Hunting Hour

by Margaret Mizushima

Hunting Hour begins with the personal issues of Sheriff’s Deputy Mattie Cobb, but quickly segues into the drama of a missing young teenage girl. The focus of this book by Margaret Mizushima is the efforts of Mattie and her K-9 officer Robo. They work well as a team. Originally trained to sniff out drugs, Mattie has recently trained Robo to search by sniffing an object belonging to a person and then follow the scent. He is also capable of following commands to attack a perpetrator, stop the attack, and keep the suspect in place. All of that sounds easy but is actually a complex process, once the dog is trained, to prep the dog properly for each event, handle him correctly, and then reward for a good effort. If the dog doesn’t find something, that is as significant as if he does. All of this information is shared in context so it is never pedantic and helps move the story.

While Mattie is doing her job, she has to deal with her feelings for Cole, the local vet, and his two daughters. Trauma from Mattie’s past also surfaces during her investigations. She must struggle to remain professional when confronted with a suspect with bizarre behaviors.

I highly recommend this mystery and plan on reading the two previous books in this series: Stalking Ground and Killing Trail. There was no problem reading this book as a standalone, but it is such a good mystery that I am looking forward to reading more by this author.

I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to Crooked Lane Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 5/5

Category: Mystery

Notes: #3 in the Timber Creek K-9 Mystery Series

Publication:  August 8, 2017 — Crooked Lane Books

Memorable Lines:

The stress on his face caused the pain she’d been suppressing to flare. He came to stand at her side, the warmth from his body contrasting with the coldness she felt in her chest…

Fear gripped her, making her gasp. Sprinting toward the aspen grove, she entered, slowing to part the foliage around the slender white tree trunks slashed with gray.

Always listen to your dog! If you don’t, you’ll only be as good a team as a human cop can be. If you do, the possibilities are endless.