Mystery Monday

Hello my Fellow Book Dragons on this snowy November Evening. A special thank you out there to all our Veteran Book Dragons. Thank you for serving your country so well, for protecting our freedoms, may we never take for granted that we can sit and read in peace because you fought for us, served to keep our peace, that you sometime, somewhere did your bit and for that we thank you. Bless you. In honor of you, our Gem this evening is a beautiful Poppy Red. Look how it sparkles and shines. If you look very closely, it has what at first seems to be a flaw, but in reality seems more to be a bit of magic. See it? It seems to be two figures side by side, trekking, one taller than the other, one on two legs, the other on four. It lights up from the inside. The figures are black in relief. Continue to concentrate and until you can see them (if you are fortunate enough) while I talk about our Gem.

Our Gem Maker is Paula Munier. She has brought us this fine offering of a Veteran MP named Mercy Carr and her deceased fiance’s Bomb Sniffing K-9, Elvis. Mercy’s true love, Sergeant Martinez, was killed in action in Afghanistan. Elvis had developed PTSD and Mercy, herself had been wounded. You can read about how she and Elvis, the Belgian Malinois, found each other in Munier’s first Gem “A Borrowing of BONES”, but you don’t need to read that tale to enjoy this one.

In this tale, Mercy goes looking for Elvis who has gone looking for a wayward arrow in the woods, which she and a friend lost target practicing. What they both find is the body of a woman, shot straight through the heart with an arrow, though not the one Elvis was looking for. The woods is on the estate of a very rich man, Daniel Feinberg. Not only is he a very rich man, he is one of THE richest men in Vermont and beyond.

From there we meet Henry, nine years old, who may or may not have witnessed the murder, Feinberg and his weekend guests, his Game Keeper, Gunnar and a host of others including Game Ward Troy Warner and his own dog Susie Bear, a huge New Foundland with a penchant for finding objects and nine year old boys.

Here is the puzzle for this mystery. Was this a murder? It’s October, it’s hunting season in Vermont. Four million acres of forest. Not only are there licensed responsible hunters out there, poachers abound. The victim had enemies. Enemies she knew, and one’s she didn’t. Where does One start to look? The only thing to do is a blind search.

Blind Search is one of those rare books where you feel you are part of the story. Not easy for a Dragon to do, but she did it. Think Agatha Christie and James Patterson had a love child, and you get Paula Munier. I loved this story. The side characters like Grandma Patience and her friend Lillian are people One knows. In Feinberg’s cast of weekend guests are those you’d sit down and have a cuppa with and those you’d not mind seeing walk off the edge of a cliff. You want to hold that little nestling in your lap and make all the Baddies go away, especially a Detective named Harrington. Who is he? Was it a murder? Who did it? Well you will just have to read the book, now won’t you? And you will want to. I gave this book 5 Flames. It’s on sale now on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07NTMV3YR/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

Until tomorrow, I remain, your humble Book Dragon, Drakon T. Longwitten

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, Minotaur Books, in exchange for an honest review.