An excellent read with lots of excitement and a really great dog. Mattie Cobb has some fascinating issues, and it just makes the whole book sing.

What's not to like about a dog who is a hero and survives ( )

What's not to like about a dog who is a hero and survives ( )

Mattie Cobb is a cop in her small, mountain hometown, and had just graduated from K-9 training school with her new partner, Robo. And a good thing, too, since a teen girl has been murdered and it seems like the new local drug trafficking problem may be involved. Mattie's rough childhood means that she plays everything close to the chest and isn't one for letting people get to know her, but she has to work closely with the town vet on this case (the murder victim's dog was shot, too), and she starts to wonder if letting her guard down with this handsome divorced dad with two young daughters might be worth the risk...

I *loved* the relationship between Mattie and Robo, and Robo is clearly the goodest cop on the force. But the mystery itself wasn't that interesting? The red herrings were maybe a little too obvious, as was the actual culprit, and the police procedural part was too much of the plot (I don't mind detective stories, but the mystery still needs to be center stage for me, and it didn't feel like it was here). I'm not sure that I'll continue with the series. ( )

I downloaded 'Killing Trail', the first book in the Timber Creek K9 Mystery series for lots of reasons - it's got a non-threatening cover, It has a dog in it, it's set in the Rockies, it has a dog in it, it was free as part of Audible Plus, it has a dog in it, it was narrated by the always reliable Nancy Wu and did I mention it has a dog in it?

The start was a little slow but the people were interesting and the details were realistic in an ok-to-watch-at-school kind of way. There's no schmaltzy proselytising and the romance elements are muted and kept in the background. The mystery kept my interest all the way through and of course, I cheered for the dog and his handler as between them they saved the day and brought the bad guys to justice. This book laid the foundation for the development of a credible ensemble cast and the growth of the main character and her partnership with her dog.

I've downloaded the second book in the series, 'Stalking Ground', for all the same reasons that I downloaded 'Killing Trail' and because I think this series could become a comfort read for me. A series I visit when I want a bit of suspense but I also want to know that nothing really awful is going to happen (excluding murders and a few violent encounters). This isn't one of those puff-pastry-and-cream cosy mysteries - it's more like the perfect soup-and-a-sandwich at your favourite diner - you know what you're going to get and you relax into it.
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