‘Burning Ridge’ by Margaret Mizushima

My Review (4 stars out of 5)

(Audiobook)

Police officer Mattie Cobb and her police-dog partner, Robo, discover a burned body on an isolated ridge in Colorado.  But as the investigation into the death gets underway, Mattie finds she has familial links to the dead man, throwing her whole life into a tailspin. When three more skeletonized bodies are found, Mattie finds herself, and her dog, have become targets of the killer.

This is book #4 in the Timber Creek K-9 Mystery series. Though part of a series, the book works well as a stand-alone. Set in a small town where not much happens aside from occasional drunken barfights, our heroine Mattie faces several challenges. As well as having a murder mystery on her hands, her own links to the dead man put her life in jeopardy. Along with local vet Cole, whose affection for Mattie grows during the adventure, the cop’s personal history and knowledge of her family is an interesting side-line to the main story. While there are a few gory bits when bodies are discovered, Ms Mizushima’s writing otherwise falls into what I’d class as a cosy mystery, with murder and romance competing for superiority. I particularly enjoyed the relationship between Mattie and her doggy pal, and the specific details of their work helped make the story realistic.

A nice cosy mystery, mixing romance with a few dead bodies.

Back to the Blog