She Treads Softly: The Finders

Wednesday, July 1, 2020

The Finders

The Finders by Jeffrey B. Burton
Macmillian Publishing: 6/30/20

review copy; 288 pages

The Finders by Jeffrey B. Burton is a highly recommended start to a new mystery series featuring Vira, a cadaver dog, and Mason Reid, her handler.

Mason "Mace" Reid lives on the outskirts of Chicago and loves dogs. He specializes in human remains detection (HRD) and he trains dogs to hunt for the dead, cadaver dogs, as well as other searches. Reid takes on a new, young golden retriever, who he names Elvira, Vira for short, and begins to train Vira as a cadaver dog. She picks up commands and learns her training very quickly. When he takes her out on her first case, she not only finds the body, she also picks out and maims the killer among the bystanders. It seems Vira has a special ability. Vira also has a connection to Chicago Police Officer Kippy Gimm who rescued her as a puppy. Now Mace, Vira, and Kippy must all work together to thwart a killer who has his sights on Mace.

First, people who love dogs and mysteries are going to appreciate this start to a new series. Mace is a well-developed, likeable character who is presented with a nice balance of analytical abilities, serious action, and even a good dose of self-deprecating humor. You will root for him, his dogs, and for Kippy Gimm. They are all believable characters. The dogs - Vira, Sue, the German Shepard, and collies Maggie May and Delta Dawn - are all characters too and you'll see their individual personalities. You will need to suspend some disbelief about Vira's special abilities, but those who have dogs know that sometimes they seem to know more than you realize. (They can also sometimes "clean" the litterbox, but I'm assuming Mace's dogs are all smarter than mine.)

The writing is great in this compelling, well-paced novel. The short chapters keep the action moving along and the clever twists in the plot grab your attention. The chapters alternate between the point of view of Mace and that of a intelligent killer, a sociopath who now has his sights set on Mace and his dogs. These two alternate, dueling narratives help keep the tensions high, with some humorous relief every now and then. The Finders is a perfect, comfortable summer read, with enough tension and excitement to keep your interest. This is a great start to a new series.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Macmillian.

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John Updike's six rules for reviewing:

1. Try to understand what the author wished to do, and do not blame him for not achieving what he did not attempt.

2. Give him enough direct quotation--at least one extended passage--of the book's prose so the review's reader can form his own impression, can get his own taste.

3. Confirm your description of the book with quotation from the book, if only phrase-long, rather than proceeding by fuzzy precis.

4. Go easy on plot summary, and do not give away the ending.

5. If the book is judged deficient, cite a successful example along the same lines, from the author's oeuvre or elsewhere. Try to understand the failure. Sure it's his and not yours?

To these concrete five might be added a vaguer sixth, having to do with maintaining a chemical purity in the reaction between product and appraiser.....Review the book, not the reputation.... Better to praise and share than blame and ban. The communion between reviewer and his public is based upon the presumption of certain possible joys in reading, and all our discriminations should curve toward that end.