The Finders by Jeffrey B. Burton – a Review

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Description:
Mason “Mace” Reid lives on the outskirts of Chicago and specializes in human remains detection. He trains dogs to hunt for the dead. Reid’s coming off a taxing year—mourning the death of a beloved springer spaniel as well as the dissolution of his marriage. He adopts a rescue dog with a mysterious past—a golden retriever named Vira. And when Reid begins training Vira as a cadaver dog, he comes to realize just how special the newest addition to his family truly is…

Suddenly, Reid and his prize pupil find themselves hurled into a taxing murder case, which will push them to their very limits. Paired with determined Chicago Police Officer Kippy Gimm, Mace must put all his trust in Vira’s abilities to thwart a serial killer who has now set his sights on Mace himself.

Review:

The Finders by Jeffrey B. Burton is the first book in his new Mace Reid K-9 Mystery series.  The story starts off with the police being called into an abuse case, and the abuser was unconscious from carbon monoxide fumes.  The detective, Kippy Grimm, notices a poor dog laying down almost dead, and she manages to help rescue the dog.  Our hero, Mason (mace) Reid is called in to possibly acquire and train the golden retriever, as Mace trains dogs for drugs, missing persons, explosives and mainly as a cadaver dog (dead bodies-human remains). 

Mace works well with the police in Lansing and Chicago, and has a number of dogs. He names the golden retriever puppy, Vira (short of Elvira), and has three other dogs (Sue, Maggie, Delta).  Kippy visits Mace to inquire about Vira, whom she hoped to adopt, but sees how happy the dog is, and a friendship bond develops between Mace and Kippy.  Chicago police asks for his help in finding a serial killer targeting women, and Kippy becomes involved in the case with her partner, Wabs.  She enlists the aid of Mace, and when investigating a suspect, both Mace and Kippy come across the missing girl and both are injured in the process, but our young Vira saves them and proves to be such a wonderful extraordinary dog, with abilities way more then expected.

Though the case seems closed, Mace will discover that someone is trying to kill him, and all clues point to someone else involved in the serial murder case.  There is a 3^rd POV of the culprit, which I felt could have been minimalized, as this killer had no redeeming qualities, though as we come close to the end, it was a surprise. It is this murderer who ups the ante, as the race is on to find him, before he kills again.

What follows is a wonderful exciting mystery, non-stop action, edge of your seat suspense, with a few twists along the way.  To tell too much more would be spoilers, and this is the kind of book you need to read to enjoy.  I will say I loved the scenes with the dogs, as they were fun and even humorous.  I also liked Kippy and I hope in the upcoming books of this series, they act on a possible romance.  Mace was a wonderful hero, and I really liked him.  But the star of this book was Vira, who not only was smart and sweet, but she was an extraordinary and amazing dog, who was loyal to Mace and Kippy, but also one step ahead of the team; especially with her senses and knowing up front who the bad people are, saving their lives in the process. I cannot wait to read more about our wonderful Vira.

The Finders by Jeffrey B. Burton was a great start to this new series, as the story was exciting, suspenseful, intriguing and very well written.  If you enjoy murder mystery thrillers, with great characters and wonderful specialized dogs, you need to read this book.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher