Tracking Game: A Timber Creek K-9 Mystery by Margaret Mizushima

The story begins with a murder.  Someone shot the young husband and torched his van.  Mattie and Cole heard the explosion at the dance so they raced out to see what happened.  As they start sorting through facts, they find that some of the man's time isn't accounted for.  He didnn't go where he said he was going and he was back early.  The more they dig the worse it gets.

Crooked Lane Books and Net Galley let me read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published November 12th.

They are tracking in the woods above the road he was killed on and they find another dead man.  They also have a run in with a big cat.  The worse part, the cat was chewing on the man. At least he was already dead.  They try to convince her it was a mountain lion, but she knows what one of those sounds like and it wasn't that kind of growl.  The wildlife expert agrees with her.  The footprints are bigger and different shaped.  It's a tiger...

With the sheriff and his deputies, two dogs and their handlers and Cole they go looking for the tiger.  They know it's dangerous.  It's got cliffs the cat could jump from or the hunters could shoot at them.  But they want to save the cat and take the hunters into custody.

Who's going to succeed?

Burning Ridge: A Timber Creek K-9 Mystery by Margaret Mizushima

Mattie is looking forward to seeing her brother again after so many years apart.  They share bad memories and she'd rather not relive them but seeing him would be good.  She never imagined he'd be dead when she saw him next.

Crooked Lane Books and Net Galley allowed me to read this for review (thank you).  It will be published September 21st.

When Cole and his girls go for a horseback ride in the high country, he's horrified when his dog brings them a boot with a remainder of a foot in it.  That sets off a search.  Not only do they find that victim, they find three more in other graves.

Mattie can't figure out why someone would want to murder her brother.  She better figure it out quick because she's the next on the list.  And there are more surprises yet to come.
 

Hunting Hour: A Timber Creek K-9 Mystery by Margaret Mizushima

Mattie and her dog, Robo, are called out to look for a missing junior high girl.  They find her.  She's dead.  But the search for her killer gets really complicated.  The thirteen year old girl was sleeping with high school guys.  The father has no alibi.  There are sex offenders in the area.  How many more suspects will turn up?

Crooked Lane Books and Net Galley allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published August 8th.

The relationship between Mattie and her dog is special.  It makes reading the author's mysteries even more enjoyable.  I also enjoy Mattie's almost romance.  She's been abused in her past and has trouble trusting men.  She also has trouble letting her painful past go.  But she's working on it.

As they keep tracking down answers about the people in the suspect line, another girl is abducted.  This one Mattie knows well, it's her boyfriend's youngest girl.  She is determined to get her back alive it it's at all possible.

There's emotional trauma everywhere, Mattie has trouble setting aside her own emotional problems when the cases seem to similar to her experiences, Cole is going nuts because his daughter is missing and he should have been there when she came home, and the whole time all this playing out, they keep investigating.  There's an old man who has paranoia problems (he's not taking his medicine) and they suspect him for a while because the girl has been in his truck.  She went there to pet his dog but didn't tell her dad about it.  He's the one that ultimately helps them find the girl.  He reports he heard the deer screaming but Robo smells her scent further down the road.  Off they go, they are going to find Sophie!

This was a fascinating mystery with a lot of psychological factors thrown in.  I enjoy Ms. Mizushima's writing and how she shapes her stories.  She also makes her characters human.  If you haven't read her work before, give it a try.  I bet you'll follow this series, too.

Killing Trail: A Timber Creek K-9 Mystery by Margaret Mizushima

When they find blood on the porch, they know something bad happened at this cabin.  When her police dog finds another dog in the bushes who has been shot, they wonder if that is where the blood came from.  Then they find what the dog was trying to dig up...

Crooked Lane Books and Net Galley allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published December 15th.

The young girl in the grave was the owner of the dog and a student at the local high school.  Mattie asks a lot of questions but doesn't get a lot of answers.  She was a good student, a good girl and had no enemies.  So who killed her?  You'll be surprised.  It's a real good thing Mattie has Robo with her.

The author does a good job of twisting her tale and adding odd bits that look like something but are something else.  I enjoyed the interaction between Mattie and her dog, Robo.  I think might be some romantic feelings beginning between the local vet and Mattie.  I also liked how the author showed Mattie that one of the cops she was suspicious about really wasn't a bad guy.  The bad guy was a bit of a shock.

The story moves well, has some dangerous moments, and kept me reading.  I'm already ready for the next book in this series.  I hope Mattie is around for a long time.