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.