Burning ridge by Margaret Mizushima

Burning ridge is the fourth book in the Timber Creek K-9 mysteries, and while you can read it as a stand alone this review contains ***SPOILERS*** if you have not already read Killing trail, Stalking ground and Hunting hour.  I highly recommend reading the series in order.

Mattie Cobb and her K-9 partner Robo are a well oiled team, providing support for their fellow officers.  With each passing day their partnership deepens, and Mattie is constantly working with Robo to broaden his skills and experience.  When the local vet Cole Walker and his family find the partial remains of a person while they're in the mountains Mattie and Robo are part of the team called in to help find the rest of the body she has no idea that the case is about to get deeply personal - because Mattie knows the victim.

Working in a small town is always a challenge for the police because it's hard not to get involved in the lives of your community, and when a ghastly crime occurs it's difficult not to look at everyone with suspicion.  As the team works to untangle the mystery of the recently diseased, they make the startling discovery that the body has company - the remains of several people who were also likely murdered many years before.  As Mattie fights to stay involved with the case she also struggles to cope with the memories of her past that keep surfacing, making her feel unbalanced and adding to her stress levels.  As the suspects are slowly cleared Mattie has no idea that the killer is closer than she knows - and that they have plans for Mattie.

The Timber Creek K-9 mysteries have been a delightful find, not only because they are well written mysteries with twists and turns that keep the story interesting and challenging to solve, but also because of how well rendered the human and animal characters are.  With each book in the series we see new layers for each of the characters, and with each book Margaret Mizushima grows in her confidence with giving those characters more layers and depth.  With this fourth book in the series it feels like Mizushima has reached her full stride, her characters and stories meeting on an equal playing field and I can't wait to see what is next for Mattie as her personal story is starting to reveal hidden depths that will add to her character and the other characters around her.  This is a great series, and one of the few that my mother and I both read avidly.

If you like this book then try:

• Killing trail by Margaret Mizushima
• Stalking ground by Margaret Mizushima
• Breaking Creed by Alex Kava
• Eeny meeny by M.J. Arlidge
• Suspect by Robert Crais
• The edge of normal by Carla Norton
• Classified as murder by Miranda James

Reviewed by Brilla