A Borrowing of Bones by Paula Munier
Having lived the military lifestyle for pretty much my whole life, and having seen the effects of PTSD on those who have served, I was immediately drawn to the main character in this book, Mercy Carr, a former soldier in the military police.
She’s just returned from service in Afghanistan where she was wounded and lost her fiancé, a sergeant in the K9 unit, in combat. As he lay dying he made her promise to adopt his dog, a Belgian shepherd named Elvis, who is also suffering from PTSD.
Now a civilian, Mercy is struggling to figure out where she fits in the world. She’s a good cop with a curious mind, and, well, trouble just seems to be drawn to her. When she finds an abandoned baby in the middle of the Vermont woods and Elvis alerts to a bomb not far away, she soon finds herself in the middle of an investigation that puts her and those she loves in danger.
With elements of animal rescue, art, history, Shakespeare, and just an inkling of romance, this book drew me in and kept me there. This book is the first in a series and I am excited to read the next book.
For a main character I immediately rooted for, a canine companion (or two) who deserves recognition, and the twists and turns that made this feel like the kind of crime you’d read about in the news, this book earns a solid 4 and half stars from me.
Cover Blurb
Grief and guilt are the ghosts that haunt you when you survive what others do not….
After their last deployment, when she got shot, her fiancé Martinez got killed and his bomb-sniffing dog Elvis got depressed, soldier Mercy Carr and Elvis were both sent home, her late lover’s last words ringing in her ears: “Take care of my partner.”
Together the two former military police—one twenty-nine-year-old two-legged female with wounds deeper than skin and one handsome five-year-old four-legged Malinois with canine PTSD—march off their grief mile after mile in the beautiful remote Vermont wilderness.
Even on the Fourth of July weekend, when all of Northshire celebrates with fun and frolic and fireworks, it’s just another walk in the woods for Mercy and Elvis—until the dog alerts to explosives and they find a squalling baby abandoned near a shallow grave filled with what appear to be human bones.
U.S. Game Warden Troy Warner and his search and rescue Newfoundland Susie Bear respond to Mercy’s 911 call, and the four must work together to track down a missing mother, solve a cold-case murder, and keep the citizens of Northshire safe on potentially the most incendiary Independence Day since the American Revolution.
It’s a call to action Mercy and Elvis cannot ignore, no matter what the cost.
This book takes place around the Fourth of July.
Do you have any 4th of July traditions?
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