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Deputy Sheriff Brody resents the fact that Deputy Sheriff Mattie Lu Cobb beat him in the physical endurance test for the slot for training as the first dog handler in tiny Timber Creek, Colorado's brand new K-9 unit, formed mainly to combat the alarming growth of a drug trade in this remote place. The dog, Robo, is a large male German Shepherd and he and Mattie quickly hone the skills they have been taught to become an increasingly seamless partnership.
Called out for the first time to investigate and area around an old cabin up in the mountains where a park ranger has come across a large pool of blood and nothing else, Mattie works out a search grid but abandons it immediately for Robo's clear desire is to move in a different direction. In spite of Brody's sarcastic remarks, Mattie's decision turns out to be spot-on when Robo shows her the burial site of a sixteen year old girl who has been shot to death. Guarding the partially dug up grave is the girl's dog who has been shot and injured.
Others are quickly involved: Sheriff McCoy, Veterinarian Cole Walker and his daughters, and a detective from a nearby county, Stella LoSasso, round out the major characters.
Margaret Mizushima may be new to writing mystery novels but if we weren't told that up front we would never guess. The setting, the well-drawn characters, and the strongly structured plot have the feel of an old hand. There is just enough back story - Mattie's a local, has been with the Sheriff's Department for seven years, had some kind of terrible upbringing resulting in long-term foster care, and is estranged from both her mother and brother - but very little explanation which keeps the focus on the mystery rather than on the backdrop. The writing is strong and the pace quick but Mizushima's research into the workings of a K-9 unit and familiarity with animals (her husband is a veterinarian) go a long way to allow the reader to trust the author to know what she's doing and simply gobble up the book.
If this is not the first in a series of Mattie and Robo novels I will be surprised and a bit disappointed. This novel is just excellent.
§ Diana Borse is retired from teaching English at Texas A&M University-Kingsville and savoring the chance to read as much as she always wanted to.
Reviewed by Diana Borse, January 2016
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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