoubtedly due to the advance reading copy I had, I found the clues Joey left in his books to be very difficult to read-- so difficult that I took the coward's way out and just let Lydia deal with them. But that takes nothing away from the powerful debut novel that Matthew Sullivan has written. Sullivan brings to life a very special bookstore along with its woven-together family of employees and customers. It's a place I could spend hours in, which mean I'd probably join the family, too.

Lydia is a strong and uncommon main character. Being the sole survivor of The Hammerman is something that would live with a person forever, and it has certainly changed Lydia in many ways. I was enjoying this book, but not mentally singing its praises until chapter eight. Chapter eight is when "Hammer Night" is described. I do not scare easily, and I'm not squeamish, but that chapter made my blood run cold. Sullivan put me inside the skin of little Lydia so completely that I saw everything she saw and felt everything that she felt. By chapter's end, I was crying for that little girl. This is a masterful piece of writing, and if any of you are worried, it's not graphic.  Sullivan does what the best writers do-- let readers' imaginations fill in the details.

The mystery is also a good one as one character after another appears to be guilty. The identity of The Hammerman didn't occur to me until a few pages before the reveal, which is always a bonus. 

If you're in the mood for a scary, well-written mystery that makes you sit with your back against the wall so no one can sneak up on you, Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore may be just the book for you.  

Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore by Matthew Sullivan

eISBN: 9781501116865

Scribner © 2017

eBook, 336 pages

Amateur Sleuth, Standalone

Rating: A

Source: Net Galley

A Story to Kill by Lynn Cahoon

First Line: When Thomas Wolfe said you can't go home again, Cat Latimer wondered if he knew he was full of crap. 

When former English professor Cat Latimer inherited a big Victorian house, she knew exactly what she wanted to do: host writers' retreats while she writes her own novels. 

The place is open for its first retreat, and bestselling author Tom Cook is one of the guests. Cat is thrilled to have him there even if she is wondering why on earth he came all the way from New York. He's going to be the perfect addition to her quirkier (and far less famous) attendees.

When there's an unexpected ending for Tom Cook in his cozy guest room, Cat has all the help she needs. Her high school sweetheart Seth is on the premises renovating the rooms and her uncle is the local police chief. She may have a lot of help on hand, but one thing is certain: she's got to find Tom Cook's killer before her brand-new business becomes the next victim.

Lynn Cahoon has written a very good mystery with an appealing main character. The setting is a winner, too, and I loved the house Cat inherited as well as learning how she and her business partner/friend Shauna had set up the retreat. This isn't the first cozy with a retreat-type setting that I've read, so I found it interesting that Cat hadn't thought to run background checks on her attendees either. That should probably be the very first tip in "Craft & Writers' Retreats for Dummies." (Don't google it; I made that title up.) I also wondered about having Seth do all that remodeling work on the house while the retreat was being held. There were supplies and tools out in the yard, a lot of hammering going on, and traffic with the aforementioned Seth and supplies on the same stairs the guests were using. As clumsy (and oblivious) as I know people can be, I would think Cat would finish the remodeling before she ran her first retreat to avoid possible injuries and law suits. I know, I know... she didn't have enough money to do it that way-- and Seth needed to be around a lot of the time.

With the exception of Shauna, Seth, and Cat's uncle, the secondary cast doesn't stand out much, and since I'm the type of mystery reader who doesn't like much romance in her whodunits, there was way too much tingling going on between Cat and Seth. Enough that I really don't care to read further in the series. But that's just me-- the love-is-in-the-air element may tickle you pink, and I hope it does. 

A Story to Kill ends on a bit of a cliffhanger concerning Cat's ex-husband, and it should draw you right into the next book in the series, Fatality by Firelight. Cat Latimer is a stellar main character and so is the writers' retreat setting. If romance is your thing, add that to what you will hopefully find to be a very enjoyable mystery.

    

A Story to Kill by Lynn Cahoon

eISBN: 9781496704351

Kensington Books © 2016

eBook, 320 pages

Cozy Mystery, #1 Cat Latimer mystery

Rating: B

Source: Purchased from Amazon.