Vermont

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

Sarah Fox: Through the Liquor Glass

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Through the Liquor Glass by Sarah Fox is the fifth installment in A Literary Pub Mystery series and has local pub owner Sadie Coleman not only investigating a new murder but fighting to keep her boyfriend from taking the fall. Shady Creek, Vermont, is celebrating the fall weather with a festival called “A Taste of Shady Creek” which focuses on showcasing all the local eateries. Between preparing for the event at her Pub, The Inkwell, and for a booth at the event hall, Sadie is also having to prepare for the first-time visit of her mother to show her her new home and her new life. Between the pressures of wanting her mother to understand that this is where she belongs and The Inkwell is how she wants to make her living, she also must brace herself to also introduce her boyfriend Grayson Blake. Just when it seems there couldn’t possibly be anything more to add to her plate, Sadie learns that several food critics are present at the event as well. 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

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

Paula Munier: A Borrowing of Bones

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This first novel can almost be slotted into a new subgenre – “dog lit.”  It joins excellent books by Margaret Mizushima and Robert Crais in featuring working dogs (this one ex-military) who have a damaged human partner. (There’s another one in the works from well known dog lover Owen Laukkanen.)  Like Mizushima’s novels, this one has a wonderful feel for setting, in this case, the Vermont woods.

The main character, Mercy Carr, is back from Afghanistan with her partner’s dog, Elvis.  Both are mourning the loss of Mercy’s partner, Martinez, and woman and dog are walking the woods together, trying to move past PTSD and become more of a unit.  As the book opens they are out in the woods and Elvis finds a baby in a carrier with no mother in sight. read more