Two Recent Mysteries

I always try to find a few mysteries for my sister’s birthday that she hasn’t read (especially if the new Jane Casey isn’t available yet) but I had mixed feelings about these two:

Jack Russell https://www.akc.org

Breaking Creed by Alex Kava (2015)

Ryder Creed is an ex-marine turned K9 rescue dog trainer, a solitary man who trusts his business partner, Hannah, and few other people. Their business is training and directing a variety of dogs in operations to uncover illegal activities. Grace, his Jack Russell terrier, is renowned for her drug-sniffing skills at airports, and that is where Ryder encounters teenage Amanda who has been pimped out to smuggle drugs into the US from Colombia. Ryder’s sister disappeared years ago on a family trip so presumably that is why Creed rescues Amanda at the Atlanta airport when Grace detects the drugs she is carrying, and brings her home. Unfortunately, the people who have been exploiting Amanda and other children cannot afford to let her escape so come after Creed, who is well known. There is an assortment of characters in this book from a troubled young man Hannah brings home from the halfway house where she volunteers, South American drug lords, and FBI agent Maggie O’Dell, who is Creed’s love interest. Lots of violence and crazy activity at the dénouement.

This book was recommended by Cath at Read-warbler, and I thought it might also be a good “first book in series” for my sister, who likes dogs (and mysteries with dogs). She reads faster than I do but is not going to like all the spiders, snakes and scorpions in Creed’s Florida neighborhood (some of which are planted by his enemies) so we shall see if this series appeals to her. My main criticism is that it was hard to engage with the characters: I felt as if I were coming in midstream and I was right - it turns out there are 11 books about Maggie before the series spin-off to Ryder.

Crossbones Yard by Kate Rhodes (2012)

Alice Quentin is a psychologist with issues of her own. Due to an abusive childhood in which her mother often hid her from her father in a closet under the stairs, she has claustrophobia and cannot take the elevator to her office and must climb 278 steps every time. When Alice is told London’s Metropolitan Police need her, she is afraid her brother is in trouble. Instead, she is asked to interview Morris Cley, a convicted murderer about to be released. Cley was involved with Ray and Marie Benson, who ran a hostel and buried eight bodies in the back yard. Alice finds him pathetic rather than dangerous but when she finds a body near her home, killed in the same style as the Bensons’ victims, Cley is suspected. However, Alice has bigger worries – her brother was also seen in the vicinity of the body and turns out to have spent time at the Bensons’ hostel. Alice is no detective but when her brother is a suspect and her best friend disappears she feels compelled to get involved in the investigation, even if it puts herself in danger.

I chose book 1 in this six-book series, hoping it is a new author for my sister. Due to family trauma, Alice comes across as cold and she prevaricates with the police, due to wanting to protect her brother, but she is an interesting protagonist and I would be willing to read more about her.

These are my thirteenth and fourteenth books for Carol’s Cloak and Dagger Reading Challenge.