Review: The Finders by Jeffrey B. Burton

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☆☆➹⁀☆ 4 stars ☆➹⁀☆☆

About the Book:

What happens when the hunter becomes the hunted?

Jeffrey B. Burton’s The Finders marks the beginning of a fast-paced new mystery series featuring a heroic golden retriever cadaver dog named Vira and her handler, Mason Reid.

Mason “Mace” Reid lives on the outskirts of Chicago and specializes in human remains detection. He trains dogs to hunt for the dead. Reid’s coming off a taxing year—mourning the death of a beloved springer spaniel as well as the dissolution of his marriage. He adopts a rescue dog with a mysterious past—a golden retriever named Vira. And when Reid begins training Vira as a cadaver dog, he comes to realize just how special the newest addition to his family truly is.

Suddenly, Reid and his prize pupil find themselves hurled into a taxing murder case, which will push them to their very limits. Paired with determined Chicago Police Officer Kippy Gimm, Mace must put all his trust in Vira’s abilities to thwart a serial killer who has now set his sights on Mace himself.

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My Thoughts:

The Finders by Jeffrey B. Burton is a great first installment in a new series featuring trained cadaver search dogs. Vira is an exceptional addition to Mason Reid’s team, who works with the Chicago PD.

Mr. Burton has created compelling characters and developed them so that readers are invested in the continuing storyline. The dialogue is organic, the plot progression is solid, and the story is wholly believable. In any sort of police procedural or P.I. mystery I find that realistic, believable characters are key to my engagement in with the story, and The Finders delivers!

I was fully engaged in this murder mystery. I love dogs, and stories with dogs always grab me. Vira in particular, is a very special character. While I enjoyed Mason Reid and Officer Kimmy Gimm, Vira and her canine compatriots stole the show. Mr. Burton’s plot twist caught me completely by surprise. Between the mystery, humor and plot twists, I was riveted to the end. The dogs “lovableness” and being named after song characters didn’t hurt either.