Killer Tracks by Mary Keliikoa
9/30/25; 319 pages
Level Best Books
Misty Pines Mystery #3
Killer Tracks by Mary Keliikoa is a highly recommended mystery/thriller and the third book in the Misty Pines Series.
Sheriff Jax Turner and Abby, his ex who is in the FBI, are going on a vacation to reconnect. Abby planned it and declares it must be a peaceful retreat, no phones, no guns. When he learns where they are going, a former forest service outlook, he insists on at least a shotgun. Trudy, who runs the Sheriff's office, is keeping Jax's location a secret. Once they arrive it appears that someone was squatting in the lookout before they arrived. Then Hannah, a woman who says she is camping near by, shows up at the door and things start to appear increasingly threatening.
Jax leaves Rachel, his deputy, in charge and she is immediately faced with a big case. There is an apartment fire risk called in and a body is found by Koa, Rachel's K9, before the subsequent explosion. The man was murdered and now Rachel is in charge of the case. Evidence found by the medical examiner points to a tie-in to some murders from ten years earlier, a case Jax and his partner, Rachel's father Jameson, handled.
This fast-paced thriller moves quickly and will hold your complete attention throughout. The tension starts right at the beginning scene and then keeps ramping up as more events happen or information is uncovered in both story lines. The two narrative threads begin to connect, resulting in a heart stopping final denouement. All the fully realized characters are portrayed as realistic, with all their flaws and strengths.
Considering their jobs and history, I did have to set some disbelief aside that Jax and Abby would go anywhere without their personal service weapons and perhaps keep a method of communication close at hand. Part of this trepidation is set up at the opening of the novel when readers learn a killer is being released from prison and he is looking for revenge.
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