The Hiding Place: A Mercy Carr Mystery

In Munier’s gripping third mystery featuring former military MP Mercy Carr and her sniffer dog, Elvis (after 2020’s Blind Search), George Rucker, who murdered Mercy’s grandfather, Sheriff Red O’Sullivan, has escaped from a Vermont prison, and the authorities are afraid he may be coming after Red’s widow. Meanwhile, Red’s former deputy, August Pitts, is dying. August asks to speak with Mercy about the case that was worrying her grandfather just before his murder: a woman’s disappearance in 1999. To complicate matters, a young wildlife biologist and filmmaker from the University of Vermont has been found dead in the snowy woods, naked except for his socks. Are these seemingly disparate cases connected in some way? With Elvis at her side, Mercy pursues her suspects through the dangerously frigid countryside, occasionally accepting the help of game warden Troy Warner and his dog, Susie Bear. Munier combines a complex plot with well-defined characters, both human and canine, as she keeps readers guessing. This action- and emotion-packed novel will hold a special appeal for dog lovers. (Mar.)