Review of "The Lost: A Mace Reid K-9 Mystery" by Jeffrey B. Burton

 

In this third book in the 'Mace Reid K-9 Mystery Series', cadaver dog trainer Mace Reid gets involved in a murder/abduction case. The novel works fine as a standalone.

*****

Chicago resident Mason Reid (Mace) trains cadaver dogs to search for human remains.



Most of Mace's work involves helping the Chicago Police Department or local sheriffs' departments look for missing people who are presumed dead. This time, though, Mace is called in by FBI Special Agent Squires.......



......when multimillionaire Kenneth Druckman reports a home invasion.



According to Druckman, the kidnappers roughed him up, stole jewelry and money, and abducted his beautiful model wife Calley and their five-year-old daughter Eleanor.





Mace and his best cadaver dog, a golden retriever named Vira (pronounced like Ira with a V), are sent to search the woods around Druckman's estate.



Mace and Vira find Calley's body, but there's no sign of little Eleanor.

Besides finding cadavers, Vira has another talent. From the odors at the crime scene Vira can sniff out the perp. After finding Calley's corpse, Vira knocks against Mace's chest, catches his eye, jumps around him, and points herself back toward the Druckman mansion. The message: Druckman killed his wife.

Special Agent Squires agrees that Druckman is the #1 suspect, but without evidence, Druckman can't be accused of the crime. So the FBI, as well as Mace and his girlfriend, Chicago Police Detective Kippy Gumm......



......investigate Druckman, whom they assume has his daughter Eleanor stashed somewhere.

The story is told in the present, with flashbacks to the past. We learn that Druckman was in BIG trouble with a mysterious Belgian billionaire, who lost money in Druckman's Ponzi scheme. In addition, Russian mobsters want the jewels that were allegedly stolen. So the case gets more and more complicated.

The author Jeffrey Burton infuses the story with a lot of humor - in the form of Mace's snarky comments, and it's a pleasure to romp with Mace's many dogs, who include German Shepherd Sue (a male named for the Johnny Cash song 'A Boy Named Sue) - who sees himself as king of the pack;



prankster collies Delta Dawn and Maggie May - who use a kind of mental telepathy to make Mace think he misplaced his keys, or left the stove on, etc;



and young bloodhound Bill, who seeks out the smelliest rot to roll around in.



This is a enjoyable mystery, recommended to fans of the genre (and people who like dogs).

Rating: 3.5 stars