Margaret Mizushima

When a fellow deputy's girlfriend disappears, Mattie Cobb and her K-9 partner, Robo, are on the case. Turns out, it's a lot more complicated and dangerous than a missing person's case....

I love this series. The characters are engaging. The setting in Colorado is perfect. I like Mizushima's writing style. Mattie is an intelligent and skilled main character, but with flaws and past demons to work through just like everyone else. She's dealing with pent up emotions from a shattered childhood show more and dealing with it the best she can. Her relationship with her furry partner is perfect. Robo knows his training and Mattie watches out for him. Makes for a great story!

There is a new book in this series coming out soon, so I'm listening to all four books in this series before jumping into the new one. Stalking Ground is the 2nd book in the series. The first book, Killing Trail, was excellent. There is more character development (a look into Mattie's past, strengthening of relationships with her co-workers Brody, Stella and Rainbow, and further bonding between Mattie & Robo, the vet becomes a major character, etc) in this second book. The secondary elements in the story kept my interest just as much as the crime-related plot. The character development added to the story without taking away from the main investigation.

I listened to the audio book (Blackstone Publishing) version of this story. The audio is just over 9 hours long and narrated by Nancy Wu. Wu reads at a steady pace and does an excellent job of reading/voice acting. Excellent listening experience!

Another great book in this series! I'm moving on to book 3, Hunting Hour. show less

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 show more 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. show less

There are some interesting, wonderful and memorable characters, including several humans and a police dog.

It was really easy to guess the murderer’s identity but I don’t usually read mysteries for the mystery. I read them for the characters, the relationships, the settings and the other aspects of their stories. I did miss guessing correctly the one other culprit, guilty of crimes other than murder.

This story is less cozy than my usual preference but it wasn’t too intense. I love the show more writing style and the storytelling is great. I love the characters. I’m eager to get back to them in the next book. I felt emotionally involved with what happened and what was happening. There wasn’t really anything for me to dislike. It was a joy to read.

From the Author’s Note at the end, it’s clear that she did her research, both about K-9 police dogs and about veterinary medicine.

Sadly, it looks as there are only two books in what I think might have been meant to be a series of mystery books. I plan to read the second book in the not too distant future. I hope that the end of it will make this feel like a complete story. I can guess some of what will happen with the characters’ relationships and I’m looking forward to reading it.

4-1/2 stars

ETA: There are multiple books in this series. Only the first two have been added as series books. Some librarian needs to add the rest of them. I’m happy that there are more than two books. show less

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 show more 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.

(Review copy courtesy of the publisher and Net Galley) show less