Stalking Ground by Margaret Mizushima

Timber Creek K-9 Mystery, Book 2

Synopsis: Easy Targets

When Chief Deputy Ken Brody’s sweetheart goes missing in the mountains outside Timber Creek, Mattie Cobb and her K-9 partner, Robo, are called to search. But it’s mid-October and a dark snowstorm is brewing over the high country. And they’re already too late. By the time they find her body, the storm has broken and the snow is coming down hard.

While Brody hikes down to bring back the forensics team, and veterinarian Cole Walker gathers supplies to protect them from the storm, Mattie and Robo find themselves alone, guarding the gravesite overnight in the early winter. And it’s only the first in a series of long, dark nights. As their investigation develops, Mattie, Robo, Brody and Cole find themselves in the middle of the killer’s stalking ground—where the hunters have just become the hunted.

Review: I had a good time with the first volume and I was curious to find all the characters again. And then, how to resist a novel where the main heroine is a policewoman who works with a dog who is an essential asset? I think it’s a really nice idea.

So we find Mattie and of course Robo, her dog, but also the whole gang. But nothing will be easy: a young woman is missing. The deputy’s girlfriend hasn’t been seen for a long time and we start the search in the hope of finding her alive. However, things won’t be that simple and our heroine will have to do everything she can to find out what happened. But if that wasn’t enough, Mattie will also have to deal with her past, with memories that she had buried and that could now put her through hell.

It was another great second volume and I really enjoyed all the aspects of the story, especially Cole’s relationship with his daughters, which is, it must be said, really complicated. I followed the investigation with interest, but I suspected the finality without knowing exactly why.

Anyway, I enjoyed the novel a lot and I am very curious to read the sequel again.