Can't Run with the Big Dogs (Veronica Kildare K-9 Mystery series Book # 4) by Tracy Carter

The escape of Veronica Kildare's vindictive, long-time nemesis from prison overshadows what should be a festive holiday season for her and her team. Law enforcement is convinced that Tommy Arnett perished in a fiery car accident, but Veronica can't shake the sinking feeling that she hasn't escaped that easily from his relentless pursuit of revenge against her.

Other unsettling factors are swirling through Colorado along with the encroaching harsh winter weather as Veronica and her Chesapeake Bay Retriever, Leda, search for several missing young women who've been abducted and pitilessly left to face the elements, and the daughters of her search and rescue partner, Sgt. Tim Donovan, are targeted by a mysterious man with an unknown agenda. All is not as it seems with regard to the kidnappings, however, as one case ties back to a local thoroughbred racetrack where a nefarious scheme has been enacted by a villain willing to eliminate anyone who stands in their way.

While Veronica also trains a C. diff sniffing canine for nursing homes and a dog able to identify illegal equine performance-enhancing drugs at Blue Columbine Downs, she and her father examine the undercurrents affecting the racetrack in an effort to pinpoint the source of the wrongdoing there.

As malign forces gather around them, will Veronica and Leda be able to outrun a terrible fate when their brutal past and their present day life collide?  (Summary via Amazon)

Having read all the books in the Veronica Kildare K-9 Mystery series by Tracy Carter, with Can't Run with the Big Dogs being the fourth, I can honestly say this one ... wow, did it hit hard !!

The Veronica Kildare K-9 Mystery series is definitely a power packed series with so much going on that readers cannot catch their breath, in a good way.  This series gets your heart pumping and you cannot help but turn the pages as quickly as you can.

In Can't Run with the Big Dogs Veronica and her trusty wonder dog Leda are busy.  They are constantly being called to help look for missing people and some of the cases are crucial as the weather in December in Colorado can be challenging.  But the dynamo team have very little difficulty getting the job done.

Unfortunately someone from Veronica's past, Tommy Arnett (ugh), is closing in on her.  Fortunately she has Leda, her dad, her assistant and like a brother Michael, her search and rescue partner Sgt. Tim Donovan and his family, her boyfriend Ricardo along with all the other police officers you can imagine.  And she will need all the help she can get when things get intense !!

There is so much that I could talk about in this series.  I could talk for a long time about Veronica's business Dogged Pursuit K-9 training facility, the search and rescue cases that she works, the drug searches that her and Michael work, Veronica's dad and everything that he does, Veronica's sad past, the relationships that she has with everyone, the dogs that her and Michael train, her relationship with Ricardo who is a professional baseball player (which I love baseball) but I think I have given you enough to know that you want to go grab your copy of this book and all the previous ones if you haven't read them yet,  I cannot stress it enough that you will thoroughly enjoy them .... and this coming from a cat lover.

Death at a Scottish Halloween (Scottish Isle Mystery Book # 5) by Lucy Connelly

When Dr. Emilia McRoy stumbles upon a dead body in a haunted house, she resolves to find the killer before another body can fall.

Halloween isn’t the only cause for fright in the fifth Scottish Isle mystery, perfect for fans of Paige Shelton and Connie Berry.

It’s the week of Halloween—or as they say in Scotland, All Hallows' Eve—and the town of Sea Isle is full of spooky celebrations. Dr. Emilia McRoy loves being part of her new community and is eager to help out in any way she can. But the festivities are interrupted when she and her assistant, Abigail, find a dead body in a haunted house. A real one. They’re too late to save the victim, but they’ll do whatever it takes to find his killer. 

There’s just one There are too many suspects. 

Constable Ewan would prefer the good doctor and her friends stay out of the investigations, but that isn’t how Dr. Em rolls. As she and her gang investigate, they realize the killer is searching for something—and has no problem murdering anyone who gets in the way of finding it. 

Dr. Em must stay one step ahead if she’s to survive this Halloween season alive—either that or she might just end up the next victim.  (Summary via Goodreads)

Death at a Scottish Halloween, the fifth book in the Scottish Isle Mystery series, by Lucy Connelly will get readers in the mood for Halloween for sure !!  

In Death at a Scottish Halloween the town of Sea Isle in Scotland is ready.  They have a lot of different activities spanning days that will interest and scare all that attend. Unfortunately,

while Dr. Em and her assistant Abigail are participating in the haunted house, they find another participant dead at the end of the night.

Luckily Dr. Em has a great team of friends that are willing to help out with anything, even trying to solve a murder.  And she is very close to the Constable which makes things easy and difficult at the same time.

While Dr. Em, Abigail and the Constable are trying to solve the murder, they are faced with another case that may or may not tie into this murder case.  

And this is not the time of year with all the Halloween festivities to be serious.  There are so many people in costumes that you don't know who is who and what their intentions may be.

Readers will love this story especially if you like Halloween.  It may even give you some ideas for a Halloween costume.  I don't know if you will have better luck than me because I was clueless as to who the guilty party was.  Every time that I thought I may know, Connelly throws something in there to make you second guess ..... which is fine with me.  That's why I read the books and leave the creativity to the authors.