TRACKING GAME, Margaret Mizushima, Timber Creek K-9 Mystery #5

Mattie Cobb has a canine partner in police investigation: her trained K-9, Robo, who also acts in part as a chaperone. But when crime and death break out, Robo is all business.

TRACKING GAME is the fifth in the K-9 police procedural series from Colorado author Margaret Mizushima. Deftly portraying the allure of watching this kind of investigation partnership in action -- the gestures that alert a dog's highest capacity to seek, the communication between animal and handler, the risks they tackle together -- Mizushima adds to it a fitting strand of growing romance between Cobb and the veterinarian who keeps her dog fit. Mattie and vet Cole Walker both have engrossing careers that leave them with little spare time, but at least this time, they're learning how to make space for each other.

But then again: With the unfolding criminal entanglement at Timber Creek, even the usual shreds of down time may vanish:

Cole still knelt beside his friend, apparently assessing his condition, while Mattie's heart thudded in her throat. Who in the world could've killed Nate Fletcher? And did the person who shot him torch his van to destroy some kind of evidence?

Mizushima spins an active, smoothly constructed crime novel that tugs at interpersonal connections while also laying the familiar card of a ranch threatened with foreclosure and a possible gambling habit. Then she lights up the strands with a new form of smuggling: exotic wildlife for highly illegal "big game" hunting for big dollars.

The twists of the plot are balanced best by the moments of Robo going into action, prepared for it by Mattie Cobb:

She turned to go to her Explorer, and as she approached, Robo started his happy dance, his head bobbing behind the front seats. He'd probably been watching the entire time, wondering when it would be his turn to play. It took mere seconds to prep him, and when she slipped on his narcotics detection collar, it focused all that eagerness into work. She clipped on his leash and used the phrase that would communicate his mission. "You want to find some dope? Let's go!"

K-9 policing will be new to many crime fiction authors. It makes a great new "shelf" of books to collect, starting with Mizushima's five (she describes them as stand-alones with a character arc). Add this also to Western mysteries, to female leads, and to well-done police procedurals. Violence? Enough for crime, but not gory, although brace for some wildlife moments that aren't always gentle (Western life, right?). Consider this a traditional mystery, treading fresh ground.

Published by Crooked Lane, and already available.

PS:  Looking for more mystery reviews, from cozy to very dark? Browse the Kingdom Books mysteries review blog here.

Western Crime Fiction, Action, Compassion, in MOUNTAIN RAMPAGE, Scott Graham

Living in northern New England, I look to the voices of established Western writers to test the premises of new crime fiction from, say, Colorado -- like MOUNTAIN RAMPAGE, the second in an exciting and ambitious series from Durango, CO, author Scott Graham. It's reassuring to find both Ann Hillerman (daughter of Tony Hillerman) and Michael McGarrity -- one my faves among the very dark Western crime fiction -- vouching for Scott Graham's work. This assurance sets me free to ride the wild action sequences in Graham's book without stopping to ask "Could this happen?" And that's great, because an abandoned mine, wildfires, shootings, and hunting-gone-wicked rock the pages of MOUNTAIN RAMPAGE and the life of the Chuck Bender, archaeologist.

You know how some forms of "cozy" or "traditional" mystery can often involve the development of love and intrigue in the investigator, often a woman, who's trying to get to the bottom of a crime? Graham's great gift as a writer is to turn the paradigm around, giving us insight into Chuck Bender's struggles as a relatively new husband and step-father within a Latina family. In fact, Chuck takes reponsability in every aspect of his work life, too: directing a summer camp of interns, watching out for the bodies and souls of young men and women on an "exotic" archaeological site, and tracking down a poacher when the local police take the evidence too lightly. It's not the best way to keep his new marriage on steady ground, though, as the local (and very feisty) research librarian points out:

"The minute I saw your wife and girls, I knew you were a lucky man." Elaine paused. "Are you sure you don't want to keep it that way?"

"What do you mean by that?"

She pointed at the baggie on the pavement beside here. "This stuff has some bad juju to it. I can feel it."

Chuck studied her. She didn't seem the type, not remotely, and yet she was talking ... as if she knew of the skeletal remains at the bottom of the mine.

"I've been lucky enough so far," Chuck said. "I'm willing to take my chances."

Elaine sighed, smoke escaping her lips. "Of course you are."

Elaine's right, and Chuck is gambling with far more than his own chances. From valuable animals to possible gold in those hills, to the lives of risk-taking teens and young adults, there's a lot at stake here. Chuck's family members also face consequences from his actions. But his agony over each wrong step makes the reading more than worthwhile, and Graham is sure-handed in both the plot twists and the growth of this intriguing amateur sleuth.

Torrey House brought out Graham's debut, Canyon Sacrifice,  last December. You don't need to read them in order, but I think the series will be more satisfying that way -- and will hint at what's ahead for Scott Graham and Chuck Bender.