Paula Munier

The Canine reads of Margaret Mizushima and Paula Munier

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The Night Woods, Paula Munier (Mercy Carr #6) and Gathering Mist, Margaret Mizushima (Timber Creek K-9 #9)

In sports there are often rivals who challenge each other to greater excellence.  This happens in writing too, and the head-to-head match up of Paula Munier and Margaret Mizushima, who both write working dog mysteries, is a fantastic example.  Both series continue to maintain their excellence, and while I can’t say for sure if these two women know each other, are friendly rivals or even read each other’s work, I do know the similarity in topic calls for a comparison.  Munier’s first book, A Borrowing of the Bones, was published in 2018, while Mizushima’s first novel, Killing Trail, came out in 2015.  Each writer has worked steadily, producing a book every year. read more

Paula Munier: Home at Night

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Mercy & Elvis #5

This is a great Halloween read.  You’d think mystery fiction would be more littered with great Halloween reads, but there really aren’t that many.  Munier also has a theme, as she always does, and the theme of this novel is “home,” the meaning of it and the finding of it. Her series centers on Mercy Carr, a veteran of the Afghan war, as is her dog, Elvis. The story opens with a young Mercy Carr encountering a ghost like figure at an old, abandoned house in town.  The woman who had owned it was a well known poet, and one of her more famous poems is a Halloween verse for children. read more

Best of 2022

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I had a really, really hard time keeping this to 10 books – hence my lengthy honorable mention list this year.  This is the first year this list is all women!  That was my goal when I closed the store – to cover new series and books by women and it looks like that’s what’s happening organically.  These are the books that stuck with me all year, books that when I read them, I was entranced and transported. They appeared in different ways. Mariah Fredericks pressed an early advance copy of The Lindbergh Nanny into my eager hands at Malice Domestic last spring – it was a book I was very excited to read and I was not disappointed.  I saw the cover of Blackwater Falls and it called to me – again, I was not disappointed.  I was interested to see Deanna Raybourn doing something so different – again, no disappointment.  It’s such a fun journey of discovery. Some on this list are veterans turning in great books, some are new series or standalones – all have that great, memorable sparkle.  What a wonderful year to be a reader. I did include one reference book this year, one so exceptional it would be criminal not to give it a shout out. read more

Paula Munier: The Wedding Plot

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Paula Munier’s insanely readable Mercy Carr series has so far never disappointed, and The Wedding Plot is no exception.  As the book opens, Mercy’s mother, Grace, has been meticulously planning her mother’s wedding to her long-time beau Claude at the swanky inn her aunt Prudence runs (with an iron fist).   Between these two intimidating ladies, the wedding is proceeding on a path that looks to have Mercy in bridesmaid’s satin pumps and a blowout hairdo before she knows it.

It would not be a mystery novel, however, if all went as planned.  Frist, the spa’s yoga instructor disappears, and Mercy is pressed into service, leading the wedding guests through the classes he was supposed to take on.  And while all this sounds slightly like a cozy set up – wedding, yoga instructor (and wait, there are goats) – it’s far from it.  Munier takes a normal domestic situation – a wedding, something everyone has experienced as guest or participant – and turns it into an action novel. read more

Best of 2021

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There are two authors whose work is so consistently excellent I don’t add them to my best of lists anymore, but I can tell you that William Kent Krueger’s prequel to his Cork O’Connor series, Lightning Strike, is beautifully written, felt and told; and Louise Penny’s The Madness of Crowds, a sly look at devotees of a flawed charismatic leader, is a beautiful read.  Both writers have a quality of heart and spirit that give their books an extra something, and their main characters, Cork O’Connor and Armand Gamache, are beloved by readers. Soon to join these two are Elly Griffiths and Ann Cleeves, both of whom turned in stellar reads this year (see below).  I invite readers to cast their reading nets a bit wider and consider some of these other fine titles.  These are all books that stayed with me and left me thinking after I finished them. read more

Paula Munier: The Hiding Place

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This is a favorite new series.  The books feature Mercy Carr and her military dog, Elvis, who have come home to Vermont to nurse their wounds (and their PTSD) after losing the love of both their lives, Martinez, in Afghanistan.  Both have reacclimated to a degree, though Mercy has a hard time with trust and tends to hold herself back when it comes to relationships.  While Mercy is slightly on the outs with her perhaps boyfriend, game warden Troy, her life is a full one.  She’s taken in a teenage mother, her baby, and her boyfriend; she has a tight relationship with her grandmother, Patience, a vet; and she and Elvis are now working as a complete team. read more

November Book Club: A Borrowing of Bones

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Join us on Thursday, November 21, 6 p.m. at the Session Room to discuss Paula Munier’s debut, A Borrowing of Bones.  This well written novel focuses on Mercy (human) and Elvis (canine), both back from Afghanistan and both suffering from PTSD.  Together they form a good team.  Setting, character and plot are all excellent – all are welcome to join our discussion! Read my review here