Striking Range: A Timber Creek K-9 Mystery

While this is my first venture into the world of the Timber Creek K-9 Mysteries, Striking Range is actually the 7th book in Margaret Mizushima's series, and it shows. This is a well-developed world with interesting characters and lots of backstory. However, I never felt alienated because I haven't read the earlier books. Instead, Mizushima drops little hints about past events, making me want to read the earlier books. She uses these past events to explain how they changed different characters, which helped familiarize me with these characters without having read the previous stories. Perfection! Furthermore, while I have never visited Colorado, her vivid descriptions of the weather and surroundings made me long for fall weather. Not the brutal winter storm she described, mind you, but just pumpkin spice coffee while reading a great book.

Striking Range centers around Deputy Mattie Cobb, a K-9 officer whose partner is an exuberant German Shepherd named Robo. Mattie is also dating Timber Creek's resident vet, Cole Walker, and almost immediately, we learn that Robo has sired a litter of puppies with Sassy, another local German Shepherd, and she and the pups are in distress. So while Cole is dealing with delivering the puppies, Mattie is off to a Colorado state prison several hours away to meet with John Cobb (yes, there is a story behind the shared last name), a man who tried to kill her last year and is serving time in prison for it. Cobb is also someone Mattie suspects was involved in the murder of her own father, police officer Douglas Wray, several decades before and the cold case remains unsolved. Detective Jim Hauck from San Diego is coming down to also speak with Cobb, as he is working Mattie's father's case.

Suffice it to say that not only does Cobb die from an opioid overdose right before they can talk to him, but another body is found dead of an overdose back in one of Timber Creek's campgrounds just as hunting season is kicking into high gear. However, when the young woman's newborn child is missing, they realize they might just be dealing with a murder/kidnapping, as opposed to a suicide. A deadly storm rolls in as Sheriff McCoy and his posse are working to secure and process the crime scene, when yet another tragedy strikes and the rookie cop on the team, Johnson, is badly injured.

Clues found in John Cobb's cell point to something important he may have hidden in the mountainous area of Timber Creek where he tried to kill Mattie last year, but who murdered him? There are also a lot of Nebraska residents in Timber Creek, including the second murder victim. Between the two cases, there are a number of clues pointing to various scenarios and some of them are quite deadly. Can Mattie unravel these puzzles before the killer strikes again, this time too close to home? I absolutely loved Striking Range and highly recommend it. It's a perfect murder mystery with wonderful characters and a twisty, exhilarating path that winds down to a satisfying end.