The Finders Book
July 7, 2020
Dog lovers know the healing a beloved pet can bring — offering compassion and unconditional love as one deals with grief, loneliness and emotions. Just plain companionship is a bonus. But service dogs give even more as Jeffrey B. Burton shows in “The Finders.”
This launch of a new series works well as a tale about the bond between humans and dogs as well as a private detective novel. As a dog trainer, Mason “Mace” Reid often is running obedience trials for family pets. But his specialty in training dogs in human remains detection (HRD) pays him a lucrative salary and makes him a valuable consultant to Chicago area police departments. He already has three perfectly trained dogs, but his new golden retriever Vira has proven herself to be one of the most astute dogs he has ever trained. When she helps him find a young woman who has been kidnapped, Vira and Mace become targets of a serial killer who has terrorized the Chicago area for years.
Readers will want to know immediately how the dogs fare — each is fine and they enjoy treats and lots of play time between jobs.
Burton keeps “The Finders” on a short leash as he melds solid suspense with a strong look at how service dogs work and enhance investigations. Vira is a true heroine but Burton makes sure to keep her behavior and skills believable. Her abilities are in keeping with the heightened sense of smell that dogs possess. Vira is a great dog, but she’s a dog not a person with four legs. In Mace, Burton sculpts an intriguing character — an appealing, likable man who has found comfort in dogs but also knows how to have relationships with people.
“The Finders” firmly puts Burton in the growing category of mystery authors whose sturdy plots show how service dogs work with people in solving crimes. Readers will look forward to more adventures of Mace, Vira and the rest of the pack.
Most Recent News
Former Victoria man’s diabetic alert dog helps him get back to life
When Luke Hengen’s diabetes worsened in his early twenties, it stripped him of the outdoor activities where the country kid felt at home. Countless wilderness adventures and years of hard-fought football games took a toll on his body, to the point where he could no longer sense when his blood sugar was too high or […]
Students Get Therapy Dog
When middle school students return to class on Jan. 11, they’ll find a new face at the door: Daisy. Daisy is a therapy dog and the personal pet of Rob Kreger, principal of the Rock L. Butler Middle School. The five-year-old golden retriever is not a school pet or mascot, but rather a working dog […]
Therapy Dogtor
Last March, Caroline Benzel, a third-year medical student, began to notice the stress and discomfort her nurse friends were feeling from the pressures of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. “[Personal protective equipment] can be really rough on the skin,” Benzel, 31, tells PEOPLE. Benzel and her 3-year-old Rottweiler, Loki (who’s also a therapy dog) hatched a […]
Therapy Dog Pups
When Stanley the miniature fox terrier’s owner passed away, the little dog started a ‘paw-some’ new role – bringing puppy love to some of the Gold Coast’s oldest residents. After Carinity Cedarbrook Diversional Therapist Julianne Staff adopted Stanley, he began visiting the aged care community at Mudgeeraba as a therapy dog. Therapy dogs help to […]
Puppy Cams
A nonprofit is providing an unusual form of therapy for those on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic – puppy cams! “You spend five minutes with a puppy and try not to smile,” said registered nurse Robin Lingg Lagrone. Lingg Lagrone says watching little furballs wag their tails and prance on their paws helps […]
Pet Committee
When Moore County’s school doors were abruptly closed earlier in 2020, two- and four-legged volunteers from the Moore County Citizens’ Pet Responsibility Committee (PRC) were in their 12th year of presenting a six-session Pet Responsibility Education Program for fourth-graders. The PRC quickly shifted gears and placed its program materials online as part of a home […]