No Holds Barred: A Daniel Whelan Mystery

In Stacey’s absorbing second Daniel Whelan mystery set in the West Country (after 2011’s No Going Back), the former police dog handler and current animal feed delivery truck driver takes a job at Maidstone Farm—ostensibly to work as a driver, but in fact to look into an attack that left the husband of Maidstone’s owner, Jenny Summers, in a coma. Dan receives a number of warnings that spell trouble for him and his German shepherd, retired police dog Taz, as well as his visiting nine-year-old son, Drew. Dan uses connections from both his old job and new affiliations to supplement his investigation into members of the farm’s haulage team, a local family of poor repute, reports of missing pets, and more. Readers will forgive the contrivance that leads to the exciting climax. Fans of Stacey’s horse-centric novels like Deadfall will be pleased that Jenny’s stable means a lot of equine scenes in addition to the canine-human interactions. (May)