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Paula Munier's debut mystery, A Borrowing of Bones , has everything. It's fast-paced and intense, engrossing with an atmospheric setting in the Vermont woods. For those of us who read for character, though, it's outstanding. Mercy Carr, a veteran of two tours in Afghanistan, and State Game Warden Troy Warner, make an interesting pair of investigators. But, they're not on their own. They each have a rescue dog that is also a K9 working dog. Dog lovers will fall for Elvis, a bomb-sniffing Belgian Malinois, and Susie Bear, a Newfoundland retriever mix. Mercy and Elvis run almost every morning in the Vermont woods. Neither of them can forget Mercy's fiance and Elvis' handler, killed in Afghanistan. Now, the veteran and the dog who is suffering from PTSD need a quiet place to recover. But, just before the July 4 holidays destroy all peace in the area, Elvis noses the pair into trouble. All in one morning, he alerts for explosives, uncovers a human skeleton, and finds...

Although I had heard of Margaret Mizushima's previous books in the Timber Creek K-9 mystery series, I hadn't read any of them.  Burning Ridge , the fourth book, is an excellent introduction, even for those of us who haven't read the earlier ones. Deputy Mattie Cobb is only beginning to trust her feelings for Timber Creek, Colorado veterinarian Cole Walker and his daughters. Mattie's childhood was traumatic, and she spent most of it in foster homes. With her past, there's a reason she worries about Cole's daughters when their dog finds a boot with a human foot in it. However, her job is to assist with the investigation, along with her K-9 partner, Robo. Robo does find the remains of a body, a man who was burned in a shallow pit in the national forest west of Timber Creek. And, she recognizes the name on the man's tattoo. Although she hasn't seen her brother, Willie, in twenty-five years, after they went to separate foster homes, she'd just been talkin...