Review: Stalking Ground (A Timber Creek K-9 Mystery #2) by Margaret Mizushima
Source: Hardcopy courtesy of Crooked Lane Books. Thank you!
Publication: September 13, 2016 by Crooked Lane Books
Book Description:

When Deputy Ken Brody’s sweetheart goes missing in the mountains outside Timber Creek, Mattie Cobb and Robo are called to search. But it’s mid-October and a dark snow storm is brewing over the high country–and they’re already too late. By the time they find her body, the storm has broken and the snow is coming down hard.

While Brody hikes down to bring back the forensics team and veterinarian Cole Walker gathers supplies to protect them from the storm, Mattie and Robo find themselves alone, guarding the gravesite overnight in the dead of the early winter. And that’s only the first long, dark night in a series of them, because as their investigation develops, Mattie, Robo, Brody, and Cole find themselves in the middle of the killer’s stalking ground–with no way out unless they can catch a predator more deadly than any natural threat.

An effortlessly engrossing read filled with tension, excitement, and heart, Stalking Ground, the second in Margaret Mizushima’s lauded debut series, will send a chill down every reader’s spine.

The first entry into Margaret Mizushima’s Timber Creek K-9 Mystery series, Killing Trail, was met with strong praise and starred reviews from multiple review journals. I thoroughly enjoyed the author’s debut novel and had been looking forward to continuing on with the singular mystery series featuring Officer Mattie Cobb and her K-9 partner Robo. Book two, Stalking Ground, picks up soon after the end of the first novel, and is an engrossing, well-plotted, and suspenseful read- a worthy sophomore novel that also packs some serious surprises.

After the tragic events that transpired over the course of book one, Mattie and her police team- as well the members of small town Timber Creek- are uneasy and on heightened alert for suspicious activity. When the girlfriend of Mattie’s police colleague Ken Brody goes missing under decidedly peculiar circumstances, Mattie and her police team are immediately guarded and on edge. When Mattie is sent out to do some initial investigating into the case with Robo, a number of red flags go up, leading Mattie to lose hope about the chances of Adrienne’s survival. As Adrienne’s case deepens and Mattie and Robo find themselves on a tricky maze, finding more out about Adrienne’s past and attempting to expose lies, a surprising lead opens up, taking Mattie, Robo and Ken down an incredibly dangerous path.

In the first novel, we were introduced to a character named Cole Walker, a father and highly-regarded town veterinarian who slowly becomes a friend to Mattie- and to Robo. He and Mattie’s third-person narratives once again rotate in Stalking Ground; this time, his storyline overlaps with Mattie’s investigation even more closely. Mizushima makes the most of their alternating narratives and propels the urgency and ‘who done it’ of Adrienne’s case very well by running a parallel storyline involving Cole that eventually meets up with Mattie’s. As in Killing Trail, Mizushima does wonders in creating a wholly compelling (and fascinating!) police team in Mattie and Robo; in Stalking Ground, readers are given even more insight into the training that Mattie and Robo do to hone and perfect their working relationship and Robo’s superior- incredible- skills.  Mizushima also delves more into Mattie’s history, offering some intense and heartbreaking backstory into Mattie’s life with her birth parents and siblings, likely ensuring that even more about Mattie’s backstory is to be explored in future novels.

Overall, Stalking Ground is a strong, tightly plotted and terrifically executed read. Mizushima continues to impress with her distinctive area of K-9 mystery writing. As our protagonist, Mattie is a terrific, intriguing character who we are slowly but surely learning more about. In addition to that, her and Robo’s relationship is one that absolutely fascinates; readers are shown even deeper acumen into Mattie and Robo’s working relationship and their incredible skills as a human-canine team. Any readers who previously enjoyed Killing Trail  would do well do continue on with the series as it is only getting better. Stalking Ground plays off of all of the strengths in the well-done first novel and excels here with a first-rate sophomore entry. Readers looking to try out a mystery series with a unique edge or who are looking for a more police-work focused mystery series might especially love this series.

I received a copy of this title courtesy of Crooked Lane Books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions and comments are my own.