<i>The keepers</i> is an extremely fast paced murder mystery with a unique twist. Mace Reid, a police contractor, is considered to be a bit of a goofy guy who lives with 5 dogs who sniff out cadavers. <i>The keepers</i> is the second book in the Mace Reid K9 mystery written by Jeffrey B. Burton.

Mace’s dogs are asked to sniff around a particularly gruesome murder. In this case Mace uses Vira because she has a very special talent. She can not only smell the victim but also the murderer. Because of this special talent they solve one murder mystery but are immediately sent out to find another body. In this case, the victim is a high official in the city of Chicago. Vira and Mace attend the funeral to see if they can find any suspects. Unfortunately, they end up discovering that the murderer is another high official which leads them into direct conflict with officials in the city of Chicago, as well as, with the mob. It becomes evident that solving this mystery has put them in a position where they will have to quickly bring the murderers to justice or become victims of their own success.

The author does an excellent job of giving each of the dogs their own personality. You quickly understand why they are each individually so important to Mace. Mace himself is a very unique character who relates more to his dogs than to most people. As well, he doesn't like being in the line of fire with his police work. His two police friends often keep him company to help him through some of the harder times.

The story itself is very fast-paced and interesting and the book is a real page turner. Burton is excellent at creating tension as you expect things going to happen and you wonder how they can possibly get out of these situations.

The most unique part of the book is that author creates an empathy for the dogs. Each of them is a unique character and the reader actually starts to cheer for them. Mace loves them so much that a bond is created between the reader, the main character, and the dogs. All of this adds a unique level of fascination for the book.

This is an excellent and unique book for people who like murder mysteries and/or animals. Because it is fast-paced and entertaining throughout, I give it a 5 on 5. I want to thank NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with a digital copy of the novel in exchange for a fair review.

Mason Reid, Kippy Gimm and Reid's rescue dogs are all back for another fun to read and laugh out loud mystery! As I mentioned before in another review of Burton's dog series - his books will remind the reader of David Rosenfelt and Harlan Coben's humor.

The Keepers is another addicting chapter in the Mace Reid K9 series. Once again Jeffrey B. Burton surprises this reader with an edge of your seat thrilling mystery that so captured the imagination that I could not put this book down. The dogs steal the show in these books, each trained to detect human remains, but Vira is really special. A super sniffer or a touch of ESP, Mace's golden retriever can literally sniff out murdering bad guys. Mace is a lighthearted, dog lover of a hero who is really good at his job of helping the police. Vira quickly sniffs their way through a murder and into real city corruption and danger, leaving Mace, his dogs, and CPD Officer Kippy Gimm on the run. Action packed, twisted, and with a little side romance, the story weaves its way into the heart of this reader and firmly places me in the fan for life category for Mr. Jeffrey B. Burton. My voluntary, unbiased review is based upon a review copy from Netgalley.

Progagonist Mace Reid lives near Chicago and specializes in training cadaver dogs. His alpha right now is a golden retriever he named Elvira—Vira for short. He is often called to Chicago for searches and that is what brought him to Washington Park in the middle of the night.

“Many question whether ours is a city that can be saved. Others question whether it deserves to be.”

Main characters and support characters alike, including the canine variety, all have well developed three-dimensional personalities. By-the-way, this could function fine as a standalone, you’ll get info along the way that will catch you up if you missed Book 1.

The narrative is a solid, hard-hitting action thriller from the first chapter. These are well-plotted and fast-paced novels. Mace is not your ideal hero—he’s divorced, drinks some, swears, and tends to vomit when extremely scared. Not Superman material—but he loves his dogs—all five of them. His new “just friends only” girl is CPD officer Kippy Gimm.

The thing is, Vira is “gifted.” Or perhaps Mace is just so well tuned in to his alpha now, he knows when she is signaling more than just a dead body. Mace and Kippy quickly get in well over their heads with the systemic corruption of the government providing a powerful catalyst to flee the Windy City. NOW!

I like that the dogs aren’t just background—their training and senses are explored and explained. Their specialized talents clarified and they have jobs to do.

This entry to the series is serious, at times raw, profane, with eye-popping revelations. There are murders, description of torture, and language. There is some weakness in Mace this time that I don’t remember in the first book. He is definitely emerging as a real person. Sometimes I like him—sometimes I don’t. But I do love those dogs and my heart lurched at Maggie’s injury. 4.5 stars/5

Although, as a Chicagoan, I didn't care for the corruption blanket thrown over the city I thoroughly enjoyed this one. The banter and the dogs really made it a must read. A very intricate crime and bad guys who were really evil brought depth. The characters were so well drawn that the death of one was a sad event for me. Dialogue is believable and true to each character and the dogs are amazing
Thank you netgalley and the publisher for this arc

When the story starts I thought it was going to be about how a wonderful dog helped find bodies in rubble and she would be a hero, but it didn't turn out that way. Vira, a golden retriever has a special talent, she can detect by smelling a human body but also can detect who killed them. Unfortunately for Vira and her owner she sniffs out one body that not only opens a whole can of worms for them but also gets them into a situation that they might not get out of.
Even though I enjoyed the story, I found myself only reading this story in the daytime because I didn't want to have nightmares. I kept thinking Vira and Mace were not going to get out of the clutches of these mad men and yet they do, and lets just say it was worth it.

The Keepers by Jeffrey B. Burton

9781250244567

288 Pages
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press / Minotaur Books
Release Date: June 29. 2021

General Fiction (Adult), Mystery & Thrillers, Cadaver Dogs, Chicago, Police Procedural

This is the second installing in the Mace Reid K-9 Mystery series. Mason (Mace to his friends) Reid is a dog trainer and cadaver dog handler. A one-hit wonder singer was found dead in his home after being beaten with his own guitar.

The charred remains of a man were believed to be of a homeless man sleeping in a warehouse. Death then finds an accountant. Is there a connection to the two deaths? Mason Mace and Vira investigate with her extrasensory doggy skills. Before they know it, they are way over their heads.

Although this is a sequel, it can be read as a stand-alone book. The story flows well and has a steady pace. There were actually two different storylines going on and I did wonder if and how the stories would come together. The characters are developed and is in first person narrative by Mace with third person point of view for the rest. For the sensitive reader, there is a scene of animal abuse which could be upsetting. If you enjoy a mystery with twists and turns galore, you will like this book. No matter what, the good guy always wins.

An engaging read about Mason Reid and his pack of cadaver dogs. The mystery has layers upon layers of corruption and plenty of bad guys that kept me interested right up to the end. The characters are skillfully written and believable. The plot had plenty of twists. I will never see IKEA cartons without thinking of murder. I highly recommend The Keepers.

I received an advanced readers copy from the author and St Martin's Press through NetGalley. The opinions expressed are completely my own.
#TheKeepers, #NetGalley

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.
I really enjoyed this book. I have not read the first in this series but that did not take away from my enjoyment of the book. It was written so that I felt the discomfort the characters were experiencing. I really like the dog involvement and how close the main characters are to these dogs. The murders and mysteries surrounding them came together logically without any moments that felt contrived. I look forward to reading the first and future books in this series!

I enjoyed this book more than I did the first in the series. There was still some I've go the hots for Kippy but it didn't take over the story as much as it did the first book. There is some harming of animals, so if that is a trigger for you, this may not be your book.

I loved this book. It was full of murder, mystery, corruption, and a healthy dose of romance and animals. No matter what your chosen genre, The Keepers will keep you turning those pages.

I love this series - as a fan of murder mystery thrillers and a dog lover, The K-9 Mystery series brings two of my favorite things together and wraps it highly readable prose. The Keepers is the second in the Mace Reid K-9 Mystery series. Mason Reid is a dog handler of a pack of cadaver dogs, one of whom has an unusually keen nose for finding killers.

When Mason and his star pupil Vira are called out to the grisly scene of the murder of Chicago's head of the special prosecutions bureau, Vira's special ability points to an unlikely suspect as the killer. Soon Mason, Officer Kippy Gimm and her partner Dave Wabiszewski are embroiled in a dangerous investigation implicating some of Chicago's highest profile residents.

The Keepers is a tight, edge of your seat, compulsively readable thriller. As most animal lovers will tell you, dogs each have their own unique characteristics and personality and Burton does an outstanding job of capturing the varying personalities of his canine companions and ensuring they are true supporting characters in the story.

I love this series and am already eagerly anticipating the next book.

Mace, along with one of his cadaver dogs, Vira, is called to Washington Park to search for a body. What they uncover has Mace, his pups, and Officer Gimm running as if their lives depend on it…and actually it does.
Although this is book two in the Mace Reid K9 Mystery series, this is my first by this author. This story has a great cast of characters and I thoroughly enjoyed the plot. I felt the characters were realistic and their reactions were closer to how someone might react in their situation. It was refreshing to read. The beginning did feel a bit “all over the place” but a few chapters in and I couldn’t put the book down. I will be checking out Mr. Burton’s other books and am eager to find out how this story actually began!

I wasn't sure at first that I liked this book as it started out kind of slow. However, once I got farther into the book, I really enjoyed. It was full of mystery and I loved the roles that the dogs had in the story.

Very slow read. Disappointing as I am from Chicago originally and generally enjoy settings that include familiar landmarks.

I did enjoy this, but not as much as I liked the first book. There was more animal harm, which was difficult for me to read, although not necessarily gratuitous or anything. Just not my taste.

This is the second book in a series that features Mason Reid and his crime-solving dogs. Reid is pulled into another mysterious case by Kippy, his semi-girlfriend, and her partner. Golden retriever Vira again helps pinpoint the guilty parties, forcing the humans to figure out the evidence. The story drags a bit in the middle as the plot points are explained, but it is still an entertaining series. Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing an ARC.

I love this series! As I mentioned in my review of The Finders, Jeffrey B. Burton does an extraordinary job of fleshing out the personalities of his canine characters, and integrates them into these suspense plot lines in a way that is both believable and exciting. Our human heroes, Mace and Kippy, are equally easy to root for, and I was delighted with the growth in their personal relationship in this second installment. Finally, the plot itself held my attention, especially the exciting climax. I enjoy Burton’s breezy writing style, and I have only one complaint about Mace: He really needs to start voting. ; )

My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC.

The leading man in Jeffrey Burton's The Keepers (Minotaur Books 2021), second in the Mace Reid K-9 Mystery series, is Mason Reid. He is an irreverent plain spoken former cop whose tough as nails attitude cost him a marriage, a few jobs, and at least one girlfriend. But all is forgiven because he loves his four HRD (human remains detection) dogs. They are mostly hired by Chicago PD to hunt out dead bodies. The star of the series, though, isn't Reid. It's Vira, a golden retriever pup who has the extraordinary ability to smell the DNA left by killers on a dead body. Then, when it shows up on someone else, she goes into a sort of seizure--the sure sign that Mace is facing the murderer. That's not only an unusual ability. It’s never heard of. In this story, Vira and Mace are called on to help solve the murder of an aging rocker. Vira like most working dogs I know loves her job so finding the murderer proves easy enough and opens them up to another murder, this of a high powered figure in Chicago policing, this one leading someplace no one and mostly not Mason want it to go. But, they must follow the evidence and that's what gets Mason and Vira into a whole lot of trouble.

Burton has a friendly easy going way of writing. You feel like he’s talking to you, telling an interesting story, not relaying life-and-death events. And, he has a great sense of humor. Look at these:

"Yeah, I know—whenever I tell folks what I do for a living, they think I slept through Career Day in high school."

"Vira’s just Vira—a canine savant and the LeBron James of cadaver dogs, that’s all." 

"...Bill [one of Mason's HRD dogs] came scampering back to me, tail spinning like a ceiling fan."

This book had some slow spots that I don't remember in the first (see my review of The Finders) but nothing to dissuade me from reading the next in the series. BTW, the final couple of scenes--they are to die for.

I thoroughly enjoyed Jeffrey Burton's The Finders and was excited to read the next Mace Reid adventure. Admittedly, my favorite parts deal with Mace's exceptional cadaver dog Vira and the other canine members of the family. Vira is not just exceptionally intelligent but her olfactory skills are such that she had identified a killer outside of the crime scene area.

News of Mace and Vira's detecting abilities are starting to spread which has some drawbacks. After being drawn into and solving a high profile murder investigation, Mace and Vira are called to the suspicious death of a high ranking police investigator and this time regular detecting won't help them. This time Chicago style corruption runs deep and threatens Mace, Vira, and their entire family.

Jeffrey Burton gives us a likable everyman paired with an exceptional dog and their relationship is something special. I stayed up all night reading and now more than ever wish we could have a dog. In the meantime, I will look forward to the next adventure with Mace, Vira, and the family.