Mizushima's plodding ninth Timber Creek K-9 Mystery (after 2021's Striking Range) takes Deputy Mattie Cobb, a K-9 handler for the sheriff's department in Timber Creek, Colo., and her sister, Julia, to Pueblo del Sol, Mexico, to see their mother, Ramona, and meet their stepfather, Juan Martinez, but the pair have decamped from the small village without leaving any indication of where they might be going. Back home in Timber Creek, Mattie and her German shepherd partner, Robo, are called to the scene of a crime. A dead man has been bound in an upright position to a tree. A closer examination reveals the victim to be Juan. Mattie is soon receiving ominous notes that not only threaten her life but also the lives of Ramona and Julia. The plot lurches along between Mattie's search for clues to the kidnapper's identity through her fragmented memories of the past and visits to the veterinary clinic of Cole Walker, her fiancé. Diehard fans will be pleased to learn that Mattie is ready to set a wedding date and that Robo's adorable puppies are healthy, happy, and ready for new homes. This isn't the place to start for newcomers. Agent: Terrie Wolf, AKA Literary. (Mar.)

After her father was killed, Mattie Wray, her mother, and her brother were kidnapped when Mattie was only two. Now in her 30s, Mattie is still trying to put her family together, locate a sister she never knew about, and reunite with her mother. But when Mattie and her sister Julia travel to Pueblo del Sol, Mexico, they learn their mother and her second husband, Juan Martinez, have left town abruptly. Mattie returns home to her job as a deputy sheriff and K-9 handler in Timber Creek, CO, and finds a note on her door: "You'll find him among the standing dead," signed "A friend of your father's." When the sheriff's department mounts a search, they find the body of Juan Martinez. Now Mattie is forced to reveal her mother's story. Notes continue to appear, and Mattie's friends are threatened and even shot. Pressure mounts quickly, and she and the supportive law enforcement team know Mattie is the ultimate target for someone who has terrorized her family for 30 years. VERDICT Readers who have followed the story of Mattie's family through Mizushima's other "Timber Creek K-9" mysteries will enjoy this fast-paced, relentlessly tense installment.--Lesa Holstine

Brutal acts and baffling mysteries threaten the peace of an idyllic mountain community. Colorado deputy sheriff Mattie Wray and her sister, Julia, have ventured south to the Mexican village of Pueblo del Sol to visit their mother, Ramona. Given Mattie's pending wedding to veterinarian Cole Walker, this should be a celebratory occasion, but it turns tense when Ramona's friends greet her suspiciously and explain that their mother is missing along with her husband, Juan Martinez. Could the unsolved murder of Mattie's felonious father decades ago be connected to Ramona's disappearance? When Mattie gets back on the job, a missing person report sends her, with K-9 sidekick Robo and her friend Stella LoSasso, a detective in the local sheriff's office, into the Colorado pine forest, where they make a horrifying discovery: Juan's corpse, roped to a tree. Someone has apparently followed Mattie north from Mexico with vengeance on their mind. On the heels of this bizarre crime, Cole discovers another: the apparent poisoning of several horses. The eighth entry in Mizushima's series is distinctive as ever in its authentic Western flavor and its affection for animals. Robo is an integral part of an investigative team, ferreting out valuable evidence, and the poignant equine mystery is a major plot thread. After Mattie receives a creepy letter from someone identifying themselves as "a friend of your father's" that confirms a connection to Ramona's disappearance, more twists and dangers await. Though Mizushima front-loads her tale with multiple backstories, an abundance of supporting characters, and a handful of mysteries, her lucid prose and caring cast should again captivate readers, new and old, and keep them engaged in the complex mystery. Intrepid, compassionate sleuths unravel a tangle of cold-blooded crimes. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Timber Creek, Colorado, K-9 cop Mattie Cobb's eighth adventure (after Striking Range, 2021) sharply contrasts her settled life with her fiancé, veterinarian Cole Walker, and her tight-knit colleagues at the sheriff's department with her childhood's resurfacing dangers. Mattie's family has been threatened since her father, a Border Patrol agent, was murdered nearly three decades ago by the drug-running Cobb brothers. Mattie believes that the brothers' recent deaths have eliminated the danger, until she discovers that her mother and stepfather are missing. Mattie's nightmare continues when she's lured to a remote campground where she finds her stepfather's body and a note identifying her as the ultimate target. Guarded by her team, Mattie investigates the murders while Cole treats a pair of horses suspiciously poisoned from a trough near the stepfather's body. The horses' owner arouses Mattie's suspicion, as do a group of out-of-town hunters and a prickly local herbalist. Infused with warmth, this suspenseful quasi-cozy's greatest appeal lies in Mattie's work with her K-9 partner, Robo, and Cole's detailed narrative of veterinary procedures.