He could be a great comfort to her while she tussles with inner chaos. I'd like to see and feel more about the interaction between Mattie and Robo. This is the beginning of a good series - a good setting, interesting characters and it's always nice to have a dog like Robo around.

There's some super writing toward the end - descriptions of escape and tracking exude realism.and the reader is transported to this mountainous scene. The novel is a bit short on mystery and suspense until it kicks into gear more than halfway through - and it becomes a page-turner in the last chapters. Add to this a remote horse stables that trains racehorses, and needs the services of the vet, and you have the people around which the novel revolves. Deputy Brody's girlfriend disappears and is found murdered - and not just murdered - shot in the back with an arrow, as if she had been tracked. Our protagonist, Mattie Cobb, a deputy who is accompanied by her K-9 friend, Robo, has family problems dating back to childhood, and flashbacks of abuse loom from time to time.

The characters are dealing with personal problems - Cole, the town vet, is struggling after his wife up and left, causing a divorce, and leaving him with two teenage girls (complete with all the difficulties of that age). I had not read the author's first book, but this novel didn't suffer for the lack of background knowledge. All that was here, and it was enjoyable reading. What drew me to this novel was the aspect of a setting in a small Colorado mountain town, a good dog story, and a mystery to be solve by a small law enforcement group. And that's only the first long, dark night in a series of them, because as their investigation develops, Mattie, Robo, Brody, and Cole find themselves in the middle of the killer's stalking ground - where the hunters become the hunted.Īn engrossing listen filled with tension, excitement, and heart, Stalking Ground, the second in Margaret Mizushima's lauded debut series, will send a chill down every listener's spine. 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 dead of the early winter. By the time they find her body, the storm has broken and the snow is coming down hard. But it's mid-October and a dark snow storm is brewing over the high country. When 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. The next thrilling installment in the Timber Creek K-9 mysteries.

Killing trail by margaret mizushima