Mercy and her dog Elvis find a body, and her husband Troy and his dog Susie Bear find another body. Are the murders linked? Lots of interesting new characters with motives for one or both of the crimes. Woven into the story is the saga of how soldiers return from war to try to take up their lives - some succeed and others struggle, each on a different path. The underlying thread of soldiers trying to cope with PTSD adds a serious undertone to the murder investigations. Mercy's advanced stage of pregnancy adds tension and drama, and her relationship with Troy is a lovely thing to watch develop. The plot is complex with numerous threads coming together, and I had to carefully reread a few parts focused on the world of gaming and on Homer's Odyssey, as I am not familiar with either topic, and it took me a few readings to understand the final conclusions. A good addition to the series and it would work as a standalone. Thanks to NetGalley and publisher Minotaur Books for the ARC.

The Night Woods is the sixth book in Paula Munier’s Mercy Carr Mystery series. As the story begins, Mercy is eight months pregnant.. She and her dog, Elvis are out for a hike and inadvertently stumble across a murder with a connection to a friend who lives in the woods with his dog. The clues Mercy comes across seem to be tied to Homer’s The Odyssey. With lots of references to the Greek poem, the book had lots of twists and turns while Mercy tried to solve the mystery. I love Elvis and Susie Bear! Plus, we met a couple new characters and dogs! This book can be read as a standalone but I recommend the entire series!

Another Mercy Carr mystery - I love them! This one finds Mercy, 8 months pregnant, in the middle of murder, mystery, and The Odyssey. I loved all the twists, the seemingly unrelated, yet intertwined characters and events, and the way Mercy’s mind works to figure it all out. Add in a couple of new characters and two new dogs to love, and this is a fast moving and entertaining mystery.

I really like this series! Mercy and Troy are likeable and interesting characters and let's not forget Elvis & Susie Bear! Two of my favourite fictional canines.

Each mystery is standalone so you could easily read this without having read the earlier books but I would recommend reading them all as they're great books.

I hope there will be many more books in this series!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Minotaur Books through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you, Minotaur Books.

This is Mercy & Elvis Series #6. Munier does a great job with her characterization of all her characters, which continues to build with each story. In every book you find out more and more about Mercy, Troy, Elvis plus adding layers to the minor characters along the way. The narrative is descriptive without being long winded and you really get a feel of Mercy and Troy’s house the Grackle Tree Farm, the Vermont terrain and much more. This story explores more of the friendships that Mercy has made since coming back from Afghanistan. “The Night Woods” starts with Mercy on a walk on her property about 8 months pregnant. Elvis ends up leading Mercy to her friend and neighbor Homer’s cabin. When she goes inside, she finds a body on the coach with an ax in his chest but no Homer. Mercy checks out the cabin and records some of the evidence she finds for the police. She starts to hike to the cell tower so she can call the police, when she stumbles across Homer unconscious. This is the start of another mystery for Mercy and Troy to solve. I recommend this latest mystery from Munier. A well written series with wonderful and unforgettable characters with plenty of action and suspense. Thank you to Netgalley and Minotaur Books for providing an advanced reader’s copy of this book in exchange for an honest review