REVIEW: Killing Trail

Killing Trail
Author: Margaret Mizushima

Officer Mattie Cobb has a new partner: K-9 Officer Robo. They have just completed their training at the academy and returned to Timber Creek, CO. As she learns to apply what she learned during training and to trust her dog, the two of them are pulled into a case where the dog could be key: The death of a local teenager. As the case unfolds, it becomes evident that someone doesn't want Robo on the case. But Mattie and her partner are determined to sniff out the killer.

The plot is a little bit predictable in this first book in the Timber Creek K-9 series, but still immensely enjoyable. There is great suspense and character development. The best part is the developing working relationship between Robo and Mattie. Robo is NOT a pet dog....he is an intelligent, highly trained, police dog. Mattie learns to trust the dog above all else and Robo learns how to give the correct signals to his partner so she knows what he's telling her. I didn't know much about what canine officers do before reading this book. Not sure how accurate it is, but I found it interesting and exciting!

I have read one book in this series previously. I jumped in at Book 4 and read it without any prior knowledge of the series. Before diving into the newest book, Tracking Game, that comes out in November 2019, I thought it would be best to back up and read the series from the start. This first book is a great introduction to Mattie, Robo, local veterinarian Cole Walker and his family, plus the key characters from the Timber Creek police force. It isn't necessary to start at book one. I enjoyed the 4th book when I read it. But to get all the character and relationship developments, it's best to read the books in order.

I can only imagine the difficulties of being a K-9 Officer in an area with such rough terrain. Forest, mountains, backwoods trails....CO must be a real challenge! Where I live in NC there is dense forest and the Blue Ridge, but the elevations are much lower than the Rockies. All that Robo and Mattie go through makes for a very suspenseful, exciting story! With all the place and character development necessary to start out a series like this, I can understand why the mystery portion is a bit predictable. Plus, in real life, cases don't often have mysterious exciting twists every few chapters. I liked a more realistic touch this time. Nicely done! Very, very enjoyable book! Good boy, Robo! :)

Very enjoyable series! I listened to the audio book version of this story. My local library's digital site has the whole series on audio! The audio, narrated by Nancy Wu, is just shy of 9.5 hours long. Wu gives a great performance. Her reading and acting skills are quite good! This is the first audio book I have listened to with Wu narrating. I will gladly listen to more of her performances!

On to book 2 -- it's already loaded on my phone! (Love, love, love my library's digital site!)