THE KEEPERS

4 stars out of 5

I love mysteries about cats and dogs, so I was excited to find and read "The Finders," the debut book in this series, last summer. I was no less excited to find this one - and even happier when, once again, I got a pre-release copy of the book to read and review (thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley). Like the first, there's plenty of nail-biting action, both on the part of the pooches and their very likable trainer, Mason "Mace" Reid. Needless to say, though, the dogs pretty much have a corner on the lovable end - any country music fan like me would be hard-pressed to resist pups with names like Delta Dawn, Elvira and Sue (yes, the latter is a boy).

They all live near Chicago, and the dogs are in demand, largely by the Chicago Police Department, for their expertise in sniffing out human remains.  As this story opens, a call from the previous summer sends Mace and a couple of his best canines to a major downtown fire, where the dogs nose out a body. Subsequent investigation determines the fire to be arson and that the dead guy, a lawyer, bit the dust before he turned up as a crispy critter (i.e., he was murdered).

Back to the present, Mace's not-yet-but-hoped-for main squeeze, police officer Kippy Gimm, calls him in to help with the murder of a local musician who, shall we say, was musically challenged and lost. Then Mace and the dogs seek and find an even more prominent - and spectacularly dead - local district attorney. That, in turn, leads to suspicions of nefarious connections that reach to the highest levels of government (hey, this is Chicago, after all). But whoever the someone or someones are behind the murder, it's pretty clear an in-depth investigation won't be welcome. Mace and Kippy soon learn that the hard way, though - putting them and the dogs in mortal danger, on the run and smack dab in the middle of an episode of "Who Do You Trust?"

For sure, this one barked right up my tree, and I'm sure it will be a hit with other readers as well. Good job!

The Keepers by Jeffrey B. Burton (Minotaur Books, June 2021); 288 pp.