Striking Range

A Timber Creek K-9 Mystery

By: Margaret Mizushima

Narrated by: Nancy Wu

He was suspect number one - the man who tried to kill Deputy Mattie Cobb and may have killed her father 30 years earlier. But when Mattie and cold-case Detective Jim Hauck reach the Colorado state prison where they will finally get to interview him, he's found dead in his cell. There's only one clue: a map leading to Timber Creek and rugged Redstone Ridge.

Following the clue, Mattie and her K-9 partner, Robo, journey into the burned forest surrounding Redstone Ridge. But before they can finish their search, they're called to help investigate the death of a young woman found in a campground filled with elk hunters. Identification of the deceased points to her having recently given birth, but the infant is nowhere to be found.

As a deadly storm descends upon the mountains, covering everything with a layer of ice and snow, Mattie and her team search for the missing newborn. The storm batters the area, taking its toll on the team and forcing the sheriff to call in reinforcements. When new evidence surfaces, they decide that finding the woman's killer will lead them to her baby, making them even more desperate to solve the case.

Then veterinarian Cole Walker goes missing, stranded alone in the high country with a person that Mattie now suspects is the mastermind behind several murders, including her father's. She and Robo take to the trail to find Cole - but the killer has a cold-blooded plan that threatens them all.

©2021 Margaret Mizushima (P)2021 Dreamscape Media, LLC

Narration cadence poor

Perhaps English us the narrator's second language but the nasal tones, poor cadence, sentences ending in down slopes, whispering breathy voices for men.....all led to this being too distracting to enjoy.

Wrong inflection

The narrator's inflections did not fit the situations. She would be good for children's books.

Nice addition to the series.

I had gone back in my library to listen through this series again and discovered there were two more books added since 2020. I downloaded both and just finished Striking Range.
These are nice “cozy” (clean: no obscene language,
PG innuendo about adult relationships) Police Procedural / Mysteries. As far as the criminal subject matter - there is violence; it wouldn’t be a police/ mystery series without it, so if you don’t like PG-13 criminal behavior you won’t like these books.

I find the dog handling and veterinary medicine depictions to be correct and accurate as I’ve spent many years doing both.

The psychological aspects are correctly presented and also well done and thoughtful.

The characters are very likable and relatable and have kept me coming back for more. I’ve enjoyed witnessing the story as it’s grown and unfolded.

Margaret Mizushima has done a great job keeping her mysteries tangled enough that they are not ‘predictable’ and I’m often good at guessing plot lines, so kudos for creativity!
I’m also sooooo grateful that she has finally had either an editor, friend or her own awakening that she was beating the use of ‘slurping’ water to describe giving a tracking dog a drink to cleanse and wet his mucous membranes prior to starting scent work. I was very happy to find less ponderous and repetitive ways to say that ‘Mattie gave Robo a drink’ to prep for working.

All authors evolve their styles over time. The example above is just one of the small positive changes for the better that I picked up in these last two books.

I’m so happy that Nancy Wu continues to narrate these books. She does a terrific job with a very large cast of characters and she’s become an old friend.

I do hope there will be another book as this one leaves us with a few open threads for future tails (tales!)

Good clean books. Excellent for people who are interested in working dogs, small town sheriffs departments and relationship building. The format reminds me a bit of Rita Mae Brown’s Sneakie Pie Brown (cat and dogs) mysteries; small town, female main character, lots of animals and a veterinarian in the subplot.

Books are suitable for teens and mature kids who’s parents aren’t sheltering them from the real world, and adults who just like a good clean small town mystery.

I read books of all genres and don’t mind obscenity, sexuality or gore. Every once in a while a little break for some lite fun is good for the soul.

Go visit Timber Creek, CO and have a nice time. Don’t get sideways with the law. Robo and Mattie will find you, nothing beats a great working K9!

Enjoy!

Love this series

Love the characters, story, setting, pace, and narrator. Will be sorry when this series ends. Hope Ms. Mizushima keeps writing these books as long as possible.

Really enjoying this series

It has been a great series so far. I will be sad when it’s over.

Great story and well narrated

I love the relationship between Mattie and her dog, Robo. The bits of humor sprinkled in are fun, too.

Great Mystery

I've loved all the books in the series this one my favorite. This one kept you guessing even though I had a feeling about one of the characters early on.

Awesome, awesome, awesome

I have read every one of the books in this series and they are all fantastic. I highly recommend them. This one has the author at the top of her game. It is a well crafted story which keeps the reader guessing until the end who the bad guys are. The descriptions are so vivid about fall in the wilderness of Colorado, that sitting here in the deep south in September with temps in the 90s, I actually put on a sweater! I was also pleased with the accuracy of the working dogs job functions and the description of Robo’s body language. The narrator did a good job of distinguishing characters so it was easy to follow. Looking forward to the next installment.

Best yet! I want more!!

Ms. Mizushima is a fantastic writer and the books come alive under the wonderful narration of Ms Nancy Wu.
I use to live in Colorado, so love that these books take place in Colorado.
The twists and turns keep me guessing who the murderer was.
There was also heart stopping action, cuteness overload, parental dilemmas, and just good investigative skills.
Now I want the next Maddie & Robo book!

Striking Range

I chose this book as a search and rescue adventure. It did deliver a basically good and suspenseful story, but it was broken up by excruciating details concerning birthing puppies. The writer must have done a lot of research and wanted to use the knowledge, but it did nothing to add to the story.