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.

Series:  Timber Creek K-9 Mystery

Summary:  When Deputy Mattie Wray and her German Shepherd, Robo, are asked to fly out to Washington's Olympic peninsula to join in the search for a missing nine-year-old boy, she can't say no. Even though she's supposed to be getting married to her veterinarian fiance, Cole Walker, at the end of the week. Because there's a lost child and the local police need Robo's air scenting skills. Luckily, Cole has her back, even traveling to Washington to offer his doctoring skills to all the SAR dogs there and their handlers helping to search the dense forest area where they think the boy wandered off into. But Mattie soon starts to suspect his disappearance is the result of something more sinister. Can they find him in time?

My thoughts:  I love this series and a big reason why is the dogs and all their search-and-rescue skills. It's so interesting! I like learning about the difference between ground tracking and air scenting, each dog's speciality, and how their handlers guide them. And Mattie and Robo certainly have their work cut out for them this time trying to track a small child through such a rainy forest setting. This mystery also has good action and suspense. And all of these characters are so great. I've loved seeing Mattie's and Cole's relationship deepen over the course of this series. And Robo is the best! Gathering Mist is another winning read from Margaret Mizushima.

My rating:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Happy Reading!

Desperate Creed by Alex Kava

Frankie Russo is on the phone with her co-worker when he's murdered. Now the men who killed him are after her. Afraid for her life, she starts driving to Florida where her friend Hannah lives and works with Ryder Creed and all his search dogs. She's going to need both theirs and FBI Agent Maggie O'Dell's help to deal with the situation she is in. But a slew of tornadoes are raging across the Southern states, making Frankie's cross-country trek even more dangerous. It also means Ryder and Jason and their K9 partners are heading into the storm's path to search for any survivors, while Ryder's vulnerable sister, Brodie, waits for them at home.

"Creed let his eyes wander out the window. Blue skies, not a hint of the storms predicted for later in the day. He realized that was sort of how Brodie was. ... There seemed to be an internal storm still brewing beneath her surface, though she pretended everything was blue skies. He knew that PTSD worked differently in everyone. He had dealt with his own on his own terms. But he also knew that it could sneak up on you when you least expected it. When you thought you'd put it behind you. Just when you felt safe and secure."

MY THOUGHTS:  This is another good one from Alex Kava--compelling and well-written. And Ryder Creed is still one of my favorite characters. In this one, he's trying to help his sister recover from her past (which is explained in Kava's previous novel Lost Creed), figure out his relationship with Maggie, and deal with the aftermath of several tornadoes alongside his best scent dog, Grace--tornadoes that put both Frankie and Maggie in jeopardy. I love all the dogs in these books. And I really like Ryder's sister, Brodie, who is both fragile and tough. And that tornado action? Crazy and scary! Desperate Creed is a great combination of mystery, suspense, and survival. I'd give it 4.5/5 stars.

Happy Reading!

P.S. Be sure to begin the Creed adventure with the first book in this series:  Breaking Creed.

Lost Creed by Alex Kava...

Ryder Creed's sister, Brodie, disappeared sixteen years ago, taken from an interstate truck stop while her dad and brother waited for her in the car. She was eleven years old. Now, every time Ryder goes out with his dogs on a search-and-rescue mission, he thinks about her, wondering if his sister, or her body, will ever be found. Then he gets a call from FBI Agent Maggie O'Dell. In a human trafficking raid in the middle of Nebraska, Maggie finds Brodie's picture. And she thinks that Eli Dunn, the man at the center of the raid, might know what happened to her. But Eli's playing his own game with the FBI, leading Maggie and Ryder (and his Jack Russell terrier, Gracie) on a macabre scavenger hunt.

(In a side story, Ryder's associate, Jason, and his black lab, Scout, go on their first search-and-rescue assignment alone where things don't quite go as planned. Moral of this secondary story: Trust your dog!)

My thoughts:  Lost Creed is a fast-paced and well-written read. I like all the characters in this book, both the people...and the dogs! It's fun to see Jason's role grow. And Gracie and Scout are awesome. Every book makes me like Ryder more and more. (In this one we even get to meet his mom.) And the mystery surrounding Dunn and all the missing kids was both compelling and suspenseful. Though I find the fact that human trafficking of minors continues in our country today completely heartbreaking! Overall, this is a great book. I couldn't put it down. In fact, I think this just might be my favorite Ryder Creed novel yet!

Happy Reading!

Previous Creed read:  

Breaking Creed

A Borrowing of Bones...

How it begins:  

"Grief and guilt are the ghosts that haunt you when you survive what others do not. Mercy Carr survived, and so did Sergeant Martinez's dog. Nearly a year after her best friend died in Afghanistan, she rose at dawn and took Elvis on another long hike through the Vermont woods. A tired dog was a good dog. ... So every morning they marched off their grief mile after mile in the mountains, where the cool greens of the forest could chase away the dark ghosts of the desert."

The main characters:

Mercy Carr, 29, former military police who's stubborn and independent, quotes Shakespeare and who's still grieving the death of her best friend and fiance ... and her dog, Elvis, a five-year-old bomb-sniffing Belgian Malinois with canine PTSD.

Troy Warner, 33, Vermont Fish and Wildlife Game Warden who's wife left him one year ago ... and Susie Bear, his Newfoundland retriever mix that he rescued who now helps him with all his search and rescue jobs.


The Mystery:

Mercy and Elvis are out hiking when they find an abandoned baby in a clearing in the woods. Troy and Susie Bear come up to help investigate and stumble upon some old bones nearby. Is it just some strange coincidence, or are they somehow connected? As Mercy and Troy investigate further the mystery surrounding both only deepens.

What I liked best:

Mercy, Elvis, Troy and Susie Bear!  Mercy and Troy are both a little broken and not sure they can trust each other. But they do trust their dogs. And together they make a formidable team. I liked the growing friendship between Mercy and Troy and I loved their dogs. The mystery is good as is the Vermont setting, but it's the characters who make it really compelling. I'd give this one 4.5/5 stars.

Happy Reading!