ARC Review: Gathering Mist by Margaret Mizushima

Gathering Mist
Author: Margaret Mizushima
Series: A Timber Creek K-9 Mystery (Book 9)
Publication: Crooked Lane Books (October 8, 2024)

Description: Secrets hide within the fog deep in the mossy forests of the Pacific Northwest in this ninth thrilling installment in award-winning author Margaret Mizushima’s Timber Creek K-9 mystery series.

Deputy Mattie Wray, formerly Mattie Cobb, is summoned to Washington’s Olympic peninsula for an urgent search and rescue mission to find a celebrity’s missing child. With only a week left before her wedding, Mattie is hesitant to leave Timber Creek, but her K-9 partner Robo’s tracking skills are needed.

Dense forest, chilling rain, and unfriendly locals hamper their efforts, and soon Mattie suspects something more sinister than a lost child is at play. When one of the SAR dogs becomes ill, her fiancé, Cole Walker, suspects poison. Fearing for Mattie’s and Robo’s safety, Cole joins the search and rescue team as veterinary support.

Secrets that have lain hidden within the rugged terrain come to light, and when it is uncovered that the missing child was kidnapped, the search becomes a full-blown crime scene investigation, forcing Mattie, Robo, and Cole into a desperate search to find the missing child before it's too late.

My Thoughts: With just days to go before her wedding, Deputy Mattie Wray and her dog Robo are called to Washington to look for a missing nine-year-old. River Allen was there in Washington while his mother starred in a movie. First thoughts are that he wandered off exploring the area as he had done before. 

Horrible cold and rainy weather and an untamed forest make the search for the child very difficult. And River isn't the only child who has gone missing in relatively the same area. Two other boys have disappeared over the past few years. 

It doesn't take long for Mattie to become suspicious that they are dealing with more than a lost child. The actress's ex is saying that she needs a publicity bump after the failure of her last film and might have staged the child's disappearance. 

When another search-and-rescue dog is poisoned, Mattie's fiancé veterinarian Cole flies in to join the party and have Mattie's back. As they search, they find hostile homeowners and helpful ones too, but they don't find any trace of River until another young boy stumbles out of the forest. 

This was an exciting story filled with the dangers and difficulties faced by those who do search-and-rescue and the brave, smart dogs who accompany them. I love Mattie's relationship with Robo. I also like her growing relationship with Cole.

This was a great page-turner. I couldn't put it down until I found out what happened. 

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.