The Lost (Mace Reid K-9 Mystery #3) by Jeffrey B. Burton, Matt Godfrey (Narrator)

Published June 28th 2022 by Minotaur Books, Vibrance Press

4 Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Lost is the 3rd book in the Mace Reid K-9 Mystery series. In this series, Mason Reid aka Mace, trains dogs for various jobs as well as being contracted out to help various law enforcement officers. Mace is called out by the FBI with his cadaver dog, Vira when a reclusive billionaire financier Kenneth J. Druckman is attacked in his mansion and his wife and daughter are taken. Vira finds his wife, former supermodel Calley Kurtz, bludgeoned in the woods. He follows the trail of the murderer, but it leads back to the mansion. Suspecting that Druckman is the murderer, they are racing against the clock before his five year old daughter also ends up dead. He teams up once again with Detective Kippy Gimm and following the clues, figuring out which are red herrings and putting the pieces together will lead them on a wild chase with an ending that had me dropping my jaw.

I enjoy K-9 stories and this series is a good one. I enjoy the teamwork of Mace and Kippy, with them working very well together. This book had a bit of a convoluted plot that did slow the story down in the middle, but as the various story lines come together at the end, I never suspected some of the situations. I do like the characters and love how the dogs are described, as well as their various roles. There is some history involved in this case as well, where the characters are not named, so it kept me guessing. I enjoyed this story, but not as much as the first two. The audiobook was narrated by Matt Godfrey, and he has done a good job. I identify his voice as that of Mace, now. I recommend the audiobook, if you enjoy listening to stories.

No Strangers Here (County Kerry Mystery #1) by Carlene O’Connor, Emily O’Mahony (Narrator)

Published October 25th 2022 by Kensington, Recorded Books

4 Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Jimmy O’Reilly is a wealthy racehorse owner who is found dead on a rocky beach in Dingle. He is dressed in a suit and his dancing shoes and propped up on a boulder with a cryptic message spelled out in black stones on the beach. Detective Inspector Cormac O’Brien is dispatched out of Killarney to lead the murder inquiry, and knows there are a lot of secrets and he’s determined to unearth every last buried secret. Dimpna Wilde moved to Dublin to work as a vet, but things are not going well. She moves back to Dingle to clear her family of suspicion in O’Reilly’s death. Her father has increasing dementia, her mother is rumored to have been having an affair with Jimmy O’Reilly and her brother won’t speak to her, so there is a lot going on. As Dimpna begins to get renew her acquaintances. she finds out that there is a lot going on in the horse business, such as jealousy, greed, theft and extortion. Who really killed Jimmy O’Reilly.

I have read several of Carlene O’Connor’s cozy mysteries, but this is not a cozy, it is darker, twistier and quite atmospheric. The small town is full of secrets, but the O’Reilly family is sure they know who the murderer is. They put pressure on Cormac O’Brien to arrest Dimpna’s father and she has to deal with the O’Reilly’s where there is no love lost. I liked both Cormac’s character and Dimpna’s and look forward to seeing more of them in subsequent books. There were some twists, various questionable characters and lots of clues and red herrings. I enjoyed following this mystery and seeing how it was solved. It was a solid police procedural, with Cormac trying to figure out if some of the townspeople know more than they are willing to share. I am looking forward to what is next in the County Kerry Mystery. I listened to this audiobook narrated by Emily O’Mahony. I did take some time getting used to her accent and voice, but once I did, I enjoyed her narration. I recommend you pick up No Strangers Here and get in at the beginning of this new series by Carlene O’Connor.

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