The Hiding Place by Paula Munier
Series Name: Mercy Carr #3
Genre: Traditional Mystery
Release: March 30, 2021
Purchase Link

Some people take their secrets with them to the grave. Others leave them behind on their deathbeds, riddles for the survivors to solve.

When her late grandfather’s dying deputy calls Mercy to his side, she and Elvis inherit the cold case that haunted him—and may have killed him. But finding Beth Kilgore 20 years after she disappeared is more than a lost cause. It’s a Pandora’s box releasing a rain of evil on the very people Mercy and Elvis hold most dear.

The timing couldn’t be worse when the man who murdered her grandfather escapes from prison and a fellow Army vet turns up claiming that Elvis is his dog, not hers. With her grandmother Patience gone missing, and Elvis’s future uncertain, Mercy faces the prospect of losing her most treasured allies, the only ones she believes truly love and understand her.

She needs help, and that means forgiving Vermont Game Warden Troy Warner long enough to enlist his aid. With time running out for Patience, Mercy and Elvis must team up with Troy and his search-and-rescue dog Susie Bear to unravel the secrets of the past and save her grandmother—before it’s too late.

Once again, Paula Munier crafts a terrific mystery thriller filled with intrigue, action, resilient characters, the mountains of Vermont, and two amazing dogs.

Dru’s Short Musing:
In this fast-paced, well-written and all-consuming drama, the author pulled out all the stops to bring a dynamic and compelling tale that I could not put down, quickly becoming a page turner.

From the first page to the end, I was immersed in all that was happening in Mercy’s world, a dying man’s wishes, an escaped prisoner, a cold case, and the thought of losing Elvis. This multi-plot storyline corralled me with a fantastically scripted mystery with visually descriptive narrative that played like a moving picture as one by one, each scene led to another peppering us with clues that when all was said and done would lead to some intriguing revelations and surprises that I didn’t see coming, until it was planted in my head. This is the one of the best books in the series and I can’t wait to read the next book in the captivating and riveting series.

FTC Full Disclosure – I received a digital ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.